SAN DIEGO — Alex Morgan ended her career that included helping the U.S. women's national team to two FIFA Women's World Cup championships and an Olympic gold medal by playing the first 15 minutes of the San Diego Wave FC's 4-1 loss to the North Carolina Courage at Snapdragon Stadium Sunday.
Morgan removed her boots at midfield, hugged all her teammates, waved in tears and walked off in her socks as the crowd announced at 26,516 chanted her name.
Morgan announced her retirement Thursday, saying Sunday's game would be her last.
In an emotional video posted to her social media, the 35-year-old Morgan thanked her family, teammates, coaches, staff and fans for her lengthy career.
"It has been a long time coming and this decision wasn't easy," she said. "But at the beginning of 2024, I felt in my heart and soul that this was the last season that I would play soccer. Soccer's been a part of me for 30 years and it was one of the first things that I ever loved. And I gave everything to this sport and what I got in return is more than I could have ever dreamed of."
She also announced that her 4-year-old daughter, Charlie, would soon have a sibling.
"This is also not the retirement video I expected when I initially thought I was going to do this, because Charlie is going to be a big sister," Morgan said. "I'm pregnant.
"As unexpected as this came, we are so overjoyed. To me, family means everything. I wouldn't be here without my husband and my family uplifting and motivating and encouraging and supporting me and sacrificing for me for the last 15 years as a professional athlete."
Morgan, a Diamond Bar native, played college soccer for California and was selected first in the defunct Women's Professional Soccer 2011 draft by the Western New York Flash, helping lead it to the championship in what turned out to be the league's final season.
She joined the Portland Thorns in 2013 and helped lead it to the championship in the National Women's Soccer League's inaugural season. Morgan played with the Thorns through 2015 when she was traded to the expansion Orlando Pride, who she played for from 2016-2021, interrupted by brief stints with the French first division team Lyon in 2017 and Tottenham Hotspur of England's Women's Super League in 2020.
Morgan was acquired by the Wave for its inaugural 2022 season. She scored 23 goals in 51 games for the team.
"On behalf of the National Women's Soccer League, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Alex Morgan on her retirement," Commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement. "On the pitch, Alex has been an extraordinary talent, a fierce competitor and an inspiring steward of the game whose leadership and skill has elevated every team she has been a part of.
"Off the pitch, her dedication to growing our sport, championing gender equality initiatives and empowering the next generation of women and girls has transcended our soccer community and inspired whole nations of people to continuously strive to be the best version of themselves.
"Alex's legacy is one that will endure for generations, not only in the records, awards and trophies she has earned, but in the countless lives she has touched along the way."
Morgan scored 123 goals in 224 games with the U.S. national team, which she helped to FIFA Women's World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019 and an Olympic gold medal in 2012.
"Success for me is defined by never giving up and giving your all and I did just that" Morgan said. "I'm giving my all every single day on the field and I did that, giving my all in the relentless push for global investment in women's sports, because we deserve that.
Morgan has been a strong advocate for women's sports throughout her career.
"Charlie came up to me the other day and said that when she grows up she wants to be a soccer player, and 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 said.
"We're changing lives and the impact we have on the next generation is irreversible, and I'm proud in the hand I had in making that happen and pushing the game forward and leaving it in a place that I'm so happy and proud of."
WATCH RELATED: Ticket sales to Morgan's last game at Snapdragon Stadium have tripled since her retirement announcement