Laken Litman
College Football and Soccer Analyst
Alex Morgan sure knows how to drop a mic.
In a four-minute, 33-second video posted to her social media Thursday morning, the US women’s national team legend shocked the sports world by announcing that she is retiring from professional soccer immediately and is pregnant -man also to his second child. Morgan will play his final professional game for the San Diego Wave on Sunday against the North Carolina Courage at home.
“I have a lot of clarity about this decision, and I’m so happy to finally be able to tell you,” Morgan said between deep breaths. “It’s been a long time coming, and this decision was not easy. But at the beginning of 2024, I felt in my heart and soul that this would be the last season I would play soccer.
“Soccer has been a part of me for 30 years, and it was one of the first things I fell in love with. I gave everything to this sport and what I got in return was more than I could have ever dreamed of.”
Morgan, 35, will be one of the best to ever play the game. He is a two-time World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist. He will be remembered as one of the greatest finishers of all time, scoring 123 goals (fifth most in USWNT history) with 53 assists in 224 international appearances. He grew up in the national team, earned his first cap as a 20-year-old in 2010 and was nicknamed “Baby Horse,” eventually becoming its face.
He scored countless pivotal and memorable goals, such as when a 21-year-old Morgan, then the youngest player in the squad, scored a stoppage-time goal against Italy in the first leg of the 2011 World Cup Cup qualifying playoffs. He then had a US and World Cup record five goals against Thailand in the 2019 World Cup opener. Later in that tournament, he scored a header in the semifinal against England, which he followed up with his now famous “sipping tea” celebration. In February 2023, she became the highest scoring mother in USWNT history and finished her career with 16 goals as a mother.
He is just as, if not more, prolific off the field, especially in his fierce pursuit of equal pay. She was the lead plaintiff when the USWNT sued US Soccer for gender discrimination ahead of the 2019 World Cup, recognizing the weight her name carries. She is an activist and ally, always standing up and supporting LGBTQ rights. He held the NWSL accountable for its failure to protect players. She has always understood her starpower and celebrity, and knows how to use her platform to promote others.
Playing for the national team for 15 years, Morgan transcended the sport, becoming everyone’s favorite player, male or female, female or male, diehard or casual fan. This is always evident in how loud the cheers are during player introductions before matches. If anything, the decibel level grew when his name was announced.
Morgan is a mentor and role model and an inspiration, not only to her daughter or younger teammates, but to athletes outside of her sport. Simone Biles, Caitlin Clark and Mikaela Shiffrin were among the thousands who commented on her retirement video thanking her for elevating women’s sports. She is friends with Taylor Swift, who wished her luck in the USWNT’s 2023 World Cup sendoff video. And respected by iconic players who came before her, like Michelle Akers, Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach.
And while Morgan does a lot in public, most of her work is done behind the scenes that people don’t always see.
“Every day in the camp Alex always took me under his wing, helped me, explained things to me,” said Sophia Smith last summer before the 2023 World Cup. “He’s the person I’ve looked up to all my life.
“He’s just a professional in every way,” Smith continued. “How she carries herself. You can just watch Alex and you can learn a lot from her. I mean, she’s in the spotlight. Her life is crazy. To watch her navigate that and at the same time be a mom, which is something I hope. Do it too, you’ll learn a lot.”
“Don’t think many people will ever understand the weight you carry every day as the face of this team and women’s soccer in general,” USWNT captain Lindsey Horan wrote on Instagram. “You’ve upped the game for so many little kids who look up to you and it’s such a great career on top of it.”
More than anything, Morgan just wants to set an example for her son Charlie, who has been a fixture at his mother’s games and press conferences. Morgan told FOX Sports last year that “it was important for him to see mom in a different way and understand that mom is going to work, mom is going to her soccer game” and expose her to “some of the most confident and powerful woman.” In his retirement video, Morgan broke down in tears as he said Charlie recently told him he wanted to be a soccer player when he grew up.
“It makes me very proud, not because I want him to be a soccer player when he grows up, but because there is a path that even a four-year-old can see now,” Morgan said. “We are changing lives and the impact we have on the next generation is irreversible. I am proud of my hand in doing this, in pushing the game forward and leaving it in a place where I am very happy and proud.”
Last summer, the USWNT was knocked out of the World Cup in the round of 16 – its earliest exit in major tournament history – after a dramatic penalty shootout in Sweden. Morgan started all four matches but failed to score a goal. Almost a year later, she was left out of the 18-player squad named by new coach Emma Hayes for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Morgan was disappointed not to get another chance to represent his country, although remained supportive and cheered for the team when it won gold.
Morgan has been thinking about his future after soccer for a long time. He told FOX Sports last year that whenever he decides to retire, he will be at peace.
“In soccer, I love it, but it’s not my identity, it’s not all of who I am,” Morgan said. “I think a lot of people see me as ‘Alex Morgan the soccer player,’ but I hope they start seeing me as ‘Alex Morgan the activist, Alex Morgan the entrepreneur, Alex Morgan the mother.
“So with that, I feel like I’m setting things up in order to make that next stage of my life as fulfilling or more than right now.”
His soccer career may be over, but Morgan’s legacy will undoubtedly affect players for generations to come.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. He previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow him on Twitter @LakenLitman.
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