CHICAGO (Dec. 17, 2024) – Becky Sauerbrunn, one of the greatest defenders and leaders in U.S. Women’s National Team history, has officially announced her retirement from professional soccer.
Sauerbrunn, 39, calls time on a brilliant 16-year international career which also saw her play in every year of the National Women’s Soccer League so far, winning two championships (2014 & 2015) in her five seasons with FC Kansas City before playing two seasons with the Utah Royals and then the past five seasons with the Portland Thorns. Sauerbrunn helped Portland win the 2022 NWSL title and the 2021 NWSL Shield.
For the U.S. Women’s National Team, Sauerbrunn played in three Olympic games and three Women’s World Cups, and would have played in a fourth, but a foot injury knocked her out of the 2023 tournament.
“I learned early on that we were all just renting our jerseys,” said Sauerbrunn. “That I got to wear the U.S. Soccer crest once was an honor and privilege for which I’m forever grateful. The fact that I got to do it over 200 times is truly humbling. I competed with and learned from some of the greatest players and leaders this sport has ever seen, and I consider myself beyond lucky to have been able to play a small part in this program’s storied history.”
Sauerbrunn earned just three caps in her first three years in the USWNT player pool from 2008-2010, and infamously broke her nose in her first cap, which came on Jan. 16, 2008, which was also Pia Sundhage’s first match as head coach. It would prove to be a minor setback.
She started to work her way into the USWNT lineup in 2011 and earned a spot on the team for the Women’s World Cup in Germany. She didn’t see action in the first four matches, but after Rachel Buehler was given a red card in the famous quarterfinal penalty kick shootout win over Brazil -- the game that featured the iconic Megan Rapinoe to Abby Wambach equalizing header goal -- Sauerbrunn stepped up in a huge way. She started the 3-1 semifinal win over France, going the entire 90 minutes to help the USA into the final, foreshadowing what was to come in her career.
Sauerbrunn was a key contributor off the bench in 2012 and played in three matches at the London Olympics to help the USA win the gold medal at a packed Wembley Stadium.
From there, she was a consistent starter for the remainder of her career, starting 167 of her 182 caps between 2013 and 2024. She ends her international career with 219 caps (185 starts), good for 10th all-time in USWNT history. Long hailed for her amazing consistency and quality under pressure, from the end of 2014 until deep into 2018, she started 73 consecutive matches in which she played.
Sauerbrunn, who grew into her role as a cherished teammate and quiet leader, was a vital part of the USA’s 2015 and 2019 World Cup title runs, playing every minute in Canada and sitting out only the first game (a 13-0 win over Thailand) in France. The USA allowed just three goals at each of those World Cups. She captained the USA 42 times during her career, the fifth most times wearing the armband in USWNT history. She also owns a bronze medal from the delayed 2021 Olympics in Japan.
Having never scored for the U.S. National Team, a stat that many fans yearned for her to remedy but one that was never important to Sauerbrunn, she does hold the record for most USWNT caps without a goal. She earned seven assists during her career and is currently ninth all-time in minutes played for the USWNT with 16,909. She is one of 14 U.S. players to play 200 or more times for their country.
Sauerbrunn also helped the USA win eight Concacaf championships, in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024.
One of the most impressive things about Sauerbrunn’s career was her consistent excellence at the club level, where she experienced the massive evolution of the NWSL first-hand. She was a four-time NWSL Defender of the Year and finished her pro club career in the top 10 all-time for NWSL minutes played (16,217), games started/played (184/189) and games won (83). She played in 10 NWSL playoff matches to go along with her 189 regular-season games. She is one of 12 “NWSL Originals” to see action during the 2024 season and one of just eight players to earn minutes in every NWSL season from 2013-2024. She was named to the NWSL Best XI seven times, more than any other player.
Sauerbrunn grew up in the U.S. Youth National Team system, attending the U.S. U-14 I.D. Camp in 1999. She played for the U.S. U-16s and was a starter at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup in Thailand where the USA finished third. She was named to the all-tournament team. She went on to play for the U.S. U-21s and U-23s, but it would take three years more to earn a full USWNT cap, thus starting the career of one of the team’s all-time greats.
Rebecca Elizabeth Sauerbrunn grew up in the historic soccer hotbed of St. Louis, Missouri, where she attended Ladue High School – the soccer field is now named after her – and starred for the JB Marine Soccer Club. She was twice named the Missouri Player of the Year, was a high school All-American and was recruited to play at the University of Virginia where she was a standout for the Cavaliers from 2003-2007, playing in 90 matches, and was named a First-Team All-American.
She was one of the last players remaining in the NWSL who also played in the WPS, the USA’s second pro league, where she turned out for the Washington Freedom and magicJack. She also had a brief stint in Norway’s top division with Røa IL in 2009.
Sauerbrunn’s career was also marked by her outspokenness and extensive work in the areas of equal pay, women’s rights and racial quality, and she leaves behind a legacy of excellence and humanity both on and off the field.
