Jessie Fleming

Jessie Alexandra Fleming (born March 11, 1998) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for National Women's Soccer League club Portland Thorns and captains the Canadian national team.

Fleming played college soccer in the United States for the UCLA Bruins from 2016 to 2019, before turning professional and spending four years with English club Chelsea. She was a member of Canada's gold medal-winning side at the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she scored the team's only regular-time goal in the final on a penalty kick, as well as the first goal in the penalty shoot-out. She has an older brother, Tristan, and a younger sister, Elysse. She started playing soccer at the age of three for the London-based Nor'West Optimist Soccer Club, where she remained until 2016 and was coached by her father, John.

In a later profile in DARBY, Fleming described a "really wonderful childhood" in which her parents, both former competitive cross-country runners, prioritized effort over results; her mother, a provincial high-school champion who went on to practice family medicine, still sends her game-day texts urging her to "play with heart." Fleming has said both parents also stressed being a good teammate and learning from mistakes, values she credits as central to her development as a leader. She still holds the record for the 1500m in the midget women's category. and a silver medal in the junior women's 1500m race. She switched to H. B. Beal Secondary School for Grades 11 and 12, and graduated in 2016.

College career Fleming verbally committed to UCLA in December 2014 and joined the Bruins in August 2016. Fleming has said she originally wanted to attend a school close enough to London that she could drive there, and only settled on UCLA—3,000 kilometres from home—after weighing the program's ambitions and academic reputation against her initial hesitance about the distance. Her goalscoring tear continued as she netted 7 goals in her first 6 games as a college player. She appeared in 19 games, making 16 starts, and finished as the leading scorer on the team with 11 goals and 5 assists, for a total of 27 points. Fleming was one of just two freshmen to receive All-America honours in 2016, being selected to the NSCAA All-America third team. She was selected the Top Drawer Soccer Freshman of the Year, and also earned first-team NSCAA All-Pacific Region, All-Pac-12 and All-Freshman acclaim.

As a sophomore, Fleming scored 6 goals, including three game-winners, and recorded 8 assists, for a total of 20 points. She earned first-team All-America honours and received first-team All-West Region and All-Pac-12 honours for the second-straight year. After helping UCLA reach the College Cup final and scoring a goal in the championship match, she was selected as a finalist for the Hermann Trophy and chosen as one of four nominees for the Class of 2018 Honda Sports Award for soccer.

Although she missed nearly half of her junior season while on national team duty, Fleming still earned first-team All-Pac-12 honours for the third year in a row and was a second-team All-West Region honouree after scoring 15 points on 5 goals and 5 assists.

As a senior, Fleming played in a defensive midfield role, finishing the season with 3 goals and 4 assists in 22 appearances, for a total of 10 points. She was chosen as one of three finalists for the Hermann Trophy and one of four finalists for the Honda Sports Award.

She graduated from UCLA in 2021, with a major in materials engineering and a minor in environmental science. Fleming has since said that balancing the demands of varsity soccer with the rigour of an engineering degree was "extremely difficult," describing an ongoing struggle to give either pursuit her full effort at once, but that she remains grateful to have completed the degree and hopes to explore that side of herself further after retiring from playing. Fleming has said she was drawn by her fascination with European football culture, though she "didn't feel overwhelmingly like, 'Oh, I'm ready for this'" at the time, and has described her recurring self-doubt as both a weakness and a strength that has driven her to prepare more thoroughly than some of her peers. On December 9, she made her UEFA Champions League debut in a 5–0 away win over Benfica. She made her first start against the same opposition a week later, and helped her team to a 3–0 victory at Kingsmeadow. On January 27, 2021, she made her first league start in a 4–0 away win over Aston Villa at Banks's Stadium. On March 14, she played the full 90 minutes as the Blues won the 2021 FA League Cup Final against Bristol City at Vicarage Road. In her first season at Chelsea, she made a total of 26 appearances across all competitions and won the 2020–21 FA WSL title. She was an unused substitute in the 2021 Champions League Final, where Chelsea were defeated by Barcelona. Fleming would later cite the transition to the professional scene as a challenge, in particular the need to raise her game in order to vie for playing time.

