20-year-old Korbin Albert started her 2024 in a brilliant fashion. Having left college for a professional contract with PSG a year ago, she is starting to get consistent minutes in the French capital and has been impressing on the pitch, to the point she received call-ups to the USWNT.

After debuting for the USWNT in December, she’s suddenly emerged as a key player in the 2024 W Gold Cup, starting in five out of six games as the Americans won the tournament.

The only game she didn’t start was the only game the USWNT lost, a 2-0 defeat to Mexico.

After such an impressive tournament, it is expected that the midfielder will go on to be a key player for the next decade, as she’s been enjoying an amazing spell for both club and country.

Suddenly, things turned sour very quickly.

On March 27th, multiple USWNT fan accounts on Twitter shared screenshots of Albert’s recent social media activities, where she reposted a bunch of homophobic and transphobic videos on TikTok.

It is problematic considering that many fans of the USWNT are a part of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as many of the players, including some of Albert’s teammates.

To make matters even worse, she liked some posts on Instagram mocking Megan Rapinoe’s injury in her last ever professional game, which angered a lot of the USWNT fans.

Albert also now wears number 15 for the USWNT, a number previously worn by Rapinoe.

Rapinoe immediately posted an Instagram story the next day, not mentioning Albert by name but obviously calling her out for her homophobic and transphobic activities.

“Wake TF up,” she wrote.

“For people who want to hide behind ‘my beliefs’, I would just ask one question. Are you making any type of space safer, more inclusive?”

“If you aren’t, all you believe in is hate. And kids are litreally killing themselves because of this hate.”

Rapinoe’s story was shared by many current and former USWNT players. Few hours later, Albert posted a story of her own apologizing for her actions.

“I want to sincerely apologize for my actions,” she wrote on her story.

“Liking and sharing posts that are offensive, insensitive and hurtful was immature and disrespectful which was never my intent.”

“I’m really disappointed in myself and deeply sorry for the hurt that I have caused to my teammates, other players, fans, friends, and anyone who was offended.”

“I truly believe that everyone should feel safe and respected everywhere. I promise to do better.”

Albert is currently with the USWNT for the SheBelieves Cup, the squad was announced just one day before her social media activities surfaced.

The team chose not to send her back to France, but the captains Lindsey Horan and Alex Morgan spoke about their disappointment with her and revealed they had tough internal discussions.

“We’ve worked extremely hard to uphold the integrity of this national team through all of the generations, and we are extremely, extremely sad that this standard was not upheld,” Horan said.

“Our fans feel this is a team they can rally behind, it’s important that they continue to be heard and seen.”

“We stand by maintaining a safe and respectful space, especially as allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community,” Morgan said.

“This platform has given us an opportunity to highlight causes that matter to us, something that we never take for granted.”

“We’ve had internal discussions and that will stay within the team.”

On Saturday, Albert started the game against Japan on the bench and only came on in the 78th minute, with some fans booing her at the stadium.

Despite the apology, many people are still upset with her and her involvement with the USWNT, including Utah Royals goalkeeper Carly Nelson, who made a thread on Twitter to express her views.

“As a queer player playing a sport, how are we not talking more about Korbin Albert being called into camp after demonstrating homophobic and transphobic actions? Her actions are creating an unsafe space for LGBTQIA+ players,” Nelson wrote.

“Korbin epitomizes what the LGBTQIA+ community continuously has to fight against. The US Soccer Federation continuing to give her a platform, diminishes the safety and comfort of queer players.”

“Korbins actions are not just a controversy or a one-time mistake; they are hateful and they reflect and perpetuate the systemic oppression of queer people in our society.“

“It’s sending a message that the Federation does not prioritize the creation of safe spaces for trans and gender-diverse players. This lack of prioritization to protect trans and gender diverse players - undermines efforts to promote inclusivity and respect.“

“Her and her family have demonstrated a clear disregard for respect and well-being of queer individuals across the globe.“

“By openly making fun of pronouns, liking and posting transphobic and homophobic things - sheds a direct light on the harmful and hateful ideas keeping trans and queer people unsafe in this sport.”

This has largely divided the U.S. fans, with many siding with Albert by saying she’s allowed to have her own opinions, while others want her gone from the USWNT, at least for a certain amount of time due to her homophobia, transphobia, and mocking Rapinoe’s injury.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.