U.S. Women’s National Team goalkeeping legend Alyssa Naeher announces her retirement from international soccer

CHICAGO (November 25, 2024) – Alyssa Naeher, one of the greatest goalkeepers in U.S. women’s national team history and the only goalkeeper in women’s soccer history to record a shutout in a World Cup final and an Olympic gold medal game, has officially announced her retirement from international soccer.

Naher is with the U.S. team in London as they prepare for games against England on November 30 and the Netherlands on December 3 in The Hague. This will be her final trip with the USWNT, ending a brilliant 11-year international career in which she won two World Cups and was on three World Cup squads and three Olympic teams. She was the starting goalkeeper for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2024 Olympic Champions. She also helped the United States win the 2008 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup.

She played her first international match for the senior national team on December 18, 2014 in a 7-0 win against Argentina in Brazil. She enters the two European Championships with a record of 88 wins, 6 losses and 14 defeats as well as a goals-against average of 0.50 for her career.

“Having the opportunity to be a part of the USWNT for the last 15 years has been the greatest honor,” Naeher said. “When I started this journey I could never have imagined where it would take me and now I am so grateful for all the incredible teammates I have shared the field with; Teammates who have become lifelong friends. I would like to thank all my teammates, coaches and staff for pushing me, supporting me and making me a better person/player every day. A special thank you goes to my family. You have traveled all over the world and have been by my side every step of the way and I love you all.

“It was a special team to be a part of and I am beyond proud of what we achieved both on and off the field. The memories I have made over the years will last me a lifetime. I know it’s a chapter coming to an end, but I’m so excited to see how the team continues to grow in the future and what more they can achieve.”

Naeher, 36, will play for the Chicago Stars in the 2025 NWSL season, but is capping a memorable international career that saw her rank third all-time in goaltending appearances (113), starts (110), wins (88) and shutouts times climbed (68), trailing only USWNT goalkeeping legends Hope Solo and Briana Scurry. She became the USA’s starting goalkeeper in 2017 and earned one cap every year from her debut in 2014 until 2024. Her shutout rate is higher than Solo and Scurry, albeit in fewer games.

Naeher’s performances at the last four World Cups – the 2019 and 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cups and the 2021 and 2024 Olympics – cemented her status as one of the position’s greatest players. Their surreal calm under pressure, distribution from the back, overall consistency in the net and a litany of epic saves in the biggest moments have forever cemented them in USWNT history.

In the semifinals of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Naeher made one of the most memorable and important plays in U.S. history when she stopped Steph Houghton’s penalty in the 83rd minute, helping the U.S. to a 2-1 victory over England in second place Final, where the USA won 2-0 against the Netherlands and Naher secured the shutout.

At the Olympics in France last summer, she posted four shutouts as the U.S. made an inspiring run to an Olympic gold medal. Her four goals conceded surpassed Solo’s previous record, making her the most goals scored by a goalkeeper in USWNT history at a single Olympics.

During her career, Naeher made 22 USWNT appearances – all starters – in the World Cup and Olympics, keeping a total of 12 clean sheets and allowing just 12 goals. Five of her clean sheets at World Cups came in knockout round games.

A three-time Olympian, Naeher supported Solo at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and made five starts at the postponed 2021 Tokyo Olympics on the USA’s path to a bronze medal before suffering an injury in the semifinals against Canada.

She delivered a performance for the ages against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of Tokyo 2021. She saved one penalty at the end of regulation time and two in the shootout, while making several crucial saves in regulation time and overtime to secure a place in the medal rounds.

A two-time women’s world champion, Naeher assisted Solo on the U.S.’s path to the title in 2015 before playing every minute of all seven games at the 2019 World Cup in France. She only conceded three goals and posted four shutouts, including one in the final. When she started the opening game of this World Cup in France, it was the first time in more than two decades that a player not named Solo or Scurry had started in goal for the United States at a World Cup.

In her second World Cup as a starter in 2023, Naeher was outstanding again, playing every minute, earning three compliments and allowing just one goal in the four games. She scored a penalty herself in the shootout, making her the first goalkeeper ever to take a penalty in the history of the Women’s World Cup. She managed to extend the penalty shootout by just millimeters, but the ball infamously ended up over the tightest margin line.

In 2024, she earned her 100th international cap – becoming the third goalkeeper in U.S. history – in the quarterfinal win over Colombia in the Concacaf W Gold Cup. She played a remarkable game in the semi-final against Canada and performed heroically in the penalty shootout, saving three of Canada’s four attempts from the penalty spot and thwarting her own penalty attempt. Naeher became the first goalkeeper in USWNT history to make three or more saves in a penalty shootout.

Amazingly, she did it again in the championship game of the 2024 SheBelieves Cup, again saving three of Canada’s penalty kicks while also nullifying her own.

Closer was the USA’s starting goalkeeper at the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile. He started five of the six games and allowed only one goal – at the very end of the 2-1 win against North Korea in the World Cup final – and received the Golden Glove as the tournament’s best goalkeeper. Naher also played for the USA at the U-16 and U-17 levels and attended the 2002 USA U14 ID Camp.

Alyssa Michele Naeher grew up in Connecticut, where she was an elite high school basketball player, scoring more than 2,000 points and dreaming of one day playing basketball for the powerhouse University of Connecticut. However, her sporting future would lie on the grass rather than the hardwood. She was a three-time All-State selection at Christian Heritage School. During her youth club career, she played for Yankee United from U-12 to U-15, then moved to South Central from U-16 to U-19, where she won a state championship. She was recruited to Penn State University, where she played in 88 goal games and earned All-America honors in 2007 and 2008. She was the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2007.

At the professional club level, Naeher is one of the last players in the NWSL to play in the ill-fated WPS, where she played for her hometown Boston Breakers from 2010 to 2011. She then had a valuable stint in Germany with Turbine Potsdam before returning to play for the Breakers in the newly formed NWSL. She was the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year in 2014.

In the fall of 2015, she was transferred to the Chicago Red Stars and played there for the last nine years, setting and holding all of the club’s goalkeeping records. She is also the NWSL’s all-time leader in both saves and appearances by a goalkeeper and will have a chance to extend that mark next season.

Throughout her career, she was considered Team USA’s early riser, and her teammates will long remember her love for sitting quietly with a cup of coffee and her crossword puzzle early in the morning. She achieved one of her life goals when her name was an answer in the New York Times crossword puzzle.