USWNT superstar Alex Morgan announces her retirement

The GIST: USWNT striker Alex Morgan (aka, the bane of CanWNT’s 2012 Olympic dreams) is hanging up her boots, retiring as one of the most dangerous goal scorers in American women’s soccer history and leaving the women’s game in a stronger, more equal place than she found it. Here’s a look at her iconic career by the numbers.

🩷 13: Two things are iconically Morgan: pink pre wrap headbands and the number 13, which she rocked on her jersey from her early days as speedy Baby Horse to her final years as USWNT captain. No wonder she and Taylor Swift are pals.

🇺🇸 224: The number of Morgan’s national team appearances since her 2010 debut. Morgan notched 123 international goals during that time, making her the fifth all-time best USWNT scorer. Making moms proud.

🏆 4: Morgan won four international trophies in her illustrious career, including two FIFA Women’s World Cups (2015, 2019), an Olympic gold (2012), and one Olympic bronze (2021). *sips tea*

🎉 2013: The year Morgan became an NWSL champ, winning the league’s inaugural title with the Portland Thorns. Nearly a decade later, Morgan won the 2022 NWSL Golden Boot, awarded to the league’s top scorer, with her hometown expansion team, the San Diego Wave, and led the team to their first NWSL Shield (awarded to the team with the best regular season record) the next season.

🫰 $24M: Beyond her numerous accomplishments on the pitch, what best defines Morgan’s legacy is her fight for equality in the women’s game, exemplified by the $24M settlement the USWNT won after a lengthy legal battle against the U.S. Soccer Federation for equal pay. Morgan was among the first players to sign her name to the lawsuit in 2016.

• Morgan also never backed down when it came to supporting her fellow players, becoming a crucial witness in the NWSL workplace abuse reckoning and forever advocating for respect for women’s sports. There will never be another.