Three days after announcing her retirement from the game, U.S. soccer icon Alex Morgan bid an emotional farewell in her final appearance with the NWSL’s San Diego Wave.
Morgan, 35, is pregnant with her second child and announced on Thursday that Sunday’s Wave game against the North Carolina Courage would the last of her soccer career.
Prior to the game, Morgan walked out of the tunnel at Snapdragon Stadium while holding her daughter Charlie’s hand. Fans greeted her with an ovation and signs in the stands reading “Thank you, Alex,” “Everyone watches Morgan” and “I’m not crying, you’re crying.”
Morgan then shared hugs with her teammates before a pregame ceremony and was presented with a No. 63 jersey commemorating her 63 games with the Wave.
Morgan then made her brief last appearance on the pitch as a player. With the game tied at 1-1, Morgan left the field in the 13th minute. She shared hugs with her teammates again as the stands roared with a standing ovation. She then unlaced her cleats and waved goodbye to her fans with tears in her eyes before walking off the field.
The moment marked a coda to a tremendous career as a club and college player and star of the U.S. Women’s National Team. A high-school All-American, Morgan was a finalist for the Hermann Trophy honoring college soccer’s top player at Cal.
In 2013, she joined the Portland Thorns and helped lead them to the NWSL championship in the league’s inaugural season. She was traded to the expansion Orlando Pride in 2017 and also played with European clubs Lyon and Tottenham Hotspur before joining the Wave in 2022. She played her final 63 games as a pro with San Diego.
She was a star on the USWNT and helped lead USA to World Cup victories in 2015 and 2019. She won Olympic Gold with the USWNT in 2012 in London and bronze in 2021 in Tokyo. She played 224 games with the USWNT and is the sports eighth all-time leading goal-scorer in international competition with 123 goals.
She was and remains a fierce advocate for equal opportunity and conditions in women’s sports and helped lead the charge for equal pay for USWNT members with those of the USMNT.