by News broke last week that Alex Morgan is retiring from professional soccer. She announced in an Instagram post that the San Deigo Wave and North Carolina Courage game on September 8 would be her last. She also announced that she is pregnant with her second child. Personally, I find this incredibly sad news. Alex Morgan has been the face of the United States Women’s National Soccer Team for as long as I can remember. Morgan was nicknamed “baby horse” because of her similar playstyle to Abby Wambach, the “horse.” The striker has been scoring goals left and right for the Women’s National Soccer team since 2011. Let’s look back on her career and accomplishments.
Collegiate Career
Alex Morgan played collegiate soccer for the California Golden Bears. 2007, she played her freshman season, scoring eight goals in seventeen appearances. She was a Pac-10 all-freshman pick, a second-team Soccer Buzz Freshman All-American, and a second-team Soccer America All-Freshman. In her sophomore season, she scored nine goals despite missing some of the season to play for the U.S. under-20 National Team in the FIFA U-20 World Cup. In her junior season, she scored a career and season-high fourteen goals and eight assists. That season, she was named the second team of the All-Pacific Region. In her senior season, she continued at the same pace by leading her team in goals scored. Morgan scored 45 goals for the Golden Bears and is the third all-time goal scorer.
Club Career
Alex Morgan was drafted number one overall by the Western New York Flash in the 2011 Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) draft. In her first season, she helped the Flash win the league championship. Unfortunately, after Morgan’s first season, the WPS folded, and she joined the Seattle Sounders Women of the Women of the United Soccer Leagues. After the 2012 season, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) was formed. Morgan joined the league and played for the Portland Thorns FC from 2013 to 2015. During that time, she scored 15 goals in 36 matches and led the Thorns to the 2013 NWSL Title.
Morgan was traded to the Orlando Pride in 2016, where she would score 4 goals in 15 appearances. In 2017, she went on loan with Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon), where she played in the UEFA Women’s Champions League and Division 1 Féminine. Morgan played five matches in the Champions League and eight games with five goals in the Division 1 Féminine. From 2017 to 2020, she continued playing for the Pride. She made 38 appearances and scored 14 goals. In 2020, the Orlando Pride opted out of the NWSL season due to Covid, so Morgan went on Loan to Tottenham Hotspur. She scored two goals during 4 appearances. In 2021, Morgan returned to the Pride to score 5 goals in 13 appearances. In 2022, she left to join the San Diego Wave FC. She will finish her career with 46 appearances for the Wave with 22 goals.
International Career
Alex Morgan started her international career at a young age. She started at the Youth National Team level. Morgan helped the U.S. under-20 national team win the FIFA U-20 World Cup, winning the silver ball and bronze boots. At 22 years old, she was the youngest player rostered for the senior U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) during the 2011 Women’s World Cup. During the 2012 Olympics, Morgan scored the game-winning goal against Canada in the 123rd minute of the semi-final match. The USWNT went on to win the Gold. 2012 was an excellent year for Morgan; she finished with 28 goals and 21 assists. She joined Mia Hann as the only American woman with 20 goals and 20 assists in a Calander year. Morgan was named U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year and was a finalist for the FIFA World Player of the Year.
Morgan continued her incredible pace by helping the USWNT win the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. During the opening match of the 2019 World Cup against Thailand, she scored five goals, tying the world record for most individual goals in a Women’s World Cup game. Morgan won the Silver Boot for the 2019 Women’s World Cup. Morgan led the team as a co-captain from 2018-2020. She scored one goal during the 2020 Olympics, where the USWNT earned the bronze medal. During the 2022 CONCACAF Women’s Championship, she scored the only goal defeating Canada. Morgan finished off her National Team career on June 4, 2024, in a match against South Korea.
The Fight for Equal Pay
Of course, you can only mention Alex Morgan if you acknowledge her contributions to the fight for and achievement of equal pay for USWNT players. In 2019, before the World Cup, Morgan and her USWNT teammates sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination. They wanted the same pay and working conditions as the men’s national team. At first, the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal court, but Morgan and the USWNT filed an appeal. The players settled the lawsuit in 2022, and the U.S. Soccer Federation paid the team $24 million. They also agreed to pay both teams equally in all aspects in the future. Alex Morgan played a crucial role in achieving equal pay for the USWNT.
Another issue Alex Morgan has been very vocal about is the systemic abuse of NWSL players. She stunned the league when she released a series of Tweets highlighting Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly’s abuse. Morgan gathered 240 NWSL players to send a letter to the league commissioner. In this letter, they demanded a policy be put in place to protect the players. She came up with a nine-point policy for the NWSL to implement. Without Alex Morgan, NWSL players may still be subjected to abuse.
Notable Achievements
– 2011 WPS Champion
– 2011 Women’s World Cup Silver
– 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist
– 2013 NWSL Champion
– 2015 Women’s World Cup Champion
– 2017 UEFA Women’s Champions League winner
– 2019 Women’s World Cup Champion
– 2020 Olympic Bronze Medalist
– 2022 NWSL Golden Boot winner
– 2023 NWSL Shield Winner
– 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup Winner
– U.S. Soccer’s Female Athlete of the Year 2012, 2018
– Concacaf Player of the Year 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018
– FIFA FIFPRO Women’s World 11 selection 2016, 2017,2019, 2021, 2022
– Finalist for FIFA World Player of the Year 2012, 2019, 2022
These are just some of the awards that she has received. There are many more awards and achievements.
Alex Morgan played her final professional soccer game last night at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego against the North Carolina Courage. In the 13th minute of the match, Morgan assisted the only Wave goal. It was only fitting that AM13 left her final match in the 13th minute. She will be a Hall of Famer in the coming years. There is no doubt in my mind that Alex Morgan will go down as one of the best soccer players the United States has ever seen. Thank you, Alex Morgan, for leaving the game better than you found it.
*All Collegiate stats from the University of California, Berkeley
*All Club stats from Global Sports Archive and NWSL
*All International stats from U.S. Soccer and Team USA
