USWNT, NWSL star Alex Morgan announces retirement from soccer, pregnant with second child

U.S. Women’s National Team and San Diego Wave forward Alex Morgan announced she is retiring because she and husband Servando Carrasco are expecting their second child. Morgan, 35, will play one final game for the San Diego Wave on Sunday against the North Carolina Courage at home, she announced in a video posted to her social media on Thursday.

“I have so much clarity about this decision and I’m so happy to finally be able to tell you,” Morgan said. “It’s been a long time coming and this decision wasn’t easy. At the beginning of 2024, I felt in my heart and soul that this was the last season I would play football.

“Football was 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 back was more than I could ever have imagined.”

Thank you🫶 photo.twitter.com/8BkofVOh3s

— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) September 5, 2024

Morgan played her last match with the USWNT in June before the Olympics, a 3-0 win over South Korea in Minnesota. Coach Emma Hayes made headlines by cutting her from the Olympic roster, and Morgan remained with the Wave over the summer.

Morgan has been with the Wave since 2022 and previously played for Orlando Pride and Portland Thorns FC in the NWSL. He also played international matches for Lyon in 2017 and Tottenham during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She will retire as a two-time World Cup winner with the USWNT in 2015 and 2019 and a two-time Olympic medalist (gold in 2012 and bronze in 2021). In her 224 USWNT appearances, she scored 123 goals, which ranks her ninth on the all-time list for team appearances and fifth for most goals scored in program history.

Morgan first broke through for the United States U-20 team in 2008, when she was just beginning her collegiate career at the University of California, Berkeley. She made her senior national team debut in 2010, playing her first cap on March 31, 2010 against Mexico.

Morgan was the youngest member of the 2011 World Cup squad at 22. She scored her first goal in the hallowed competition in a 3–1 semifinal victory before opening the scoring in the final against Japan. Her performances made her an inseparable fixture for the USWNT for more than a decade, as she became a natural heir to Abby Wambach at forward. Morgan also began her club career that year, beginning a long nomadic saga with the Western New York Flash, where she played for five teams between 2011 and 2017.

Regardless of her club situation, Morgan remained consistent with the national team, becoming the face of the program, winning the U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year in 2012 and landing on the FIFA World Player of the Year shortlist that year. In terms of individual accolades, she will retire as a four-time CONCACAF Player of the Year, a six-time member of the FIFPro Women’s World 11, the 2022 NWSL Golden Boot winner and a member of the USWNT All-Time Best XI in 2013.

“I grew up on this team, it was so much more than soccer,” Morgan said in the official U.S. Soccer press release about her retirement. “It was the friendships and the unwavering respect and support of one another, the relentless push for global investment in women’s sports, and the pivotal moments of success both on and off the field. I feel so incredibly honored to have borrowed the crest for over 15 years. I’ve learned so much about myself during that time, and so much of that is a compliment to my teammates and our fans.”

“I feel immense pride in where this team is headed, and I will always be a fan of the USWNT. My desire for success may have always driven me, but what I got in return was more than I could ever ask for or hope for.”

Baby horse.
AM13.
Alex Morgan.#ThanksAlex photo.twitter.com/d4o95QfsTe

— United States Women’s National Soccer Team (@USWNT) September 5, 2024

Morgan also made a huge contribution off the field by leading the USWNT players’ fight for equal pay. She was one of five players to put their names to the initial complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2016, kicking off a long battle that led to the team filing a lawsuit against U.S. Soccer in 2019.

As important as that fight was, she also built a legacy off the court in the NWSL, where she served as a key witness for Mana Shim and later Sinead Farrelly when they filmed The Athletics in 2019 to share their stories of abuse they experienced in the NWSL. In addition to coming forward, Morgan was a key figure behind the scenes in pushing the league to add protections for players against harassment and other abuses of power.

She also posted emails between Shim, Farrelly and then-commissioner Lisa Baird, proving the league knew the two players were trying to come forward with additional information. “If we don’t absolutely dig in and fight for ourselves, we’ve seen that we’re not going to get anything,” Morgan said. The Athletics for 2021.

Morgan has always been willing to take on that fight and now that she announced her retirement on Thursday, the sport is the better for it.

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(Photo: C. Morgan Engel/Getty Images)