Two-time World Cup winner Becky Sauerbrunn announces retirement from USWNT

For the U.S. women's national team, the end of an era arrived Tuesday as longtime captain Becky Sauerbrunn announced her retirement from professional soccer.

Sauerbrunn, 39, confirmed the end of one of the great careers in American soccer with a post on her Instagram account. In her 219 appearances with the USWNT, Sauerbrunn was a key part of the World Cup-winning teams in 2015 and 2019, and won three NWSL championships at the club level.

"All I can do is hope that you got to share in some of the joy I felt every time I stepped onto a field — that you got to dream with me, even if just for a little while," wrote Sauerbrunn in her farewell message. "This isn't the end. I'll be around. I love this game too much to leave it for good. But for the first time in sixteen years I'm going to find a quiet moment and close my eyes for a bit."

Beyond her presence as a stabilizing force at center back, where her ability to read the game was essential for one of the best stretches of USWNT success, Sauerbrunn was a critical voice as the players pushed for for equal pay.

Here's what to know about one of the USWNT's all-time greats hanging up her boots.

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Sauerbrunn's major impact on USWNT

Before she even played professional club soccer, Becky Sauerbrunn made her USWNT debut in January 2008 thanks to standout performances at the U.S. youth national team level and in college with the Virginia Cavaliers. The St. Louis native joined the Washington Freedom shortly thereafter, carrying on with the team in 2009 when it joined Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), one of two fledgling pro leagues that came before the NWSL started in 2013.

Despite the early look, Sauerbrunn's ascension to the USWNT didn't truly start in earnest until 2010 as the team went through World Cup qualifying. The defender wasn't an immediate starter, but she made a critical appearance in the 2011 World Cup semifinals and appeared at the 2012 Olympics in London, where the USWNT won the gold medal.

From 2013 through 2022, Sauerbrunn took on more of a vital role with the USWNT as part of a new generation of players that took the team back to the top of international soccer. Sauerbrunn was first-choice for the World Cup-winning sides in 2015 and 2019, as well as on the 2016 and 2020 Olympic teams.

Off the field, Sauerbrunn was crucial in the USWNT's drive for equal pay. She was one of five players to file an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint over the pay disparity between the men's and womens' national teams and served as the U.S. Women's National Team Players Association's first president. In September 2022, the USWNTPA and U.S. Soccer reached a collective bargaining agreement, with Sauerbrunn signing the official documents on the field following a friendly in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, as the NWSL kicked off in 2013, Sauerbrunn emerged as a star in the league, winning two titles with FC Kansas City. She would add a third championship in 2022, this time as a veteran leader with the Portland Thorns. Sauerbrunn's seven appearances on the league's Best 11 are a record, as are her four Defender of the Year awards.

Sauerbrunn joins wave of USWNT retirements

Sauerbrunn is the latest big USWNT name to retire in recent years, signaling a generational change that new head coach Emma Hayes will have to navigate. Carli Lloyd announced the end of her career late in 2021, while 2023 saw stars like Megan Rapinoe, Julie Ertz and Ali Krieger hang up their boots.

In 2024, the trend continued. Injury forced Sam Mewis to end her playing career in January, while Alex Morgan shocked the soccer world by announcing her retirement (and pregnancy) in September. Kelley O'Hara called it quits at the end of the recently-concluded NWSL campaign, while goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher announced that she has retired from the USWNT last month (Naeher will continue for at least one more professional season in the NWSL).

The USWNT's 2024 Olympic triumph underlines that this series of retirements is not a crisis. Sauerbrunn has an obvious successor as an organizer and potential captain in Naomi Girma, while Morgan and Rapinoe's attacking presence has been replaced by the "Triple Espresso" front line of Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson.

Still, Sauerbrunn's generation was part of a historic run for the squad – one of two teams to win back-to-back World Cups and who made a dramatic impact off the field. That group's on-field success ended up being critical for its push in labor rights, which in turn means that the group's impact will go far beyond a few trophies at U.S. Soccer headquarters.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Becky Sauerbrunn announces retirement from USWNT, soccer on Instagram