SAN DIEGO – Through tears, Alex Morgan waved to the crowd and left the field for the final time Sunday, capping an impressive 15-year career.
The two-time women’s football world champion announced on Thursday that she was pregnant with her second child and would announce her retirement from football.
In her last game, she started for the San Diego Wave and wore the captain’s armband. She played the first 13 minutes against the North Carolina Courage before being taken off the game to a standing ovation at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium.
“What a journey this has been,” Morgan told the crowd after the game.
It was her 63rd appearance for the Wave, and Morgan was presented with the number 63 jersey at a pre-game ceremony. Overall, it was her 150th appearance in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Before the game, the video scoreboard showed clips from Morgan’s farewell video and highlights from her career. Her four-year-old daughter Charlie accompanied her onto the field. More than 95 family members and friends attended the game.
The Wave starters posed for a photo imitating Morgan’s iconic “tea slurping” celebration, a tribute to her iconic reaction to scoring the opening goal to beat England in the semifinals of the 2019 World Cup in France.
Morgan’s career with the U.S. national team was filled with success, including world championship titles in 2015 and 2019 and an Olympic gold medal in 2012. At the club level, Morgan played for the NWSL champions Portland Thorns in the league’s inaugural year and helped the Wave win the Shield in 2023.
Morgan played in 224 games for the U.S. national team, scoring 123 goals (fifth on her career list) and 53 assists (ninth). She was named U.S. Soccer Player of the Year in 2012 and 2018.
When she was substituted, she fought back tears as she took off her football boots in midfield. During the substitution, a tifó was written on a fan block: “For country, club, community.”
Despite the heat of nearly 100 degrees, 26,516 fans filled the Snapdragon for Morgan’s farewell game. Among them was right-hander Joe Musgrove of the San Diego Padres, who went to the game directly after starting against the San Francisco Giants.
“Twelve thousand tickets were sold in one day when she announced that this would be her last game,” said NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman. “That’s the power of Alex Morgan.”
Wave fan Amber Brunner attended the game with her family and said, “My girls fell in love with soccer because of her.”
Off the field, Morgan promoted women’s soccer in their fight for equal pay with the men’s national team. The U.S. women filed a lawsuit in 2019 that led to a historic agreement in 2022 that gave both men and women equal pay.
A young fan held a sign at the game that read: “Thank you Alex for all your hard work for women’s sports.”
