The story of Megan Rapinoe: A Legacy Bigger Than Soccer.

As Megan Rapinoe takes the field for a final time with the USWNT this week against South Africa we take a look back at her achievements, both on and off the field.

Chapter 1. Early Life

Megan Anna Rapinoe was born in Redding, California on 5th July 1985. She has a fraternal twin, Rachel, and is part of a big family, having 5 siblings in total, with the twins being the youngest of the 5.

Her older brother Brian was someone Megan idolized growing up, and started wanting to play soccer after she watched him do so growing up at just the age of three.

As a teenager, Rapinoe tried various sports including track and field, basketball, and of course soccer. Megan was academically inclined making the honor roll every semester of high school.

Rapinoe was coached by her father through junior soccer until she entered high school. Instead of playing for her high school, Megan played for Elk Grove Pride club team located in Sacramento, now a third-tier team below the National Women’s Soccer League. The family had to commute two and a half hours to let the sisters play for Elk Grove. Rapinoe was named to the McDonald’s All-American Girls High School Soccer West Team in 2004.

Chapter 2. U19 USWNT and College

Megan attended college receiving a full scholarship to play soccer for the Portland Pilots at the University of Portland alongside her twin Rachel where she earned her degree with a major in sociology.

Prior to starting as a freshman at The University of Portland, Rapinoe had taken 2004 to represent the United States at the FIFA U19 World Cup in Thailand, where the US took home the bronze medals. The US finished at the top of their group, winning their three games against Spain, Russian, and South Korea, before advancing past Australia 2–0 in the quarter-finals only to be defeated by eventual winners Germany in the semi-finals 3–0. The US defeated a Brazilian team that featured tournament MVP, Marta, 3–0 in the bronze medal match. Rapinoe was amongst the top goal scorers at the tournament, scoring 3 goals in 6 matches.

As a freshman in 2005, Rapinoe was part of the undefeated Pilot’s team that won the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship, scoring goals in crucial games late in the later rounds of the College Cup finals. As a freshman, she had started all 25 games, was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team, was named the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year, and NSCAA First Team All-Amercian.

After a promising start to her sophomore season in 2006, scoring ten goals in the team’s first eleven matches, Rapinoe had a season-ending ACL injury. In 2007, Rapinoe had another heartbreaking ACL injury that prematurely ended her season in just the second game. The NCAA deemed Rapinoe eligible for a medical hardship waiver in both years, but she elected not to take up the offer.

In 2008 Rapinoe returned to play for the Pilots starting in all 22 games, the team securing a 20–2 record and being named West Coast Conference Player of the Year. She was also named in the Soccer America First All-American Team and NSCAA Second team All-American.

Despite not playing a significantly reduced number of college career games due to injuries, Rapinoe’s 30-goals ranked amongst The University of Portland’s all-time list at number 10.

Chapter 3. Going Pro

As the second overall pick in the Women’s Professional Soccer, draft in 2009, Megan was selected by the Chicago Red Stars in the league’s inaugural season. This was the highest level of women’s soccer in the US at the time and a predecessor league to the NWSL. In her first season, she started 17 of 18 games and was named to the All-Star game.

After staying with the franchise that drafted her for two seasons, in 2010 Rapinoe signed with expansion team Philadelphia Independence after the Chicago Red Stars folded after being unable to meet the Women’s Professional Soccer minimum funding requirements for the 2011 season. After playing just four games for the franchise, Rapinoe was traded to MagicJack, while competing at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup on the USWNT in Germany. It was reported, however not confirmed that the transfer attracted $100,000 in cash considerations for Rapinoe, at a time when the average salary in the league was approximately $25,000. The MagicJack made the final that year, ultimately losing to Rapinoe’s former team the Philadelphia Independence.

In 2012, Rapinoe teamed up with USWNT members Hope Solo, Sydney Leroux, Alex Morgan, and Stephanie Cox, whom she had played juniors with, to play for the Seattle Sounders. The star power of Rapinoe and her USWNT teammates saw the Sounders sell out 9 of their 10 home games at Starfire Stadium at a capacity of 4,500 and their average attendance was four times higher than any other team.

In 2013 Rapinoe made the move to the European leagues, signing with French League Club Olympique Lyonnais, which had won six consecutive French League Championships reportedly for approximately $14,000 per month. The team went on to make the UEFA Women’s Champion League’s final, Rapinoe becoming the fifth American woman to play in the final against German side VfL Wolfsburg losing 1–0.

After a less successful 2014 season with Lyons, Rapinoe returned early to rejoin the Seattle Reign to play the last half of the NWSL season with them, joining former teammate Hope Solo. Rapinoe immediately made an impact, improving the team’s ability to score, finishing the season as the team’s leading scorer despite only playing half the games. In 2014, Rapinoe led the Reign to a regular season title, the NWSL Shield, clear of second place FC Kansas City by 13 points, but were ultimately defeated by Kansas City in the final 2–1.

