• Rapinoe helped USA win Olympic gold and two world titles

• She made final appearance of her career for OL Reign on Saturday, 11 November 2023

• Read stories, moments, records and quotes

An era has ended. Megan Rapinoe, one of the greatest players of all time, brought down the curtain on her magnificent career at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday evening.

It wasn’t the farewell ‘Pinoe’ wanted or deserved, as she hobbled off the field after just three minutes of OL Reign's 2-1 loss to NJ/NY Gotham FC in the NWSL final, but her exploits will be remember affectionately and eternally. FIFA pays homage with memorable moments, achievements, statistics and more.

Megan and her twin sister Rachael were born in Redding, which is known as ‘The Trails Capital of California’ and is backdropped by Mount Shashta. They had five other brothers and sisters. Megan enjoyed playing soccer, basketball and the guitar, as well as spending time with their chickens and fishing for crayfish. Rachael went on to play pro soccer, representing USA at U-23 level, but her career was handicapped and ultimately ruined by severe injuries and an addiction to painkillers. The girls’ father Jim went from being a commercial fisherman to working construction, while her mother Denise has served as a waitress in Jack’s Grill for over 35 years.

Megan turned down several offers from esteemed universities. She was surprisingly shy back then, didn’t want to be without her sister, and told prospective suitors the Rapinoe twins came as a package. The University of Portland obliged. Alongside Stephanie Lopez (now Cox), Angie Woznuk (Kerr) and Christine Sinclair, Megan became a glittering star in one greatest college sides in American soccer history. The Portland Pilots dismantled a UCLA team including Kara Lang and McCall Zerboni 4-0 in the 2005 NCAA final, becoming only the second team of all time to finish a season unbeaten thanks to 23 wins, two draws and no losses.

Rapinoe was selected by Chicago Red Stars as the second pick in the first round of the inaugural WPS Draft in 2009. Boston Breakers had the first pick and opted for Amy Rodriguez, who went on to win two Olympic golds and Canada 2015 with the USWNT. Allie Long was chosen by Washington Freedom as the seventh pick, while McCall Zerboni went to Los Angeles Sol as the 47th pick. Because the draft was for a new championship, non-college players without a club were also involved. These included Karen Bardsley, Briana Scurry and Brandi Chastain, who were selected 18th by Sky Blue FC, 35th by the Freedom, and 45th by FC Gold Pride respectively.

The date was 23 July 2006…

• Twitter, iPhones, WhatsApp and Instagram didn’t exist.

• Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland was top of the USA Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was followed by Crazy by Gnarls Barkley, Me & U by Cassie and Hips Don't Lie by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean.

• Italy midfielder Giulia Dragoni, Korea Republic forward Casey Phair and Costa Rica playmaker Sheika Scott – all of whom made appearances at Australia & New Zealand 2023 – weren’t even born.

• Pluto was relegated from being the solar system's ninth planet into a dwarf planet the following month.

• In the first women’s Wimbledon final not to feature a Williams sister since 1999, Amelie Mauresmo had just rallied from behind to beat Justine Henin-Hardenne and become the first Frenchwoman to lift the Rosewater Dish in 81 years.

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, had just become the highest-grossing film in its opening weekend of all time.

• Washington, the state in which Rapinoe has spent the majority of her career, had never had a top-flight soccer club. The Seattle Sounders were founded in 2007 – they went on to conquer Concacaf and play in the FIFA Club World Cup™ in February – while Seattle Reign, who became OL Reign, came into existence in 2012.

• Breaking Bad, Dexter, The Big Bang Theory and Ugly Betty had yet to hit television screens.

Brazil had destroyed USA 4-0 in the China 2007 semi-finals. Four years later, in possession in the final third, in the 122nd minute of a thriller, the Seleção were on the cusp of ending the Americans’ World Cup dream. Rapinoe later explained how she felt at the time to The Players’ Tribune: “F***, we’re about to go out in the quarter-finals. Please, please just give us one more possession.” Rapinoe’s wish was granted and, following exquisite work from Carli Lloyd, the ball found its way to the No15. “In the two seconds that I had the ball at my feet, I realised that I had only one option: get the ball into a dangerous area, and get it there now. “The problem is that I’m not naturally left-footed and usually I don’t have as much power as I do with my right. So I hit it pretty much as hard as I could. I didn’t see the ball. I just saw a wave of bodies cresting near the net. A second later, I saw the net shake. Then the stadium shook. It was absolute pandemonium.” Abby Wambach’s header had sent the showdown to a shootout. Rapinoe then scored USA’s penultimate penalty as they reached the semi-finals.

Rapinoe was arguably the player of London 2012, driving the USWNT to gold with seven combined goals and assists in six appearances. The pick of the Californian’s palatial performances came in the semi-finals against arch-rivals Canada. Rapinoe twice cancelled out goals from her former club-mate Sinclair, the first of which made her the first female or male to score an Olympic goal (one direct from a corner) in the Olympics. Astonishingly, Rapinoe scored another Olympic goal to help USA edge Australia 4-3 in the bronze-medal match at Tokyo 2020.

• OL Reign - then known as Seattle Reign - had lost nine straight games and had one point from a possible 30 in the NWSL 2013 when Rapinoe made her debut for the club. They won four and drew two of her first six games and, thanks to five goals in 12 appearances from the inspirational winger, finished seventh.

