U.S. Soccer legend Alex Morgan announces her retirement

Alex Morgan, one of the top goal-scorers in U.S. women’s national team history, announced her retirement from professional soccer Thursday morning.

Morgan, 35, who also announced that she is pregnant with her second child, will play in her final game this Sunday when the NWSL’s San Diego Wave hosts the North Carolina Courage.

”I grew up on this [U.S. women’s national] team. It was so much more than soccer,” Morgan, who made her USWNT debut in 2010 and finished with 224 appearances, said in a release. “It was the friendships and the unwavering respect and support among each other, the relentless push for global investment in women’s sports, and the pivotal moments of success both on and off the field.”

Morgan, a native of suburban Los Angeles, finished her USWNT career with 123 goals (fifth all-time) and 53 assists (ninth). The USWNT never lost a match in which she scored (76-0-10). Her header in the 123rd minute against Canada in the 2012 Olympic semifinals remains the FIFA record for the latest goal scored in a women’s world championship. She and the USWNT ultimately won gold that year, and she later was on the team that won bronze in Tokyo in 2021. She also was on the World Cup-winning squads in 2015 and 2019, as well as the ones that were runner-up in 2011 and crashed out in the round of 16 last year.

She became U.S. Soccer’s Female Player of the Year in 2012 after she recorded 28 goals and 21 assists. She was also named to FIFA’s World XI six times, and was the Concacaf Female Player of the Year four times.

Before the Wave, Morgan helped the Portland Thorns win the inaugural NWSL title in 2013. She also played for the Orlando Pride (2016-21) and in Europe for Lyon (France) and Tottenham Hotspur (England) and in the short-lived Women’s Professional Soccer for the Western New York Flash. She won the NWSL’s Golden Boot in 2022 with a league-high 15 goals.

Her first call-up to a senior USWNT camp was in 2009 at age 20, and her final appearance was against South Korea in June. She wasn’t on the Olympic squad that won gold this summer in Paris, one of the most notable names missing from manager Emma Hayes’ first major tournament roster.

“I am so incredibly honored to have borrowed the crest for more than 15 years,” Morgan continued. “I learned so much about myself in that time and so much of that is a credit to my teammates and our fans. I feel immense pride in where this team is headed, and I will forever be a fan of the USWNT.”