Beginning the 2021–22 FA WSL, Fleming scored her first goal for Chelsea in a 6–1 victory against Manchester United at Leigh Sports Village on September 26, 2021. Three days later, she got her first assist for the club in the 2020–21 FA Cup quarter-final against Birmingham City, setting up Fran Kirby in the 72nd minute. On October 10, she registered her first league assist in a 2–0 win against Leicester City. On October 31, she assisted Beth England in a 3–0 victory against Manchester City at the Academy Stadium, helping Chelsea reach the 2021 FA Cup Final. On November 9, she scored her first Champions League goal in a 7–0 win away to Servette. The 2021–22 WSL season saw Fleming's usage by the club increase significantly, featuring in 21 of 22 games, 11 of those as starts, and tallying six goals and four assists. She won the league title with Chelsea for the second time, before playing in her second consecutive run with the club to the 2022 FA Cup Final.

Shortly after the commencement of the 2022–23 Women's Super League, Fleming signed a contract extension with Chelsea through the summer of 2025. Chelsea won its third consecutive FA Cup on May 27, 2023, and four days later secured its fourth consecutive Women's Super League title. Fleming played 20 games in the season, with a new career high of 14 starts.

Fleming spent more than three years living in London during her Chelsea tenure, a period she has described as having "lended itself well" to travel and to a growing personal interest in photography. On January 31, 2024, after four years with Chelsea, the Thorns announced the signing of Fleming for an undisclosed fee, with general manager Karina LeBlanc highlighting her "championship mindset" and then-head coach Mike Norris saying of the transfer "Adding a player of Jessie's caliber is a big step for us as we continue to build the roster for 2024 and beyond".

International career Youth Fleming started playing for the Canadian youth national teams in 2012, at the age of 14. leading the team to a silver medal. During the tournament, she scored three goals (two in the group stage and one in the semi-final against Jamaica) and was named Player of the Match in two of Canada's five matches. As a result, she was named to the Best XI

At the 2014 U-17 World Cup in Costa Rica, Fleming navigated Canada out of the group of death (which included Germany, North Korea, and Ghana). She played in all four of Canada's games, scoring one goal in the 2–2 draw with Germany. She also recorded an assist in the quarter-final loss to Venezuela. At 16, she was the second-youngest player on the Canadian roster. She made two appearances (against Ghana and Finland) in the group stage of the tournament, before playing all 90 minutes in the quarter-final against Germany. In December 2014, she was named Canadian U-17 Player of the Year.

Fleming also represented Canada at the 2015 Pan American Games, where the Canadian Soccer Association fielded an Olympic Developmental under-23 squad. She played every minute of the tournament, scoring an 88th-minute penalty in the bronze medal match against Mexico, which Canada lost 2–1. In December 2015, she was named Canadian U-20 Player of the Year.

Senior

Senior debut and rise to prominence (2013–19) In December 2013, following her performances at the CONCACAF U-17 Championship, Fleming received her first call-up to the senior national team, ahead of the 2013 Torneio Internacional de Brasília. On December 15, she made her senior international debut at the age of 15 years and 278 days, when she replaced Brittany Baxter in the 72nd minute of a 1–0 defeat to Chile at the Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha. Fifteen minutes into her debut, she received her first yellow card. At the time, she was the second-youngest player to ever play for the national team; as of 2021, she is the third-youngest, after Olivia Smith and Kara Lang.

In 2014, Fleming made six more appearances – three as a starter and three as a substitute – for the senior national team, all in friendly matches. In January, she started all three matches at the 2015 Four Nations Tournament in China, On March 4, 2015, Fleming scored her first senior international goal in a 2–0 win over Scotland at the 2015 Cyprus Cup.

On April 27, 2015, Fleming was named to the roster for the 2015 World Cup, held on home soil in Canada. At the age of 17, she was the youngest player on the Canadian team, joining a locker room that included veterans Christine Sinclair, Diana Matheson, and Desiree Scott—an experience Fleming has said showed her "the standard of what it was like to play on the women's team" and introduced her to teammates who "really championed younger players" rather than enforcing an unnecessary hierarchy. On June 15, she started Canada's final group stage match of the World Cup against Netherlands in front of 45,420 fans at Olympic Stadium. The match ended 1–1, which was enough for Canada to win Group A. Canada defeated Switzerland, its first World Cup knockout stage win since 2003, but fell to England in the quarter-final.

At the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifiers, Fleming made three appearances in the group stage and scored her second international goal against Trinidad and Tobago on February 14, helping Canada win Group A. She was named to Canada's 2016 Summer Olympics squad, which defeated the home team Brazil to win a bronze medal. She had a secondary assist on the winning goal, scored by Christine Sinclair. She was by this point established as one of the most promising younger players on a team, at a time when commentators were increasingly contemplating its future upon the eventual retirement of longtime captain Sinclair.

