Cal Sports Report

Was U.S. World Cup Loss the Final Game for Alex Morgan?

Former Cal star Morgan nearly scored in the loss to Sweden, which won on penalty kicks 5-4 in the Americans' earliest World Cup exit

Jake Curtis

Former Cal star Alex Morgan came up with several good scoring chances in the penalty-kicks loss to Sweden on Sunday, but ultimately she failed to score a goal in the four games the U.S. played in the Women's World Cup.

So we are left to wonder whether this was her final game as a member of the United States squad at a major world event.

Morgan remains at 121 international goals, which ranks eighth alltime, third among active players and No. 1 among active Americans. 

Will she ever score another international goal?

The 34-year-old Morgan was playing in her fourth World Cup and she also played in three Olympics, but her status for the next major event -- the 2024 Paris Olympics -- remains in question.

Asked about her future after the loss to Sweden, Morgan implied she will continue to play, although it was not a demonstrative statement..

"I'm not planning to hang up my boots anytime soon," she said. "Right now it's just one day at a time now."

Asked the same question about her future at a different point following the loss, Morgan said this:

"I don't know," she said. "I was so focused on the World up that . . . I don't know, I'm just ready to get back to San Diego, get back to work, go from there."

She was expected to be the U.S. team's star at this World Cup, based on her goal-scoring ability in recent years.  But she was unable to find the back of the net at all in the World Cup and she missed on a penalty kick in the opening game.

Perhaps that was why she was replaced in the 99th minute of the loss to Sweden, eliminating her from participation in the penalty kicks after the game ended 0-0 following extra time.

Many experts doubted Morgan would even be in the starting lineup for the match against Sweden, but she did start, and she nearly scored twice during the game. 

Her left-footed shot at a severe angle was on goal but saved by  Swedish goaltender Zecira Musovic (top video), and she had a header late in the game that was also on goal and stopped by the Swedish goaltender (bottom video)

ESPN.com was not kind to Morgan in its World Cup grade for her, giving her a "4" rating on a scale of 1-to-10.

FW Alex Morgan 4 -- Pressed hard, and made some unselfish runs, but the U.S. still needed more in attack. Nearly won it with a header late in regulation, only to be denied by Musovic.

The loss to Sweden in the round of 16 represents the Americans' earliest exit ever at a Women's World Cup event, and it came despite the best U.S. performance of the event.

The U.S. got off 22 shots, 11 of which were on goal, while the Swedes attempted nine shots, just one of which was on goal.

And ultimately the Americans lost on a Swedish penalty kick that was partially stopped by U.S. goaltender Alyssa Naeher before it crossed the goal-line by about a millimeter, as shown in this video below. That gave the Swedes a 5-4 win on penalty kicks.

And that's the way the Americans' World Cup -- and possibly Morgan's international career -- ended.

However, it also appeared that Morgan's career was over after the 2020 Olympics (which were played in 2021).  She was not a starter in the bronze-medal game, and played just nine minutes before leaving with an injury. But she came back with strong performances over the next two years to earn a starting spot on this year's U.S. Women's National Team.

Cover photo of Alex Morgan (13) is by Jenna Watson, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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