Alex Morgan Reveals What Happened in the Lead-Up to Her Retirement From Soccer

Prior to the start of the 2024 season, the professional athlete knew it would be her last.

Alex Morgan / Abe Arredondo-Imagn Images

On Sunday, Sept. 8, Alex Morgan played her last professional soccer game. The week before, she had taken to social media to make the big announcement: after more than a dozen years of professional competition, she had decided to hang up her jersey.

But the decision was far from simple or quick. It had been in the works for months prior to her reveal. On the latest episode of A Touch More, a sports podcast hosted by Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird, Morgan took a deep dive into the months and moments leading up to the announcement.

“The lead-up started at the beginning of this year when I had a long conversation with Servando [Carrasco, her husband],” she explained. “I realized that, you know, regardless of how this year went, like, this would be my last year.”

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Without knowing what the season would hold—including the failure to make the USWNT’s Olympic roster and a second pregnancy—Morgan had decided that it was time to hang up her jersey. Months later, when “things didn’t go how I wanted in terms of the Olympics,” she explained, she made the conscious decision to “to enjoy [the] summer” and “to stop stressing.”

It was in the midst of a relaxed summer that Morgan “found out we were pregnant,” she said, “and it was amazing.” In early September, she announced both her retirement and her pregnancy in an emotional social media post. Days later, she played her last game in a San Diego Wave FC uniform.

And though now officially retired from the NWSL, there’s no doubt Morgan’s legacy will be felt for years to come.