Soccer Star Carli Lloyd Announces Retirement

Carli Lloyd, the New Jersey native who went on to star on the U.S. Women's National Team in multiple Olympics and World Cups, has announced her retirement.

U.S. Soccer announced Monday that Lloyd will retire from international play after four matches in the fall. Lloyd will play the remainder of the National Women’s Soccer League season with NJ/NY Gotham FC, and then retire from pro soccer as well.

A legendary career comes to a close 🇺🇸🐐 @CarliLloyd has announced her retirement. The soon-to-be announced four #USWNT fall friendlies will be her final matches in a U.S. uniform, closing out a remarkable career. She will finish the @NWSL season with @GothamFC.
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) August 16, 2021

Lloyd, 39, put together a career that is truly one of the all-timers in U.S. women's soccer. She has 312 international appearances with the USWNT since 2005 and 128 goals, which puts her fourth in U.S. history and tied for fifth in international history. In her club career, Lloyd played in the NWSL, the WPS, and England's Women's Super League 1, scoring 35 goals in 132 career appearances.

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The two-time Olympic goal medalist cited her team’s bronze medal finish as an example of showing up to work hard every day.

Lloyd was a member of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medal teams and the 2015 and 2019 Women's World Cup gold medal teams, along with multiple silver and bronze medal teams, including this summer's bronze medal 2020 Olympic team. She's best known for her hat trick in the 2015 Women's World Cup gold medal game vs. Japan, in which she scored three goals in the first 16 minutes of the match en route to a 5-2 victory.

Adam Hermann of NBC Sports Philadelphia contributed to this report.