From the Archives: Vogue’s Hamish Bowles Trains With Soccer Star Alex Morgan

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July 19, 2026 8:03am EDT

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By Corey Seymour

The collective attention of the globe is firmly—even frantically—on Sunday’s World Cup final, which pits the defending European champion and historical football powerhouse Spain against the defending World Cup champion and historical football powerhouse Argentina. (Here’s hoping that by now you’ve sorted out both where you’re watching the game and who you’re rooting for.)

As the entire tournament has played out, many of us here in the Vogue office have fondly remembered Hamish Bowles’ April 2016 story—part of a years-long occasional series in which Hamish’s editors forced him to somewhat unwittingly assume the mantle of participatory journalism—in which he shadowed the legendary American soccer star Alex Morgan, training with her and her trainers and learning slide tackles on the pitch under her wing. At the time of Hamish’s immersion with her, Morgan had already won one Women’s World Cup with the US team; a few years later, she’d add another—but it’s safe to say that perhaps nothing could have prepared her for Hamish’s arrival.

Hamish arrived to their first encounter armed with advice from David Beckham (whose ear Hamish had bent during a recent Manhattan dinner party): “Listen to the girls,” Beckham told him. “They’re the most driven athletes I’ve ever known—and run fast!”

Sadly (for Hamish—it’s great for us!), that brilliant advice was soon set adrift by the harsh reality of hardcore training sessions with Dawn Scott, at the time the trainer of the US women’s team, who started Hamish off on “something fiendish called a ‘Turkish get-up,’ which, sadly, is not some fabulous sable-trimmed robe to prance around Topkapi Palace in, but a grueling warm-up exercise.”

The rest of the story is just the sort of charming, picaresque tale one needs before coming to grips with Sunday’s clash of titans. Enjoy—and good luck to your team!