Alex Morgan announces she is retiring from professional football and is expecting her second child

Two-time world champion Alex Morgan announced that she is pregnant with her second child and is retiring from professional football.

Over the course of her 15-year career with the United States, Morgan has not only made an impression on the field, she has also helped lead the team Fight for equal pay and spoke openly on issues of social justice.

Morgan, 35, will play her final game with her club team, the San Diego Wave of the National Women’s Soccer League, on Sunday at Snapdragon Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on Paramount+ and CBS Sports Golazo Network at 8 p.m. ET.

“I’ll get to the point quickly. I’m retiring and I’m very clear about that decision and I’m so happy to finally be able to tell you,” Morgan said in an emotional farewell video posted on social media.

“It’s been a long time coming and this decision hasn’t been easy, but at the start of 2024 I felt in my heart and soul that this would be the last season I would play football,” she said. “Football has been a part of me for 30 years and it was one of the first things I ever loved and I gave everything to this sport and what I got in return was more than I could have ever dreamed of.”

In addition to the 2015 and 2019 world championship titles, Morgan also won a gold medal with the USA at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She joined the national team for the first time in 2009.

During her career, she made 224 appearances for the U.S. team, ranking ninth all-time, scoring 123 goals (fifth all-time) and providing 53 assists (ninth all-time).

“Growing up on this team, it was so much more than soccer,” Morgan said in a statement. “It was the friendships and unwavering respect and support for one another, the tireless commitment to global investment in women’s sport and the defining moments of success both on and off the field. I am incredibly honored to have the opportunity to loan the crest for more than 15 years. I have learned so much about myself during that time and so much of that is thanks to my teammates and our fans. I am incredibly proud of where this team is headed and I will forever be a fan of the USWNT.”

Morgan was named US Soccer Player of the Year twice.

Her last game with the United States was on June 4, 2024 against South Korea. She was not on the list of players who won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Morgan was among the players who sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination in 2019, citing unequal pay and treatment compared to the men’s national team. In 2022, the two teams agreed to collective bargaining agreements that give both teams equal pay.

Morgan has a daughter, Charlie, who was born in 2020.