Former USA captain Becky Sauerbrunn retires after glittering 16-year career

Two-time World Cup winner and former U.S. national team captain Becky Sauerbrunn has retired from professional soccer after a 16-year career, the 39-year-old defender said Tuesday.

A four-time NWSL Defender of the Year, Sauerbrunn lifted the championship trophy three times in the American top flight and won Olympic gold with the United States in 2012. She missed the World Cup in 2023 due to an injury.

“Sixteen years ago I woke up dreaming and I haven’t slept since,” Sauerbrunn wrote on social media. “That sounds easy. It was never easy. But I would still reverse it.”

Beloved by fans and known for her steady presence in the locker room, Sauerbrunn was the heart and soul of the U.S. backline during a critical period in the U.S. program, helping the team to World Cup victories in 2015 and 2019.

She played her final NWSL season with the Portland Thorns.

“This is not the end. I’ll be nearby. I love this game too much to leave it for good,” Sauerbrunn wrote. “But for the first time in sixteen years, I am going to find a quiet moment and close my eyes.”

Sauerbrunn won 219 caps in her international career, after famously breaking her nose during her national team debut in 2008. She is one of fourteen players to earn 200 or more caps for the U.S. women’s national team.

“I found out early on that we were all just renting our jerseys,” Sauerbrunn said in a statement released by US Soccer. “To ever wear the US Soccer crest was an honor and privilege for which I am forever grateful.

“The fact that I got to do it more than 200 times is really humbling.”

She is the latest of a number of high-profile American players to hang up their boots after Alex Morgan and Kelley O’Hara announced their retirements this year, ending an era for the highly decorated American team.

Starting goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher said last month that she will stop playing international matches, but will play club football next year.