On May 25, 2019, Fleming was named to the roster for the 2019 FIFA World Cup, where she would eventually play every minute of the tournament for Canada. Canada was ultimately eliminated in the Round of 16 by Sweden, which renewed doubts about the program's future. Fleming would reflect, years later, that it was "really disappointing. I think it's fair to say we feel like we underperformed that tournament."

2020 Olympic triumph Fleming was named part of the Canadian team for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, participating in her second Olympic tournament. The Tokyo Olympics marked a major boost in Fleming's profile when, following a quarter-final shootout win over Brazil that saw captain Sinclair miss her penalty attempt, the latter advised coach Bev Priestman that Fleming should take over as the team's designated penalty-taker in the tournament. In the August 2, 2021, semi-final match with the United States, Fleming scored the only goal via a penalty kick, resulting in a 1–0 win that sent Canada to its first ever Olympic final. Sinclair handing Fleming the ball in advance of the kick was misinterpreted by many as a spontaneous decision, rather than one agreed in advance, and was widely covered as a "passing of the torch" scenario.

Achievements in 2021–22

In 2021, Fleming was named Player of the Month three times by the Canadian Soccer Association, in the months of March, October, and November. She was also voted as Canadian Player of the Year and nominated for the CONCACAF Women's Player of the Year award.

At the 2022 Arnold Clark Cup, Fleming started the first match against England as captain, in the absence of regular captain Christine Sinclair. On June 26, she earned her 100th cap while serving as captain again for a 0–0 draw against South Korea in a friendly match at BMO Field. Later in the year, she was one of four players to score three goals at the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship, but lost the Golden Boot to teammate Julia Grosso on a tiebreaker, Grosso having had an assist and played fewer minutes. She was named Canada Soccer's Player of the Year for the second time, becoming the third woman to win the award consecutively. The draw placed them in what Fleming called a "challenging" Former national team member Amy Walsh assessed that "it's very much Jessie Fleming's team. How Fleming goes, I think Canada goes." However, as a result of a practice injury, Fleming was unable to play in the opening match against Nigeria, which ended in a 0–0 draw, with her absence being widely noted as a major weakness. She returned to play the full 90 minutes in Canada's 2–1 victory over Ireland, wearing the captain's armband in the first half prior to Sinclair's substituting on. Canada entered its final group match needing only a draw with Australia to advance, but were defeated 4–0 in what was widely described as one of the team's worst defeats in major competition. Fleming described it as "a bad night to have a bad night," with post-match assessments of roster performance largely concluding that she had not been able to influence the outcome to her own standard.

Following the disappointment in Australia, the team regrouped for their next fixtures, the CONCACAF Olympic qualification playoff in September, facing Jamaica for the second CONCACAF berth at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Despite initial concerns, Canada won both games. Fleming started both games and wore the captain's armband; when Sinclair was substituted on for the second game, Fleming "tried to give her the captain's armband. Sinclair immediately waved her off."

Captaincy (2024–present) In advance of the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup, Fleming was named the captain of the Canada national team, succeeding Sinclair. Fleming has since described the role as "still a role that I'm growing into," reflecting that her career has taught her "there really is no endpoint" to self-improvement, and that she has learned to embrace the unfinished nature of leadership even as she continues to grapple with self-doubt. Fleming was named to the tournament's Best XI.

Fleming was called up to the Canada squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics. As captain, she led the team through the fallout of a staff-operated drone surveillance scandal involving New Zealand's training sessions in Saint-Étienne, which resulted in a six-point FIFA deduction and suspensions for members of Canada's coaching staff, including then-head coach Bev Priestman; Fleming has described the episode as "a very overwhelming, hectic situation" that arrived "like a tidal wave," saying the playing group leaned on the belief that "this is our bubble" and that the scandal "didn't represent us." Fleming has said the difficulty of the tournament ultimately became "an extremely powerful unifying force" for the squad, bringing the team closer together than she had previously imagined.

International

CONCACAF W Championship Best XI: 2018, 2022 CONCACAF W Gold Cup Best XI: 2024 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship Best XI: 2013 Canadian Player of the Year: 2021, 2023 First-team All-American: 2017, 2019 Third-team All-American: 2016