Rapinoe continued to play and be a major scoring contributor to the Seattle Reign from 2015 to 2023. In 2021, the Reign honored Rapinoe as a legend of the club. Rapinoe announced her retirement from Professional Soccer following the conclusion of the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League season.

Chapter 4. Getting to the Top

ACL injuries during her college career had forced Megan to sit out of the Open USWNT program in 2007 and 2008, forcing her to miss the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2008 Beijing Olympics where the US won the gold medal.

Megan Rapinoe was part of an era of dominance for US Women’s soccer, between 2008 and 2014 being ranked no. 1 in the world by FIFA, the longest of any women’s team, and taking out two world cups and an Olympic Gold while Rapinoe was a member of the team.

Rapinoe was selected as part of the USWNT for the 2011 FIFA following scoring consistently in the qualifying tournament games. In a Group Stage game against Colombia following scoring a goal after entering the game in the 50th minute, Rapinoe celebrated by singing Bruce Springsteen’s song, “Born in the USA” into a microphone used for the television broadcast. In the quarter-final match against Brazil, Rapinoe’s crosses were key, completing 5 of 10 successfully, whereas the rest of team USA was 0 for 18, a late-in-the-game cross resulting in an Abby Wambach equalizer goal in the 122nd minute, sending the game to penalties. Rapinoe sunk her penalty kick and the US advanced to the semi-final against France, who they beat 3–1 to advance to the final. In front a crowd of 48,817 the US women’s national team lost in a heartbreaking penalty shootout to Japan.

2012 London Olympics saw the US take home gold, notably scoring two goals in a dramatic semi-final against Canada, one of which was directly off a corner kick. Getting revenge for the team’s world cup loss a year earlier, the US defeated Japan in the final 2–1.

Again named to the FIFA Women’s World Cup teams in 2015 and 2019 that won back-to-back world cups, Megan Rapinoe was a key contributor on both teams. In the 2015 FIFA WOmen’s World Cup in Canada Rapinoe, scoring during the group stage against Australia. USWNT finished first in their pool to advance ot a round of 16 game against Colombia, winning 2–0 going on to defeat China 1–0 in the quarter-finals, Germany 2–0 in the semi-finals to set up another World Cup Final . In a thrilling, high-scoring match against a Japan the US won 5–2 against Japan to avenge their 2014 loss.

Tragically, Rapinoe did another ACL injury in 2015 after the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament was completed, in friendly matches that formed part of the USWNT victory tour.

The USWNT was again dominant during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. During the final on July 7 in front of a sold-out crowd of 57,900 fans, Rapinoe scored her 50th international goal on a penalty kick in the 61st minute. The United States defeated the Netherlands 2–0 to clinch its second consecutive World Cup championship. At age 34, Rapinoe was the oldest woman to score in a World Cup final and was named Player of the Match in the final. She was awarded the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the tournament with six goals. Rapinoe also earned the Golden Ball award as the best player at the tournament.

At the 2020 Olympics, in Tokyo but delayed to 2021 due to COVID, the US made the semi-final, to be eliminated in a 0–1 loss to Canada. In 2020, Megan was awarded the top honor in international football — the Balloon D’or. She became only the second woman to receive this award.

Rapinoe was selected for her 4th FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, with the US making the Round of 16 where the US was eliminated on penalty kicks by Sweden, ending an illustrious international career.

Chapter 5. Advocate, Activist, and Powerful Voice

Megan’s work off the field could be considered the greatest part of her legacy by many.

During a 2016 game in Chicago, Rapinoe knelt in a Colin Kaepernick’s style protest while the national anthem was playing to show solidarity, saying:

It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he’s standing for right now. I think it’s actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn’t. […] Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it.

Rapinoe continued this throughout the 2016 FIFA Women’s World Cup, US Soccer issuing a statement saying:

“Representing your country is a privilege and honor for any player or coach that is associated with U.S. Soccer’s National Teams. Therefore, our national anthem has particular significance for U.S. Soccer. In front of national and often global audiences, the playing of our national anthem is an opportunity for our Men’s and Women’s National Team players and coaches to reflect upon the liberties and freedom we all appreciate in this country. As part of the privilege to represent your country, we have an expectation that our players and coaches will stand and honor our flag while the national anthem is played.”

In addressing the issue, Rapinoe stated in an interview that:

“using this blanketed patriotism as a defense against what the protest actually is was pretty cowardly”

Another key issue that Rapinoe has championed is equal pay, being a key part of the USWNT fight for equal pay, being 1 of the 27 players who filed a lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation accusing it of gender discrimination, a lawsuit which they eventually won.

Megan has cemented herself as a leading voice in LGBQTI+ rights, particularly being an advocate for the inclusion of transgender women in sports and characterized the issue as part of a larger effort to:

“legislate away people’s full humanity“

Megan’s contributions both on and off the field to the US were recognized by Joe Biden in 2022 when she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to civilians in the US.

While Megan Rapinoe may be hanging up her soccer boots, we are excited to see the impact she can have with her next chapter.