USWNT legend Megan Rapinoe announces retirement ahead of Women’s World Cup

Robin Bairner

• 8 Jul 2023 19:39 BST
• 3 min read

Soccer legend Megan Rapinoe has announced that she intends to retire from the professional game following the conclusion of the season.

Rapinoe is widely considered to be one of the most influential figures in the women’s game, both because of her on-field talent and her off-field activism, and has enjoyed a storied career that began in 2009, when she turned out with the Chicago Red Stars.

Since then, the 38-year-old, who has spent the last 10 years with OL Reign, has become one of the most decorated players in the sport. She is a three-time winner of the NWSL Shield and also won Division 1 Feminine during a one-season spell in France with Lyon.

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Rapinoe has turned out 199 times for the USWNT and has made the roster for the 2023 World Cup finals, which begin on 20 July and take place in Australia and New Zealand. Indeed, it has been on the international scene she has been most prominent, having won two FIFA Women’s World Cups and the 2012 Olympic Gold Medal.

Taking to Twitter, Rapinoe posted: “It is with a deep sense of peace and gratitude that I have decided this will be my final season playing this beautiful game. I never could have imagined the ways in which soccer would shape & change my life forever, but by the look on this little girl’s face, she knew all along.”

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When will Megan Rapinoe retire?

Rapinoe’s decision comes less than 24 hours after OL Reign suffered a 1-0 NWSL defeat away to Orlando Pride – a fixture she did not feature in.

The league has just passed its halfway mark, with the regular season slated to finish on 15 October.

Should her side qualify for the playoffs, Rapinoe would retire after OL Reign are eliminated or win another NWSL crown, with the finals match on 11 November.

Prior to that, she will feature in her last World Cup for the USWNT, one of the favourites for the competition, with group stage matches against Vietnam, Netherlands and Portugal.