Christen Press, two-time World Cup Champion for USWNT, to retire

By Matt Marshall, CNN

(CNN) — Christen Press, a two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion for the US women’s national team (USWNT) and forward for Angel City FC, will retire following the conclusion of Angel City’s 2025 season.

“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” on Wednesday. “I think it was really important for me to make this decision for myself before that became a different reality.”

An illustrious winger and striker for the USWNT since her debut in 2013, Press finishes her national team career with 155 appearances and 64 goals, good for ninth all-time.

“Somehow — despite never making a youth national team, despite lacking the will to tackle, head the ball, or run through walls — I became a mainstay on the best team in the world for over a decade. And I believe it was all so I could be there, behind the scenes, during our fight for Equal Pay. To learn how to organize, to unite, to lead in the name of justice,” the 37-year-old wrote in letters shared with The Athletic.

Back in 2019, Press was one of the women’s national team players who filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation ahead of the 2019 World Cup in France.

Press scored in the semifinal against England and the US would go on to win the 2019 championship against the Netherlands with the crowd chanting “equal pay.” In 2022, the federation reached a $24 million settlement with the players and an agreement that would guarantee equal pay between the men’s and women’s teams.

“I’m one of the last of a generation — the ones who lifted the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, who stood arm in arm in the fight for Equal Pay. Leaving has been hard because I know what it symbolizes: an era closing,” Press wrote in a message to her fans. “But I hope you see it as the beginning of another one, too — one you helped build with your voices, your faith, and your relentless belief in what this game could be.”

Beyond helping the US win World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, Press was named to the 2016 and 2021 Olympic teams, winning a bronze medal in Tokyo.

Press made history becoming the first player to sign with NWSL’s Angel City in 2021, making 37 appearances for the club and scoring four goals. Over the last few years, Press has struggled with injuries after an ACL tear in 2022 left her sidelined for the Los Angeles club for two years.

Beyond her soccer career, Press founded Re-Inc, a media company alongside her former teammate and wife, Tobin Heath.

“I think it is time for my family to move on to our next chapter, we’re going to be a part of this game forever, but it’s time for it to look different for us,” Press told ABC.

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