Julie Ertz apparently calls time on her national team career

Two-time women’s World Cup champion Julie Ertz, who was on the field for the U.S. national team as it exited the 2023 World Cup in heartbreaking-fashion Sunday, appeared to announce after the penalty-kick loss to Sweden that her national-team career is over.

“Unfortunately, this is my last time in this crest,” Ertz, 31, told ESPN’s Alexis Nunes.

Following a sterling college soccer stint with Santa Clara, the Arizona-born Ertz first played with the national team in January of 2013. She had already captained the U.S. to a U-20 World Cup title when the tournament was hosted in Japan in 2012. That remains the last championship for the U.S. at that level.

Ertz was deployed most often at the national team level as a defensive midfielder. But she also could slot in as a defender, which she did often in 2023 when the current team’s most-capped player, Becky Sauerbrunn, did not make the World Cup roster due to a foot injury. Partnered in central defense with Naomi Girma, Ertz helped the U.S. team to an undefeated record in regulation, allowing only one goal over the four games the U.S. played in the tournament. She also played in every minute of the Americans’ games.

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A dynamic presence on set pieces whose specialty was heading the ball, Ertz scored 20 goals over her national team career. Ertz helped the United States win their titles at the 2015 and 2019 women’s World Cup campaigns and, along with the team itself, was vying in 2023 for an unprecedented third title in a row until the squad crashed out in the quarterfinals.

After winning her first World Cup title in 2015, Ertz and then-Eagles tight end Zach Ertz announced their engagement in 2016. They married the following year and Ertz cheered her husband along as the Eagles won their title in 2018. He returned the support for her second World Cup championship in 2019. After their son was born last August, Ertz made a comeback to soccer by signing with Angel City F.C. and making the 2023 U.S. roster.

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While Ertz did not indicate retirement from the sport itself, which suggests her club career is likely to continue, calling time on her national-team tenure would mean she will not join the squad’s Olympic campaign next year. Ertz played in 2016 in the Rio Olympics, where the team was eliminated at the quarterfinal stage by Sweden in penalty kicks.