U.S. women’s national team legend Alex Morgan announced in a video Thursday that she will retire from professional soccer following a final NWSL game with the San Diego Wave on Sunday.
“It has been a long time coming, and this decision wasn’t easy, but at the beginning of 2024, I felt in my heart and soul that this was the last season that I would play soccer,” the 35-year-old forward said in the video.
Morgan’s final career game will be Sunday night, when San Diego hosts the North Carolina Courage.
Morgan made her debut for the senior USWNT in 2010 and retires with 224 international caps. She won two World Cups (2015 and 2019), an Olympic gold medal (2012) and an Olympic bronze (2020) before being left off the 2024 U.S. Olympic team, effectively ending her national team career. She retires with 123 career international goals and 53 assists, both of which rank in the top 10 in program history.
In addition to her international play, Morgan had a long club career for teams including the Portland Thorns, Orlando Pride and the Wave. While she spent most of her domestic career in the U.S.—particularly the NWSL—she had overseas stints at France’s Lyon and England’s Tottenham Hotspur.
In 2023, Morgan was the 11th-highest paid female athlete with total earnings of $6.9 million, and the highest-paid women’s soccer player. The vast majority ($6 million) of that total came via endorsements, as the star striker has long been one of the most popular names in the sport. Her 10 million Instagram followers are the second-most among female soccer players globally.
Morgan’s impact on women’s soccer goes beyond her accomplishments on the field. She was a leader in the USWNT’s long push for equal pay, including being one of five players who filed the initial gender discrimination complaint against U.S. Soccer back in 2016. In 2022, the U.S. women won a $24 million settlement and reached a historic equal-pay deal with U.S. Soccer for the future. Morgan also used her status as an outspoken advocate for reforms as the NWSL went through a wave of abuse scandals in recent years.
“Success for me is defined by never giving up, and giving your all, and I did just that,” Morgan said in Thursday’s video. “I’m giving my all every single day on the field, and I did that. Giving my all in the relentless push for global investment in women’s sports, because we deserve that. Giving my all in my various businesses beyond the soccer field, and giving my all as a mom to my daughter Charlie.”
In her retirement video, Morgan also revealed that she is pregnant with her second child with husband Servando Carrasco. The couple’s first child, Charlie, was born in 2020.
