Alex Morgan announces her retirement | OneFootball

US women’s football icon Alex Morgan has announced she is retiring from the professional game. The 35-year-old posted a tearful video to address fans directly with the news that she is hanging up her boots.

Morgan, who won two World Cups and an Olympic gold with USA, confirmed her final match will be this weekend. The San Diego Wave forward also announced that she is expecting her second child with partner Servando Carrasco.

“I have so much clarity about this decision and I’m so happy to be able to finally tell you,” an emotional Morgan said. “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.

“Soccer has been 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 in return was more than what I could’ve dreamed of. Success for me is defined by never giving up and giving your all, and I did just that. I’m giving my all every single day on the field. Giving my all in the relentless push for global investment in women’s sports, because we deserve that.”

Morgan’s success on the international stage has made her one of the most recognised female footballers on the planet. Alongside her glittering USWNT career, Morgan has lifted national titles with both the Western New York Flash and Portland Thorns, as well as the 2023 NWSL Shield and 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup most recently with San Diego Wave. In 2017, the forward signed for European giants Olympique Lyonnais and helped them win the Division 1 Féminine title, the Coupe de France Féminine and the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

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Paving the way for the next generation

In May 2020, Morgan and former MLS midfielder Carrasco welcomed the arrival of their daughter Charlie. The 35-year-old shared in her video that Charlie is now hoping to follow in her mother’s footsteps, with more eyes on women’s football than ever before thanks to household names like Morgan.

“Charlie came up to me the other day and said that when she grows up, she wants to be a soccer player and it just made me immensely proud. Not because I wish for her to become a soccer player but because a pathway exists that even a four-year-old can see now. We’re changing lives and the impact we have on the next generation is irreversible. I’m proud of the hand I had in making that happen. In pushing the game forward and leaving it in a place that I’m so happy and proud of.”

Fans can watch Alex Morgan for one last time when San Diego Wave take on North Carolina Courage on Sunday, September 8th.

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