Soccer star Megan Rapinoe to retire at the end of the 2023 season
Rapinoe made her United States Women's National Soccer team debut in July 2006, when she was just 21 years old.
LEARN MOREPosted: 11:30 a.m. EDT Jul 20, 2023
The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup kicked off in New Zealand on Thursday, with the home team beating Norway 1-0.
The U.S. Women's National Team will take the field on Friday.
They are in Group E, which means they will start their tournament against Vietnam. Since the games are being played on the other side of the world, some people in the U.S. will have to stay up late to watch the action.
The game against Vietnam will begin at 9 p.m. Eastern.
They will play at the same time against the Netherlands on July 26. However, the matchup against Portgual will be at 3 a.m. Eastern on Aug. 1.
The top two teams from the group will move on to the knockout round.
The USWNT will feature nine players from the 2019 championship team. They include Alex Morgan, Julie Ertz, and Megan Rapinoe.
This will be Rapinoe's final tournament with the team. A couple of weeks before the World Cup, the 38-year-old soccer star announced that she would retire at the end of the year.
"To be able to play one last World Cup and one last NWSL season and go out on my own terms is incredibly special," she said.
While Rapinoe has played in four World Cups, of the 23 players on the roster this year, 14 have never played in a World Cup before.
The U.S. is attempting to become the first team, women or men, to win three World Cups in a row.
