Christen Press, a two-time world champion with the United States Women’s National Team, has announced that she will retire from soccer at the end of the 2025 NWSL season.
Press announced on Good Morning America that this season with Angel City FC will be her last, marking the end of her 14-year professional soccer career. Since turning professional in 2011, Press has played for the Chicago Stars and Utah Royals, as well as internationally in Sweden and in the English FA Women’s Super League with Manchester United. In 2021, she became the first player signed by her hometown team as part of the NWSL expansion for the following season.
Press was a member of the USWNT that won World Cups in 2015 and 2019 and competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where she helped the team win bronze. Throughout her career, Press scored a total of 64 international goals for the USWNT.
‘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,’ Press told Good Morning America. ‘I think it was really important for me to make this decision for myself before that became a different reality.’
The 37-year-old had been sidelined for nearly two years due to a knee injury that required surgery, but she made her return to the field in 2024. In her retirement announcement, Press revealed a significant factor in her decision to step away from the game was the retirement of her wife and former USWNT teammate, Tobin Heath, earlier this year. She expressed her readiness to embrace the next chapter with her family and, although she is moving on, she said the game will always hold an important place in her life.