When you come out of a tunnel, all of a sudden it's like a crescendo of sound.

90,000 people are cheering and camera flashing and all this and it's like a concentrated thunder almost.

It's truly a feeling that makes your heart really start to beat fast and you realize you're living your dream.

You're in it.

And let me tell you something.

Brianna Scurry was the goalkeeper for the 1999 Women's World Cup final.

It was a match that changed women's soccer forever.

She grew up in the small town of Dayton, Minnesota, and started playing soccer at 12.

She was the only person of color on her sports teams, and the same thing happened when she made the national team in 1994.

I became the only player of color with a core position starting role on the national team when I was there.

So that was really intriguing.

And then I was also the only open the gate player on the team as well.

Wherever I wanted to go when I chasing down my dreams, there was no path.

And so I made my own.

By 1999, Brianna was playing in the most attended Women's World Cup final in history.

When the match went to a penalty shootout, it was down to her.

Brianna also won two Olympic gold medals in her career, in 1996 and 2004, and became the first black woman in the Soccer Hall of Fame.

You're in the Smithsonian Yes, I am.

How does that feel?

I didn't believe it at first.

I knew my teams were impactful.

But I had no idea that my body of work in the game was having that big of an impact on my community in that way.

And now that the men's national team is looking ahead to its next chance to make an impact on the world stage in 2030, the countdown to the Women's World Cup has already begun.

The Women's World Cup in 2027 in Brazil is truly gonna be a watershed moment and have it truly inspire the young girls and boys there to watch.

And it's exciting because now you have Triple Espresso, the three very dynamic forwards on the women's national team now.

Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith, and Mallory Swanson.

Three players of color and they are the talk of the town, they are the faces of the team.

I was the only back in the day, now that is no longer the case.

And so I absolutely love that that's not the case, it is the beautiful game and a lot of people call it that and part of the reason why they call it that is because soccer belongs to everyone.

For PBS News, Student Reporting Labs in Alexandria, Virginia, I'm Divya Thaumann.