Current:Home > FinanceMegan Rapinoe Announces Plans to Retire From Professional Soccer -Wealth Nexus Pro
Megan Rapinoe Announces Plans to Retire From Professional Soccer
View
Date:2025-04-14 08:40:39
U.S. women's national soccer team star Megan Rapinoe is getting the ball rolling on her retirement.
The Olympian, one of the most renowned female soccer players of all time, announced July 8 that she plans to retire from professional soccer after the end of the 2023 National Women's Soccer League season this fall.
"It is with a deep sense of peace & gratitude that I have decided this will be my final season playing this beautiful game," Rapinoe, 38, wrote on Instagram, alongside a pic of herself as a child. "I never could have imagined the ways in which soccer would shape & change my life forever, but by the look on this little girl's face, she knew all along."
The athlete's fiancée, fellow Olympian and retired WNBA legend Sue Bird expressed her support for her partner, commenting, "Congrats, baby!! That little girl is going to continue to do so much good in this world (but she sure did kill it on the field). I love you."
Rapinoe, a 11-year league veteran and a winger for the OL Reign team, will play her final regular-season match at Seattle's Lumen Field on Oct. 6 against the Washington Spirit, ESPN reported. Before that, she will play with two-time defending champion USWNT in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup this summer in New Zealand and Australia.
"I've been able to have such an incredible career, and this game has brought me all over the world and allowed me to meet so many amazing people," Rapinoe said in a statement posted on the U.S. Soccer website. "I feel incredibly grateful to have played as long as I have, to be as successful as we've been, and to have been a part of a generation of players who undoubtedly left the game better than they found it."
She continued, "To be able to play one last World Cup and one last NWSL season and go out on my own terms is incredibly special."
Rapinoe has played in 17 World Cup matches as well as in 14 Olympic matches. She earned 199 caps and a 2012 Olympic gold medal, and scored World Cup victories in 2015 and 2019, ESPN reported. In 2019, she was honored as the Best FIFA Women's Player of the Year and also won the Golden Ball as the best player in the World Cup. During the championship, her "are you not entertained?" gesture on the field went viral.
In 2021, President Joe Biden presented Rapinoe with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, making her the first soccer player to receive the nation's highest civilian honor.
In her statement to U.S. Soccer, the California native also wrote, "I want to thank my family for being by my side all these years. Thanks to all my teammates and coaches all the way back to my first days in Redding, on to college at the University of Portland and of course thanks to U.S. Soccer, the Seattle Reign and especially Sue, for everything. I will forever cherish the friendships and support over the years in this game, and I am beyond excited for one last ride with the National Team and the Reign."
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (44472)
Related
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- Help! What should I be for Halloween?
- Execution of Idaho’s longest-serving death row inmate delayed for sentence review hearing
- Thrift store chain case was no bargain for Washington attorney general; legal fees top $4.2 million
- Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
- NFL Week 7 odds: Moneylines, point spreads, over/under
- French soccer club Nice suspends Youcef Atal for sharing an antisemitic message on social media
- The hidden price of inflation: High costs disrupt life in more ways than we can see
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- Watch: Frosty the white orca seen hunting with pod off California in 'incredible encounter'
Ranking
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- Florida police officer charged with sexual battery and false imprisonment of tourist
- Woman in critical condition after shoved into moving subway train: Police
- Remains of at least 189 people removed from funeral home that offered green burials without embalming fluid
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Sophia Bush's Ex Grant Hughes Supportive of Her Amid Ashlyn Harris Relationship
- Europol says Islamist terrorism remains the biggest terror threat to Western Europe
- Movie Review: In ‘Nyad,’ Jodie Foster swims away with a showcase for Annette Bening
Recommendation
Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
Sen. Maria Cantwell says she wants any NIL legislation to also address NCAA athletes' rights
Boat maker to expand manufacturing, create nearly 800 jobs
French soccer club Nice suspends Youcef Atal for sharing an antisemitic message on social media
'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake in Northern California triggers ShakeAlert in Bay Area
Detroit casino workers launch strike for better pay and benefits
District attorney praises officer who shot man who killed two Black bystanders moments earlier