Alex Morgan is closing the door on her professional soccer career as her family expands, confirming both her athletic retirement and pregnancy in an emotional announcement.
“I’m retiring and I have so much clarity about this decision and I’m so happy to be able to finally tell you,” Morgan, 35, said in a Thursday, September 5, Instagram video, holding back tears. “It has been a long time coming and this decision wasn’t easy but at the beginning of 2024, I felt in my heart and soul that this was the last season that I would play soccer.”
She continued, “Soccer has been a part of me for 30 years, and it was one of the first things that I ever loved. I gave everything to this sport and what I got in return was more than I could have ever dreamed of. Success for me is defined by never giving up and giving your all, and I did just that.”
According to Morgan, “this is not the retirement video” that she intended to share.
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“Because Charlie’s gonna be a big sister,” Morgan revealed, referring to her 4-year-old daughter. “I am pregnant and as unexpected as this came, we are so overjoyed. To me, family means everything. I wouldn’t be here without my husband [Servando Carrasco] and my family motivating and encouraging and supporting me — and sacrificing for me for the last 15 years as a professional soccer athlete.”
Morgan and Carrasco, 36, have been married since 2014. Their daughter was born in May 2020.
According to Morgan, she’s proud that she was able to give her “all every single day” both on the soccer field and as a mom.
“Charlie came up to me the other day and said that when she grows up, she wants to be a soccer player,” Morgan said on Thursday. “It just made me immensely proud — not because I wish for her to become a soccer player when she grows up — but because a pathway exists that even a 4-year-old can see now.”
She continued, “We’re changing lives and the impact we have on the next generation is irreversible, and I’m proud [of] the hand I had in making that happen in pushing the game forward and leaving it in a place that I’m so happy and proud of.”
Morgan will play her final soccer game on Sunday, September 8, where she “can’t wait” to celebrate with fans one last time. She is a striker for San Diego Wave FC, and will face North Carolina Courage FC in her last game.
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“I just want to thank the fans for always supporting us and for always using what we’re saying and making it magnified,” Morgan concluded. “Being there, showing up day-in and day out [and] supporting, not only teams that I’ve played on but the player and the human that I am as well. I also need to thank my team behind-the-scenes [of] teammates, coaches, staff [and] everyone who’s played a part in my career. … I am so shaped into me because of you [and] because of soccer and I am forever grateful.”
