Two-time World Cup champion Christen Press announced on Wednesday that she will retire from professional soccer at the end of the 2025 NWSL season, ending a 14-year professional career.
Press will be honored by Angel City FC, her current club, on Sunday at BMO Field in Los Angeles (5 p.m. ET, ESPN). The forward helped the United States win the 2015 and 2019 World Cups and scored 10 minutes into its semifinal victory over England in 2019.
Press retires with 64 international goals — ninth most in USWNT history. She last played for the U.S. in 2021, helping the team earn a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. She was also an alternate for the 2012 Olympic gold-medal winning team.
“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.” “I feel a mix of everything. There’s yes, there’s relief, there’s joy, there’s excitement, there’s fear, there’s so much grief. I have so much grief, a part of me, a piece of me, I’m losing her.
“I thought I would wait until I didn’t want to play anymore. But I realized that time’s never going to come and I can play, and my body can keep going. And I think it was really important for me to make this decision for myself before that became a different reality.”
The Los Angeles native, known for her innate goal-scoring abilities, creative play and versatility across the forward position, finishes her decorated career with her hometown club. She was Angel City’s first official signing in 2021 ahead of its expansion season the next year.
Press, who turns 37 in December, has had her time this year largely limited to a reserve role. She has one goal in 399 minutes. She fought her way back onto the field in 2024 after missing more than two full years because of a knee injury and subsequent surgeries.
Prior to joining Angel City, she played for the Chicago Red Stars and Utah Royals in the NWSL, in addition to several stints abroad. Press’ announcement follows the retirement of her wife and former U.S. teammate Tobin Heath earlier this year.
Press admitted Heath’s retirement had an impact on her own decision to step away from the game.
“She would absolutely hate me saying this, but [it influenced me] a lot,” Press said. “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 and Heath signed with Manchester United in 2020 around the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under head coach Casey Stoney, United challenged for the Women’s Super League title that year and finished fourth.
Press first played abroad in 2012 in Sweden, when there was no professional league in the United States. In 2013, Press joined Tyresö FF in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan alongside superstars like Marta. She became the first American to win the Golden Boot in that league in 2013, when she scored 23 goals.
Tyresö made a run to the UEFA Champions League final in 2014, losing 4-3 to VfL Wolfsburg. The club folded shortly after.
At the demands of U.S. Soccer, who paid the contracts of national team players at the time, Press returned to the U.S. to join the Chicago Red Stars in 2014. She thrived in Chicago through the 2017 NWSL season before the Red Stars traded her rights to the Houston Dash ahead of the 2018 season.
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Press declined to report to the Dash and opted to briefly play in Sweden for Göteborg FC, where she featured in 2012. Utah eventually acquired the NWSL rights to Press later that year, and she joined the expansion team in June 2018.
She started her professional career in the U.S. in the now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), where she was named Rookie of the Year in 2011 for the magicJack team.
Press had joined that team as the No. 4 draft pick after a standout career at Stanford, where she won the MAC Hermann Trophy in 2010 as college soccer’s best player. She is still the career leader for the Cardinal in several categories, including points (183) and goals (71).