Former USWNT star Christen Press announces retirement - ESPN

Two-time World Cup champion Christen Press announced on Wednesday that she will retire from professional soccer at the end of the 2025 NWSL season, ending a 14-year professional career.

Press will be honored by Angel City FC, her current club, on Sunday at BMO Field in Los Angeles (5 p.m. ET, ESPN). The forward helped the United States win the 2015 and 2019 World Cups and scored 10 minutes into its semifinal victory over England in 2019.

Press retires with 64 international goals — ninth most in USWNT history. She last played for the U.S. in 2021, helping the team earn a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. She was also an alternate for the 2012 Olympic gold-medal winning team.

«I'm retiring from professional soccer, and I've decided that this is my last season and my last few games,» Press told ABC's «Good Morning America.» «I feel a mix of everything. There's yes, there's relief, there's joy, there's excitement, there's fear, there's so much grief. I have so much grief, a part of me, a piece of me, I'm losing her.

»I thought I would wait until I didn't want to play anymore. But I realized that time's never going to come and I can play, and my body can keep going. And I think it was really important for me to make this decision for myself before that became a different reality."

The Los Angeles native, known for her innate goal-scoring abilities, creative play and versatility across the forward position, finishes her decorated career with her hometown club. She was Angel City's first official signing in 2021 ahead of its expansion season the next year.

Press, who turns 37 in December, has had her time this year largely limited to a reserve role. She has one goal in 399 minutes. She fought her way back onto the field in