Alyssa Thompson Reflects on Her First World Cup and U.S. Soccer's Loss: ‘I Experienced Every Emotion’

"I was excited to be there, but I was nervous, scared, sad at some points, and lonely because we were there for so long," Thompson tells PEOPLE

Alyssa Thompson is finally ready to reflect on her first World Cup experience.

The 19-year-old forward made her debut at the biggest tournament in soccer this past summer, and it was a World Cup filled with ups and downs for the U.S. Women’s National Team who was vying for an unprecedented third-straight trophy.

The USWNT ultimately fell short of their goal to three-peat when Sweden eliminated them in the Round of 16 after one of the most dramatic penalty shootouts in the sport’s recent memory.

The team’s harrowing, high-pressured journey is now the focus of a new Netflix docuseries Under Pressure: The U.S. Women’s World Cup Team, which features behind the scenes footage and never-before-seen interviews with the team and its coaches.

In a new interview with PEOPLE ahead of the series’ release this week, Thompson opened up about spending weeks in New Zealand and Australia for her first World Cup and how she managed the pressure to win from both inside and outside the team’s locker room last August.

“I think I experienced every emotion,” Thompson says. “I was excited to be there, I was nervous, scared, sad at some points and lonely because we were there for so long. But it was super nice to have my family there.”

Related: Alex Morgan Is 'Not Planning' to Retire After USWNT's 'Devastating' World Cup Defeat

Thompson, who made her World Cup debut alongside 13 other American players on the more novice roster, was one of the top names on the USWNT team and played in two of their four matches.

“Being a part of my first World Cup is something that I've dreamed about since I was little and I was really excited that I got to be there,” Thompson says now, a few months removed from the team’s dramatic defeat.

Now, the USWNT is gearing up for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Thompson says it was important for her to get World Cup experience under her belt and to “just have a lot of veteran players around me and be able to learn a lot from them.”

Related: USWNT Coach Vlatko Andonovski Resigns After Early World Cup Exit: 'It's Been the Honor of My Life'

Scenes from the new Rebecca Gitlitz-directed documentary show veterans like Alex Morgan and captain Lindsey Horan passing down wisdom to younger players or picking up the team emotionally when things appeared dire in the group stage and criticism from outside the locker room was growing.

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Thompson says she believes the tense new series will likely show fans how high the USWNT’s players set the bar for themselves and their own expectations to win.

“I definitely had never experienced that type of pressure before, just going into a tournament and feeling like a lot of people on the outside don't want you to win, a lot of other people are putting pressure on you to win, and then also the pressure the U.S. team puts on ourselves to be the best we can be,” Thompson says. “I think that pressure is bigger than the outside noise. We want to win, we want to dominate, and that's the pressure that we put on ourselves. So, as a team, we all know that and I think it was so different than what other people were saying.”

Under Pressure: The U.S. Women’s World Cup Team is streaming now on Netflix.

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