Becky Sauerbrunn Announces Retirement
The legend of US soccer announces retirement from the sport
The Portland Thorns captain and USWNT legend Becky Sauerbrunn announced her retirement from professional soccer today.
In true Becky fashion, the defensive legend announced her retirement in a simple Instagram post. She captioned the post “with so much love and gratitude”, which encapsulates the player she is and why the fans have loved watching her play.
Sauerbrunn retires following a professional career of 16 years that spanned four leagues and seven teams. Sauerbrunn was one of four remaining original players from the initial 2013 National Women’s Soccer League allocation process, part of the original group of 55 players selected to help found the league.
As one of the league’s original players, Sauerbrunn has been a part of the league for every one of its 12 seasons, finishing her career in the top ten all-time for minutes played (16,217), games started/played (184/189) and games won (83).
Defensively, Sauerbrunn ends her career with the third-most clearances (653), the fifth-most blocks (99), and the ninth-most interceptions (258). Sauerbrunn also contributed to 44 regular-season clean sheets, the ninth-most in league history.
Sauerbrunn spent the first five years of her NWSL career with the now-defunct FC Kansas City, where she won the 2014 and 2015 NWSL Championship, earning the NWSL Defender of the Year award for three consecutive seasons from 2013-15.
For the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Sauerbrunn played for the Utah Royals where she earned a fifth and sixth-consecutive NWSL Best XI honors, as well as her fourth NWSL Defender of the Year award following the 2019 season.
Sauerbrunn joined the Thorns ahead of the 2020 season, and in her five years in Portland she has helped the Club win the 2021 NWSL Shield, the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup, the 2020 NWSL Community Shield, the 2021 International Champions Cup, and the 2022 NWSL Championship.
Sauerbrunn leaves the Thorns having appeared in 72 regular-season matches.
On the international stage, Sauerbrunn has cemented herself as one of the greatest of all time for the United States Women’s Soccer Team, winning every possible trophy while appearing in three world cups and two Olympics.
Sauerbrunn retires having won two FIFA Women’s World Cups in 2015 and 2019, along with an Olympic Gold Medal for the 2012 Summer Olympics and a Bronze Medal from the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is a four-time winner of the Concacaf Women’s Championship (2010, 2014, 2018, 2022), a five-time winner of the She Believes Cup (2016, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) and winner of the inaugural 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup.
Sauerbrunn has earned 219 international caps, recording seven assists. Sauerbrunn’s 219 caps are the 10th most in United States Women’s National Team history. It’s safe to say the legend has earned her retirement.
The Thorns plan to celebrate and honor her during the 2025 season.
You can read the Thorns press release on her retirement here, and the U.S. Soccer press release on it here.
Wow, that convo of Becky and Mewis. Becky talked about the specialness of playing here, what the club means to her, and the fact that she's lived here for longer than she played here and has deep roots here. RAJ needs to find an organizational job for her, as soon as she's ready to take one on.
The Bruun-Mewis Pod is my new Happy Sad Happy place.
What a loss, of people in the locker room and on the pitch, going into 2025 without Sincy and Bruun (and one has to imagine Kling might not be far behind).