Amid all the excitement about increasing parity in the women’s game at this year’s World Cup, the excitement of greater competition will be tempered for many longtime fans as three of the all-time greats in women’s soccer likely bid farewell.
Marta, Brazil
Perhaps the greatest to play the women’s game, Marta has been a presence at every World Cup since 2007, when she scored seven goals to claim the Golden Ball as the top player and the Golden Boot as the top individual scorer.
She was named FIFA World Player of the Year five years running, from 2006-2010, and again in 2018. Though she has never won the World Cup, her legacy is cemented. She led Brazil in a victory over the USA U-20 Team at the Pan American Games in front of 60,000 fans in Maracana in 2006 and was compared by fans to national idol Pele, who called to congratulate her after the win.
At 37, with 174 international caps and 115 goals (10th all-time), Marta is unlikely to play in another FIFA World Cup tournament after Australia/New Zealand.
Christine Sinclair, Canada
This will be Sinclair’s sixth World Cup and probably her last.
Sinclair has not yet announced her plans, but in a recent interview with Maclean’s, she was asked about retiring. “For me, it’s all about enjoyment. Can you stay healthy? Because it’s no fun if you’re not healthy,” Sinclair said in the interview. “And are you still enjoying it? Are you still waking up every day knowing this is what you want to do?”
Sinclair, who last month celebrated her 40th birthday, led Canada to the Gold Medal in the 2021 Olympics. She has 323 international appearances and has scored 190 international goals (and 54 assists) — more goals than any other player, ahead of even Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
She has been shortlisted for FIFA World Player of the Year seven times, right behind Marta in four of those years.
Megan Rapinoe, USA
Just before the send-off game with Wales, Rapinoe announced she would retire at the end of the current NWSL season, making this her final World Cup campaign.
“I feel incredibly grateful to have played as long as I have, to be as successful as we’ve been, and to have been a part of a generation of players who undoubtedly left the game better than they found it,” Rapinoe said in a statement. “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 led the USA to the last World Cup in 2019 in France, winning the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament and the Golden Boot as the leading scorer. The same year, Sports Illustrated named her i’s “Sportsperson of the Year.”
Rapinoe turned 38 on July 5 and has 199 international appearances. She has more assists, 78, than goals, 63, but is third all-time in assists. ranks third all-time than goals. She is the only player, male or female, to score an Olimpico (a corner kick for a goal) at the Olympic Games, and she’s done it twice.
Rapinoe is regarded as much for her off-the-field leadership on pay and equity and LGBTQ representation as she is for her stellar on-field performances.
This trio of legends has had a tremendous impact on the women’s game, and this World Cup offers a final opportunity to appreciate their contributions.