![]() Matthews training with the Houston Dash in 2025 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | [1] | May 25, 2007||
Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) [2] | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Houston Dash | ||
Number | 27 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2024– | Houston Dash | 2 | (0) |
International career | |||
2023 | United States U-16 | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 3, 2024 |
Zoe Matthews (born May 25, 2007) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for the Houston Dash of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She signed with the Dash at the age of 17 in 2024.
Matthews was raised in Southlake, Texas, and attended Carroll Senior High School. [2] She helped lead her high school team to the UIL Class 6A state championship as a freshman in 2022, scoring and assisting in the final while teammate Kennedy Fuller scored a hat trick. [3] She was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-American team as a sophomore in 2023. [2] She won the ECNL under-14 national championship with Solar SC in 2021. She led Legends SC to the ECNL under-17 title game in 2024. [2] While growing up, she was mentored by North Carolina Courage midfielder Brianna Pinto through Voice in Sport, a group supporting African-American girls in sports. [4]
The Houston Dash announced on October 11, 2024, that they had signed Matthews through 2026. At age 17, she was the youngest player in club history and the youngest African American to enter the NWSL. [2] [5] She had previously committed to play college soccer for the LSU Tigers. [6] She made her professional debut on October 18, coming in as an 85th-minute substitute for Sarah Puntigam against the Seattle Reign. [7]
Matthews trained with the United States under-15 and under-16 national teams in 2022. [8] [9] She also received an international call-up to train with the Jamaica senior national team that year, aged 15. [2] [10] Matthews was called up with her high school teammate Kennedy Fuller for an under-16 tournament in France in 2023, where she started in the final victory over the hosts. [2] [11]