The day before the U.S. women’s national team hops on a flight to New Zealand to begin defending its World Cup title, soccer legend Megan Rapinoe, one of the most beloved figures in all of sport, had some news: This season will be her last.
Rapinoe, who won both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball at the 2019 World Cup, told reporters Saturday morning that this will be her final World Cup and NWSL season, acknowledging that she’s “known for a probably a year” that she’s ready for retirement. She said in making the decision she felt a “deep sense of peace and gratitude and excitement.”
“I could never have imagined where this beautiful game would take me,” she said, her eyes shining with tears. “I’m so honored to have represented this country and this federation for so many years, it’s truly been the greatest thing I’ve ever done, and it’s something I’m so grateful for.”
Over a 17-year career with the USWNT, Rapinoe has scored 63 goals and recorded 73 assists. But her legacy, she hopes, will extend far beyond statistics: an openly gay and unabashedly outspoken advocate for numerous marginalized groups, Rapinoe — known affectionately just as “Pinoe” — has spent years fighting for equality, social justice and inclusion. Perhaps more than anyone, she has been the face of the USWNT for the last four years, a role she embraced.
“We have shown that we have the power to change the world,” she said. “The more we use our voice and create space for ourselves, we’re creating space for other people also. Our mission is to keep evolving and progressing and keep throwing our ladders down and bringing as many people along with us as we possibly can … I think that’s our ultimate goal, to use (sport) to make the world a better place.”
Last summer, President Joe Biden honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the national highest civilian honor. Biden said then that “Megan is a champion for essential American truth that everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect.”
Rapinoe’s retirement will come a year after the retirement of her fiancée, basketball legend Sue Bird, a five-time Olympic gold medalist and 13-time WNBA All-Star who ended her career with the Seattle Storm last summer. Rapinoe has joked that Bird makes retirement look good, and said Saturday that “watching Sue go through her last year, I wanted to say it out loud (like she did). It’s weird to know, and be settled and not say it. I wanted to share it with my teammates and the rest of the world.”
She acknowledged that the question of when to hang up her cleats is something “I’ve been thinking about for a long time, I think probably since the final whistle in Lyon (at the 2019 World Cup). It’s a question I’ve been grappling with and struggling with a lot.”
But she has no concerns about not being able to focus on the task at hand.
“I feel as excited to play the rest of my career as I do to retire and step away,” she said, adding that she’s looking forward to “soaking in every moment” of this World Cup trip. “In a way it’s a little bit of borrowed time, but there’s no sort of distraction … the best way I could go out is winning.”
She also knows it’s rare for a world-class athlete to go out on their own terms and that’s she’s “very grateful I’m here and have the trust of this team and that my body has held up long enough.”
Four years after dominating at the World Cup, Rapinoe goes into the 2023 tournament in a different role. She is now the elder stateswoman of the group, a veteran who will come off the bench — Alex Morgan joked that the age range of this summer’s roster spans from “18 to Pinoe.”
Rapinoe, who turned 38 last week, will make her 200th appearance for the USWNT Sunday in the Americans’ send-off game against Wales. The match will be played in San Jose, about four hours south of Rapinoe’s hometown of Redding, California. She said she has about 40 family members coming to the game.
“The Bay feels like a second home, I grew up playing here,” she said. “This is the closest I’ll ever get to playing in Redding, so it feels special, and kind of perfect. It feels right to end it here.”
