As someone who played competitive youth soccer for over a decade of my life, I’ve had some amazing female soccer role models to look up to — Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, Julie Ertz and Alex Morgan have all dominated the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.
Together, they won the Women’s World Cup in 2015 and 2019 while the USWNT was at the height of its dominance under manager Jill Ellis. Rapinoe, in particular, was also the face of the USWNT’s legal battle for wage parity under U.S. Soccer, which was settled in 2022.
On Sunday, Morgan officially announced her retirement from professional soccer last week and played her final game for her club team, the San Diego Wave.
Morgan exited the game in the 13th minute, a nod to her iconic jersey number 13. She leaves a 15-year career that saw her score 123 goals — fifth all-time — in 224 caps for the USWNT.
Although Morgan left an indelible mark on the pitch, much of her influence came off the field. Not only was her iconic pink pre-wrap headband a trendsetter for youth soccer players everywhere (I distinctly remember telling my parents that I needed to wear pre-wrap in games because she did), but she was also a central figure in the USWNT’s fight for parity and helped shape the fledgling National Women’s Soccer League into the organization it is today.
Morgan’s retirement comes at a watershed moment for the USWNT. After a disappointing exit in the World Cup last year under manager Vlatko Andonovski, the team was in desperate need of some fresh perspective and legs before the Paris Olympics this summer. New manager Emma Hayes brought both. Not only did she succeed in bringing a gold medal home to the U.S. for the first time since 2012, but the team also played with more excitement and vitality than I’ve seen in years, thanks in large part to the “Triple Espresso” attacking trio of Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith.
Hayes notably left Morgan off the roster for the Olympics, leading many to question the decision. While Hayes’ decision was most likely practical — Olympic rosters only allow 18 players in comparison to the 23 allowed for World Cups — it was also symbolic. Of the 18 named to the Olympic roster this year, only goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher was at the 2015 World Cup. Following Ertz and Rapinoe’s retirements last year, Morgan was one of the only remaining players who was at the center of the USWNT’s dominant 2010s.
Morgan is undoubtedly leaving professional women’s soccer in a better position than she found it, but she’s not done.
In a statement announcing her retirement on her Instagram, Morgan reflected on her impact on the women’s professional game. She noted that her four-year-old daughter, Charlie, told her she wants to be a professional women’s soccer player when she grows up.
“A pathway exists that even a four-year-old can see now,” Morgan said in the Instagram post. “We’re changing lives and the impact we have on the next generation is irreversible and I’m proud of the hand I had in making that happen, in pushing the game forward, in leaving it in a place that I’m so happy and proud of.”
Already an investor in women’s sports through her media company Togethxr, which Morgan co-founded with Simone Manuel, Chloe Kim and Sue Bird, Morgan is looking to continue amplifying coverage of and investment in women’s sports in the future.
Thank you, Alex. For everything.
