Alex Morgan, the generational soccer star who led the United States to two FIFA Women’s World Cup titles and an Olympic gold medal, announced her retirement on social media.
Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
Hide caption
Show/hide label
Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
Alex Morgan, the generational soccer star who led the United States to two FIFA Women’s World Cup titles and an Olympic gold medal, announced her retirement on social media.
Morgan, 35, will make her final appearance as a professional soccer player on Sunday when her NWSL team, the San Diego Wave, hosts the North Carolina Courage.
“It’s been a long time coming and this decision has not been easy. But at the beginning of 2024, I felt in my heart and soul that this would be the last season I would play football,” Morgan said in a video posted on her social media accounts.
“Football has been a part of me for 30 years and it was one of the first things I ever loved. I gave everything to this sport and what I got in return was more than I could have ever imagined,” she said.
Morgan was first called up to the U.S. women’s national team in 2009, when she was a 20-year-old star player at the University of California, Berkeley. The following year, she scored her first four international goals, earning her the nickname “Baby Horse” for her speed and power.
For 15 years, Morgan was the face of American soccer, an icon whose prowess on the field helped maintain U.S. dominance in the sport. With her on the team, the U.S. won the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cups and the 2012 Olympic gold medal. Her 123 international goals are the fifth-most in U.S. history.
At the club level, she played for a handful of teams in and outside the United States, including six years with Orlando Pride and three years each with the Portland Thorns and her current team, the San Diego Wave. She finishes her career with the fourth-most goals in league history.
In Thursday’s video, Morgan recounted a recent conversation with her four-year-old daughter in which the girl told her mother that she hoped to become a soccer player one day.
“It made me incredibly proud – not because I want her to grow up to be a football player – but because there is a path that even a four-year-old can see now,” Morgan said. “We are changing lives and the impact we are having on the next generation is irreversible. I am proud to have been a part of that.”
Morgan also announced that she is pregnant with her second child.
Fresh from winning Olympic gold at the Paris Olympics this summer, the U.S. women’s national team is now in the hands of a new generation led by stars like Mallory Swanson, Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith.
“I am incredibly proud of the development of this team and will forever be a fan of the USWNT,” Morgan said Thursday.
The United States women’s national soccer team has struggled on the international stage after winning the 2019 Women’s World Cup. At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the team had to settle for a bronze medal. And at the 2023 World Cup, the team was eliminated in the round of 16 – its worst ever result at a major international tournament. Earlier this year, the team slipped to fifth place in the FIFA international rankings, its lowest placing ever.
In the run-up to the 2024 Olympic Games Morgan was dropped from the Olympic squad – a decision that national coach Emma Hayes said at the time was “not easy”.
“It was obviously a difficult decision, especially considering Alex’s past and his record with this team. But I felt like I wanted to go in a different direction and selected other players,” Hayes said.
