CHICAGO, IL–To end her international career, Megan Rapinoe will go to where her professional career started back in 2009. It was announced on Tuesday that the September 24th friendly between the US Women’s National Team and South Africa at Soldier Field (4:30pm CT, TNT/NBC Universo) will be the final international for Rapinoe.
Rapinoe will be honored before the match to celebrate her iconic career and for her 200th cap, which was earned on July 9 vs. Wales in San Jose, CA. Rapinoe will not play in the first match against South Africa on September 21st in Cincinnati (6:30pm CT on TNTNBC Universo), so this match at Soldier Field with be her 203rd and final cap for the USWNT.
“People may think that my career coming to an end would bring sadness, but when I think back on the past 30-plus years of playing this game, my overriding emotions are joy and gratitude,” said Rapinoe in a statement. “It’s been an unbelievable ride. It will be special to have this one last opportunity to play for my country in front of our incredible fans and get the chance to thank my teammates and everyone who has had an impact on me as a person and player over the years.”
She has scored 63 goals for the national team and participated in four Women’s World Cups winning two in 2015 and 2019. She won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player in 2019. She was also part of the gold medal winning teams at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, plus a bronze in 2021.
For the last 11 seasons, Rapinoe has played for OL Reign of the NWSL. She has to date made 102 appearances and scored 47 goals. She has announced her retirement from the game in July and effective at the end of this season. She began her professional career with the Chicago Red Stars in the WPS back in 2009 and played two seasons.
Off the pitch, Rapinoe has been an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and equal pay for the women’s team. She was also one of the first to support former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kapernick by taking a knee during the National Anthem before an NWSL match between her Reign and the Red Stars in Bridgeview in 2016 as a protest against racial injustice and minority oppression.
“It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he’s standing for right now,” Rapinoe said after the match in 2016. “I think it’s actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn’t. […] Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it.”
It was also a protest against mistreatment of LGBTQ+ people in America.
“Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties,” Rapinoe told American Soccer News at the time. “It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it.”
In July 2022, for her philanthropy, activism, and work towards equal pay; Rapinoe received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor bestowed to American civilians, by President Joe Biden.
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