It’s a scene repeated wherever Alex Morgan goes: tiny girls decked out, like her, in ponytails and a No. 13 national team jersey, gathered in shrieking crowds in the hope of getting close to their favorite player. It’s difficult to say who gets more from the encounters — the player or her fans.

It happened last Sunday after the U.S. women’s soccer team closed preparation for this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with a 2-0 win over Wales. Morgan once again was among the last to leave the field, waiting until nearly every autograph had been signed and nearly every selfie had been snapped.

Morgan has long been more the leader of a rock band than a soccer team. Think Taylor Swift (her favorite artist) meets Christian Pulisic. But if she had a somewhat motherly vibe during the scene Sunday, that’s understandable. This World Cup, which kicks off for the Americans on July 22 against Vietnam, will be the fourth and likely last of Morgan’s career. If it ends with the team winning an unprecedented third consecutive title, she will join the debate over who is the most iconic and influential woman in U.S. Soccer history.

Last week she was named co-captain of the U.S. team for a second consecutive World Cup, a nod to her leadership and maturity and the journey that has taken her from precocious AYSO player — whose first coach was her father — to two-time World Cup champion and one of the most recognized athletes in the world.