Mia Bhuta

College career

Bhuta featured in the starting lineup of all but one game for the Stanford Cardinal in her freshman season in 2023. She scored her first college goal in a 1–0 win over Washington State. She was deployed as a midfielder at the start of the season but moved to the back line by the end of the year. Stanford went undefeated all the way to the final of the NCAA tournament, where they lost to Florida State. After the season, Bhuta was named to the All-Pac-12 Conference third team and received all-freshman recognition from the Pac-12, TopDrawerSoccer, and College Soccer News.

International career

Bhuta was first called into training camp with the United States under-15 team in 2020 and joined the under-17s the following year. She captained the under-17s on her international debut at the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship. The United States outscored its opposition 58–1 in seven games to win the tournament, qualifying for the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. At age 16, Bhuta was one of three captains for the United States at that World Cup held in India, where she became the first player of Indian descent, male or female, to play for the United States at a FIFA tournament at any age level. She came off the bench and scored in the opening 8–0 win over the hosts. The United States played Nigeria to a 1–1 draw in the quarterfinals; the team lost in a penalty shootout in which Bhuta converted her penalty kick.

Honors and awards

Stanford Cardinal Atlantic Coast Conference: 2025 ACC tournament: 2025

United States U17 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship: 2022

Individual Second-team All-ACC: 2024 Third-team All-Pac-12: 2023