USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher announces retirement from international soccer

After two World Cup championships and two Olympic medals, United States Women’s National Team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher is retiring from international football.

The USWNT announced the news on Monday, with Naeher posting a statement on social media soon after. In the statement, Naeher spoke about the “honor” of being part of the USWNT, and thanked her family, coaches and teammates.

“With an immense gratitude and very thoughtful consideration, I have decided to retire from the international game following the conclusion of these matches in Europe,” Naeher wrote. “This has been a special team to be a apart of and I am beyond proud of what we have achieved both on and off the field.”

The 36-year-old goalkeeper is currently with the team in Europe, preparing for the final two friendlies of 2024. These friendlies — against England on Nov. 30 and against the Netherlands on Dec. 3 — will be Naeher’s final games with the USWNT. At 113 caps, Naeher is the second most experienced player on this USWNT roster, behind captain Lindsey Horan, who has 159.

Naeher earned her first first USWNT cap in 2014, and traveled to the 2015 World Cup as a backup for former USWNT goalkeeper Hope Solo, before becoming starting keeper in 2017. The Bridgeport, Connecticut, native led the team to glory throughout her tenure as a starter, culminating with gold-medal wins at the 2019 World Cup and 2024 Paris Olympics.

In 15 years with the national team, Naeher has cemented herself as one of the U.S. keepers of all time, and one of the greatest goalies in the world. She is the only goalie in women’s soccer history to earn shutouts in both a World Cup Final and an Olympic gold medal game.

Naeher is retiring at what is arguably the peak of her career, so soon after putting up a stellar performance throughout this summer’s Olympics. Naeher kept the U.S. from conceding a goal for the entire knockout round of the tournament, making 12 saves in 1-0 wins against Japan, Germany and the gold medal game against Brazil.

Over the years, Naeher’s most outrageous talent has been her propensity for penalty kick saves. Few goalkeepers can save penalties, but even fewer can save them at the rate that Naeher does, in the kind of high-pressure situations that she finds herself in. Early in her tenure as starter, Naeher saved a penalty kick from England’s Steph Houghton to send the U.S. to the 2019 World Cup Final, while her shootout heroics in the 2021 Olympics led the team to a bronze medal.

Even in the 2023 World Cup — one of the lowest moment in the USWNT’s recent history, as the team crashed out of the tournament after one round — Naeher shined, making a massive penalty save and sinking a penalty of her own. The final kick was ruled a goal despite Naeher’s best effort on the save, with the difference quite literally coming down to the millimeter.

But Naeher got a sense of redemption with the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup and the 2024 SheBelieves Cup. In both tournaments, which had games go into penalty shootouts, Naeher achieved the absurd sequence of saving a penalty kick, going up to the spot to sink a penalty and then saving another penalty right afterwards.

Naeher’s talent has been well-acknowledged globally: She was the only goalkeeper to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or Féminin, and she finished at No. 17 out of 30 total finalists. But her brilliant saves have never failed to amaze her teammates and fans alike.

The success at the 2024 Olympics is just another cherry on top of an incredible year, and an incredible international career. Naeher holds the third-most goalkeeper caps (113), starts (110), wins (88) and shutouts (68) behind Solo and former USWNT goalie and 99er Briana Scurry.

Despite stepping down from the international stage, Naeher will still compete with the Chicago Red Stars in the 2025 NWSL season.

But next week, her international career will come to a close. Naeher will be accompanied by two young, up-and-coming keepers: Mandy Haught of the Utah Royals, who earned her first U.S. cap last month, and Phallon Tullis-Joyce of Manchester United, who is earning her first international call-up. Along with Casey Murphy and Jane Campbell, these goalkeepers will have the task of moving the USWNT through the Emma Hayes era — and will have some very big shoes to fill in the process.