NEWS
Megan Rapinoe Celebrates Final Victory With Women’s National Team Before Heading Into Retirement
Courtesy of rrapinoe/Instagram
Two-time Women’s World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe is one step closer to retirement after playing her final match with the U.S. Women’s National Team on Sunday at Soldier Field In Chicago, Ill.
The U.S. won its match against South Africa 2–0 on Sunday, marking Rapinoe’s final victory with the team after 203 appearances and 63 goals.
Rapinoe, 38, will play a few more games with Seattle’s OL Reign to finish out the National Women’s Soccer League season before officially retiring.
In a pre-game sendoff on Sunday, Rapinoe was presented with a framed jersey honoring her 203 games with the national team, which she captained.
Addressing the crowd after the game, Rapinoe thanked the fans, saying, “I feel like I’ve been able to grow up in front of all of you.”
“We have fought so hard on the field, had so much fun, been so successful,” Rapinoe said. “We fought so hard off the field to continue to create more space for ourselves to be who we are, but hopefully in turn more space for you guys to be who you are.”
Rapinoe was an outspoken advocate in the team’s fight for equal pay compared to the men’s team. Last year, the women’s team reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with U.S. Soccer in its equal pay lawsuit.
“It says a lot about us that everything on the field I feel pales in comparison to what we’ve achieved off the field,” Rapinoe said.
Rapinoe led the U.S. team to two FIFA Women’s World Cup victories in 2015 and 2019, in 2019 winning the Golden Boot as the top scorer with six goals, and the Golden Ball as best player in the tournament. She also led the team to victory in the 2012 London Olympics.
Rapinoe has been engaged to now retired WNBA superstar and fellow Olympian Sue Bird since 2020. Bird retired after the 2022 season, and the pair started their own production company, A Touch More.
TMX contributed to this article.
