The United States women’s soccer star Alex Morgan left the field after defining a generation of her sport. The 35-year-old retired on Sunday, Sept. 8, announcing her pregnancy with her second child.
Morgan captained the San Diego Wave in a 4-1 home defeat by the North Carolina Courage. After missing a penalty kick, Morgan left the field with just over 13 minutes on the clock, emblematic of her jersey number, 13, that she has worn for years. As she exited the field, replaced by forward Amirah Ali, she tearfully blew kisses to the crowd as fans chanted her names and both teams applauded.
Morgan’s athletic accolades are astounding. She has played at the top level of women’s soccer for 15 years and played in both the 2015 and 2019 World Cup, where the U.S. took home victories. She also won an Olympic gold medal in 2012 with the team, as well as a bronze in 2021. However, she was left off the roster in new manager Emma Hayes’s team for the 2024 Paris Olympic games, in which the team brought home gold.
Morgan made her international debut in 2009 and since has played over 200 matches for the U.S. In these games, she scored 123 goals, ranking her the fifth-highest of all time. Additionally, since her debut, no player has been involved in more U.S. goals than Morgan, at 175.
“On the field, she’s broken all records [and] all barriers, and she really walks the walk and is able to show up off the field because she does the work on the field. I think that’s the thing that she has done really at every step of her career. She’s been an inspiration,” NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said during the broadcast of the final game. “[However], it’s a choice to do what she does off the field, and I think that’s the thing that’s made her beyond reproach and actually the true GOAT.”
Morgan has been an avid advocate for gender equality in soccer. In 2019, with the other players of the national team, she filed a discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation demanding equal pay. An agreement was reached in 2022. Additionally, in 2020, Morgan set in motion the NWSL’s first anti-harassment policy.
Berman also commented on Alex’s use of her success for the better of women’s soccer.
“Coming into this league, she was the one who really used her platform to call to action the changes that needed to happen for this league that [has] now manifested a world where we have 28,000 people here cheering for her and her team,” Berman said. “12,000 tickets were sold in one day when she announced that this was going to be her last game. That’s the power of Alex Morgan.”
Morgan now plans to continue her role in soccer through investing in women’s sports.
“I think that I’ve found my calling in just investing in women’s sports, doing as much as I can to give as big of a platform to women’s sports as possible. I do that through my media company, Together. I’m doing that through my foundation, the Alex Morgan Foundation, that I launched last year here in San Diego, and through other various businesses and investments, personal investments that I have, one being Unrivalled, the new women’s basketball [three-on-three] league. So, I see that that’s where I will make the most impact,” Morgan said according to The Guardian.
Morgan also spoke with reporters after her final game.
“I feel so at peace because I am ready to start a family, I am ready to hang up the boots and allow the next generation to flourish and just relish in the spotlight. I’m ready, and it’s a good feeling when you finally come to that,” Morgan said.
Morgan has left a legacy that will echo for years to come and can leave U.S. soccer knowing she made it a better place.
