María Sánchez

María is the daughter of Mexican-born Roberto Sánchez and Irene Morales, who as of 2015 were employed at a potato processing plant in American Falls, Idaho, United States.

With no clubs locally avaiable and not having the luxury of affording the costs of enrolling her on an elite club team, Sánchez played only high school soccer.

Sánchez was a four-year letter-winner at American Falls High School. She was the scoring leader in the state of Idaho in all four years, scoring 26, 34, 50, and 78 goals. Her number was later retired by American Falls High School. Her number was then later retired by American Falls High School.

Despite her high school record, Idaho State Bengals was the only collegiate program that offered Sánchez a scholarship because she did not play elite club soccer.

Thanks to her Mexican inheritance, she's playing for the Mexico national team. During 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, she was the second youngest player on the World Cup team.

In 2016 María wanted to leave Idaho State University to seek a more "competitive environment", however, there was a controversy when Idaho State University denied her request to communicate with five universities, all major women's soccer powers that expressed interest in signing her. Luckily, everything worked out in the end and she got enrolled at Santa Clara University.

María is affectionately known as 'La Bombi.'

She plays the guitar and sing pretty good, sharing her videos on Instagram.

In 2024, Sánchez appeared in the first season of The Offseason, a reality television series following a group of NWSL players training before the new season

Sánchez speaks fluently both, English and Spanish.

She's able to ride a horse, posting pictures of her on Tequilla (name of the horse).

Nothing means more to her than her family, María and her siblings were so happy when in 2019 they achieved one of their biggest goals in life - paying of their parents mortgage.

At the end of 2024 she became a Ford ambassador.

She spend her childhood playing football with the boys, always dreaming about becoming a proffesional footballer.

One of her biggest idols is Ronaldinho.