CHICAGO (July 8, 2023) – Megan Rapinoe, one of the most famous soccer players and personalities in soccer history, has announced that she will be retiring from professional soccer after the conclusion of the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League season.
Known for her amazing talent on the field, her creative goal-scoring, her impressive performances in some of the biggest games of her career, and her deep concern and support for a wide range of social issues, including LGBTQ+ rights, racial inequality and voter rights, and gender and… equal pay, she leaves football as one of the most influential figures in the history of football in the United States and women’s football globally.
Rapinoe publicly came out as gay in July 2012 and has been an outspoken and visible advocate ever since. She was also the first white athlete and first woman to kneel during the national anthem in solidarity with soccer player Colin Kaepernick.
She will play her final World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this summer and then complete the 2023 NWSL season with her longtime club OL Reign to complete her historic football career.
“I’ve had such an incredible career and this game has taken me all over the world and allowed me to meet so many amazing people,” said Rapinoe. “I’m incredibly grateful to have played for as long, to be as successful as we have been and to have been part of a generation of players who undoubtedly left the game better than they found it. It’s very special to be able to play one final World Championship and one final NWSL season and compete on my own terms.
“I want to thank my family for being by my side all these years. Thank you to all my teammates and coaches from my early days at Redding, through college at the University of Portland and of course to US Soccer, Seattle Reign and especially Sue for everything. I will forever cherish the friendships and support over the years in this game and I’m super excited for one final ride with the national team and the Reign.”
Rapinoe, 38, began her international career in July 2006 (a few weeks after her 21st birthday) when she made her debut in San Diego against the Republic of Ireland. She scored her first two international goals on October 1, 2006, scoring twice against Chinese Taipei at what is now Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
She currently has 199 caps for her country over a 17-year period and will soon become the 14th US player in history to reach 200 caps.
Rapinoe is gearing up to take part in her fourth Women’s World Championship, having represented the USA at Germany 2011, Canada 2015 and France 2019, famously helping them win their last two World Championship titles in the process. She also competed at the 2004 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Thailand, as well as the 2012 (where she won a gold medal), 2016 and 2021 Olympics.
In their 199 international matches so far, the USA has an overall record of 157-14-28, which corresponds to a win rate of 86%. She played for the USA in three different decades and recorded 63 goals and 73 assists in her career.
Rapinoe is tied with Abby Wambach for the third all-time assist for the USWNT and is one of only seven players in USWNT history with 50+ career goals and 50+ career assists. She is the only player in the 50 goals/50 assists club who has had more assists than goals in her career.
She is taking part in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, her last after appearing in 17 World Cup matches and scoring nine goals. She took part in 14 Olympic Games and scored five goals. She has won 142 of her 199 caps, made 57 appearances as a substitute and captained 15 games – just like her long-time shirt number.
Rapinoe played for five different USWNT head coaches, scoring multiple goals among all of them.
“Megan Rapinoe is one of the most important players in women’s soccer history and a personality unlike any other,” said Vlatko Andonovski, US women’s national team head coach. “She created so many memorable moments for her team and the fans on the field that will be remembered for a long time, but her impact on people as a person is perhaps even more important.” It was a wonderful experience to have her in the NWSL and for the national team and I look forward to her being an important part of our team at the World Cup.”
Rapinoe had an epic 2019, receiving numerous prestigious awards including FIFA Player of the Year, France Football Ballon d’Or and Sports Illustrated Female Athlete of the Year. She won the Golden Ball as the World Cup’s best player and the Golden Boot as the top scorer with six goals. Her penalty goal in the World Cup final was her 50th career goal. Her “Aren’t you entertained?” pose after several of her goals gained worldwide fame and were imitated.
One of her many memorable performances came at the quarter-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 in Germany, where Wambach headed in her long service game in the final seconds of extra time to send the game to penalties, in which she scored a goal and helped USA win to victory.
Long before The Pose, few players celebrated more happily than Rapinoe. In the group match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 against Colombia, she scored a long-range shot early in the second half, ran to the corner, grabbed the TV microphone and sang Bruce Springsteen’s famous song ‘Born in the USA’.
In the semi-finals of the 2012 Olympic Games, she scored two goals in a dramatic 4-3 victory over Canada – both spectacular goals.
In the 2021 Olympic quarter-finals, Rapinoe converted the game-winning penalty in USA’s fourth attempt against the Netherlands and sent her team through to the semi-finals.
She put on an epic performance in the bronze medal match, scoring two spectacular goals, one of them straight from a corner kick, and helping the USA win the bronze medal in a 4-3 win over Australia.
In a feat that will likely never be repeated, Rapinoe scored “olimpicos” – goals straight from corner kicks – at two Olympic Games, in 2012 and 2021.
She is also one of only 18 USWNT players to have played 11,000 minutes in a US jersey.
On July 1, 2022, it was announced that Rapinoe had been selected by President Joe Biden to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, which she was presented at the White House on July 7. Rapinoe is the first female soccer player to receive the award and is one of only six female athletes or coaches to receive the award.
“Megan is a generational talent,” said USWNT executive director Kate Markgraf, whose international career overlapped with Rapinoe for four years. “If you talk about players performing on the biggest stages, she’s one of the best the USA women’s national team has ever seen. And that’s just their on-site contributions. Her contributions off the field are the epitome of someone who realized she had a great platform and used it for good.”
One of the few remaining NWSL players to play in the second edition of women’s professional soccer in the USA – the WPS – she has played her entire 11-year NWSL career for the Reign, for which she recorded 48 goals and 25 assists scored , good for sixth place in the all-time league. From 2013 to 2014 she also worked for Olympique Lyon in France.
Megan Anna Rapinoe was born and raised with her twin sister, Rachael, in Redding, California, a small town about 200 miles north of the San Francisco Bay Area. She excelled in many sports including high school basketball. She played most of her youth club football for Elk Grove and attended the University of Portland with Rachael, where she won an NCAA championship in 2005. A Pilots All-American, coming back from two cruciate ligament surgeries in college and one more in late 2015, he had one of the most memorable careers in US history.
She is engaged to basketball icon Sue Bird, who played 21 seasons in the WNBA before retiring in 2022 after winning a fifth and final Olympic gold medal with USA Basketball in 2021.