Soccer Icon Alex Morgan To Retire From Professional Soccer

SAN DIEGO, CA — Soccer icon Alex Morgan announced Thursday that she is expecting her second child and retiring from professional soccer.

Two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion Morgan, 35, will play her final match with her club team, the San Diego Wave of the National Women's Soccer League, on Sunday at Snapdragon Stadium.

"I'm retiring. I have so much clarity about this decision," Morgan said in her retirement video posted on social media. "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."

Over the course of her career, Morgan has become an icon of the Women's National Team, amassing more than 200 goals and 88 assists across 337 appearances, according to the San Diego Wave FC. She will close her career with San Diego as the all-time goals and assist leader.

On the international stage, Morgan has starred for the Women's National Team since 2010. In addition to winning World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, she won an Olympic gold medal in 2012 and a bronze medal in 2020.

At the club level, Morgan signed for the San Diego Wave in 2022 before going on to make 50 appearances and tallying 23 goals and 9 assists in NWSL action, according to the San Diego Wave FC. She led the team in scoring in 2022 with 16 goals, earning the NWSL Golden Boot in the club's inaugural season.

Morgan served as captain as the club became the first expansion team in league history to make the playoffs in its debut season. The club earned its first trophy, the 2023 NWSL Shield, in San Diego's second season of play.

"Soccer has been a part of me for 30 years," she said. "It was one of the first things that I ever loved. I gave everything to this sport. What I got in return was more than I could have ever dreamed of," Morgan said.

Morgan not only made an impact on the field, she has advocated for equal pay and gender equality, inspired by her own experience as a professional athlete and mother. In 2023, she launched the Alex Morgan Foundation, which focuses on supporting and empowering young girls in sports.

Morgan has also served as a co-founder of Togethxr, a media platform that amplifies the stories of women in sports and beyond.

"The impact we have on the next generation is irreversible, and I am proud of the hand I had in making that happen, pushing the game forward, and leaving it in a place that I am so happy and proud of," she said.

Morgan announced Thursday that she is pregnant with her second child with husband Servando Carrasco. The couple welcomed their first child, Charlie, in May 2020.

San Diego Wave FC plans to celebrate Morgan's career during the club's final home match on Nov. 3 at Snapdragon Stadium.