U.S. women's national team forward Abby Wambach announces retirement

U.S. women's national team forward Abby Wambach announced her plans to retire from soccer on Tuesday.

SI Wire | Oct 27, 2015

U.S. women's national team forward Abby Wambach announces retirement /

U.S. women's national team forward Abby Wambach announced her plans to retire from soccer on Tuesday.

The announcement came on the same day that the 2015 World Cup champions were honored by President Obama at the White House.

Wambach, who was undecided about whether or not to play in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, officially decided to hang up her cleats on Tuesday after a 15-year international career.

“After much deliberation and talking with my friends, family, teammates and our coaching staff, I’ve decided to finally bring my soccer career to an end,” Wambach said in a release. “While we still have more work to do for women’s soccer, after bringing the World Cup back to the United States this summer, I’m feeling extremely optimistic about the future of our sport. It’s been an amazing, wonderful ride and I can’t wait to see what the next chapter of my life brings.”

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Wambach, 35, is the winner of two Olympic gold medals, to go along with her World Cup title from the summer. She scored the game-winning header of the 2004 Olympic final against Brazil, and five goals at the 2012 Summer Games in London.

Wambach, who finishes her career as America’s all-time leading scorer in both the World Cup and Olympics, is also the top scorer in international soccer history with 184 goals.

Wambach's final game with the USWNT will be on Dec. 16 in New Orleans.

- Kayla Lombardo