• Rapinoe has helped Reign win three NWSL shields. In 2014 and 2015, the Washington State outfit finished top of the regular season by a sizeable 13 and 10 points respectively.

• The No15 helped Reign win The Women’s Cup – a competition featuring teams from England, Italy, Japan and the USA – in 2022. The Bold beat hosts Racing Louisville in the final.

• Rapinoe is Reign’s all-time leading markswoman with 55 goals in 125 games. Her 52 NWSL goals is bettered only by five players, all of whom are forwards.

• 34,130 spectators – a record attendance for a single NWSL game – turned out for Rapinoe’s last regular-season appearance for Reign against Washington Spirit at Lumen Field. Many fans wore pink wigs in honour of their heroine, who walked out to Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers. “I do know my impact but it’s one thing to know it, and another thing to really feel it and see it,” said Rapinoe. “To see some of the signs and the pink wigs and see what that means to people. it’s hard to put just this deep sense of gratitude and joy and thankfulness for being able to have a moment like this into words.”

Rapinoe delivered one of the finest individual campaigns in FIFA Women’s World Cup™ history. She scored six goals – they included both USA’s goals in the last 16 and quarter-finals, and the opener in the decider – and supplied three assists in just five outings. “She was absolutely amazing,” said Alex Morgan. “Up there with the best [individual] World Cups. The team needs her, she steps us. Time and time again. She deserves everything.”

Following her exceptional performances at the global finals, Rapinoe beat USA team-mate Alex Morgan and England’s Lucy Bronze to the The Best FIFA Women’s Player award for 2019. “They don’t tell you how heavy it is,” she said upon receiving the trophy from FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “Messi could have given me a head up or something. “I’m at a little bit of a loss for words if you can believe it – that rarely ever happens to me. As Gianni was saying, this was an incredible year for women’s football. For those of you who are just noticing that now, it’s ok. You’re a little late to the party, but we’ll forgive you, we’re just getting started.”

After netting her first FIFA Women’s World Cup goal with a belter against Colombia, minutes after coming on at Germany 2011, Rapinoe ran to the corner of the pitch, picked up a microphone, tapped it playfully, and sung the go-to line from Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen.

A more earth-engrossing, immortal ‘Pinoe’ celebration was born on the other side of the Rhine eight years later. When she broke the deadlock against France at the Parc des Princes, Rapinoe – arms outstretched, face smirking – stood statuesquely in a pose that she patented and replicated.

• Rapinoe is the only player in FIFA Women’s World Cup history to have scored multiple goals in back-to-back games in the knockout phase. She bagged braces against Spain in the last 16 and France in the quarter-finals in 2019.

• Rapinoe is the only player to have scored a spot-kick in the decider. The only other two penalties were saved: Marta’s by Nadine Angerer in 2007 and Jenni Hermoso’s by Mary Earps in 2023.

• The winger has scored nine goals in the Women’s World Cup. The only non-forward to have registered more is Germany midfielder Bettina Wiegmann, who got 11.

• Rapinoe is one of six players to have played in a record three Women’s World Cup finals. German Birgit Prinz, and fellow Americans Tobin Heath, Ali Krieger, Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan are the others.

• Rapinoe is the oldest goalscorer in a Women’s World Cup final. She was two days past her 34th birthday when she put USA ahead against the Netherlands in Lyon.

Rapinoe is engaged to Sue Bird, one of the greatest female basketball players of all time. They pair briefly met during a media day for the 2016 Olympics. “I was a little bit nervous – I made a really stupid joke,” explained Megan. “Really stupid,” said Sue. “Dorky.” “I basically just walked away,” added Megan. “I thought, ‘This is not good’." Following a penalty-shootout loss to Sweden at the Games nine months later, Rapinoe stayed on in Brazil, watched Bird help USA thrash Spain 101-72 and win gold, and went to the basketball team’s after-party. Thereafter, said Sue, Megan “hit me in the DMs”. The pair quickly began dating, with Bird coming out as gay a little while later. In 2018 Megan and Sue became the first same-sex couple to pose on the cover of The Body Issue, an annual edition by ESPN The Magazine, and two years later they co-hosted the ESPYs alongside legendary NFL quarterback Russell Wilson.

• FIFA Women’s World Cup (2015 & 2019)

• Women’s Olympic Football Tournament (2012)

• Concacaf W Championship (2014, 2018 & 2022)

• SheBelieves Cup (2018, 2020, 2021, 2023)

• Algarve Cup (2011, 2013, 2015)

• Tournament of Nations (2018)

203 caps 63 goals 73 assists

• 21 July is ‘Rapinoe Day’ in Redding, CA.

• Rapinoe was included in the Time 100 – a list of the most influential people on the planet – for 2020.

• Sam Kerr, Asisat Oshoala, Rapinoe and others recently became the first female footballers to be made into a LEGO figurine.

• Rapinoe was, along with Steve Jobs (posthumously) and Denzel Washington, bestowed with the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest civilian award of the USA – in 2022. Previous recipients include Helen Keller, T. S. Eliot, Walt Disney, Neil Armstrong, Jesse Owens, Martin Luther King Jr., Frank Sinatra, Mother Teresa, Audrey Hepburn, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela and Michael Jordan.

There will never be anyone quite like you. From the football world, thank you for everything, Megan Anna Rapinoe.