Rose Lavelle Sophia Smith Crystal Dunn splitGetty/GOAL

NWSL Draft: Crystal Dunn, Rose Lavelle & what happened to every No.1 overall pick

The 2024 NWSL season is almost upon us, and we'll take a step closer to it all kicking-off with the NWSL Draft, set to take place on Friday, January 12 as more teams than ever pick from the top talent from the college system in the United States.

Who will be the No.1 pick this year? Two exciting, creative midfielders are being discussed as the biggest contenders for that honour, those being the University of Georgia's Croix Bethune and Stanford's Maya Doms. If it was the latter, she would be the fifth No.1 overall pick to come from Stanford in just the last seven years.

Whoever is first off the board will add their name to an incredibly illustrious list, too, one which started with the first NWSL Draft back in 2013. Of the 11 players to be picked at No.1, 10 have since represented the U.S. women's national team and five have won the World Cup with their country.

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So as we prepare to find out who the 12th No.1 pick in NWSL Draft history will be, GOAL takes a look back at how those from previous years have fared...