Megan Rapinoe’s retirement draws eye-opening request
The Megan Rapinoe retirement tour has begun. The US Women’s national team star has announced she will hang up her boots following the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the completion of the current NWSL season. However, Rapinoe’s USWNT teammate, Kristie Mewis wants her to go just a little (or a lot) longer.
Mewis, who plays for NJ/NY Gotham FC in the NWSL and is making her Women’s World Cup debut at 32, wants to play with Rapinoe (who goes by the nickname “P” on the USWNT) in another World Cup after this one.
“I keep telling P, I’m like, ‘Go another cycle, P. Come on, like we need you another cycle,’” Kristie Mewis joked during USWNT media availability on Monday, per JustWomensSports. She then added, in all seriousness, that it’s “really sad” the 2023 Women’s World Cup will be Rapinoe’s last.
Rapinoe heads into her final Women’s World Cup with 199 appearances and 63 goals, the 10th-most in USWNT history. That’s just one behind Christen Press, who is missing this Word Cup with a knee injury.
The USWNT star will also continue the Megan Rapinoe retirement tour by finishing out the NSWL 2023 season when she returns from New Zealand and Australia. Rapinoe is a member of OL Reign in Seattle, and her team currently sits first in the standings.
The NWSL regular season wraps up on October 15, when OL Reign takes on the Chicago Red Stars. After that, Rapinoe’s professional career will likely come to an end in the postseason. Those rounds happen on October 22, November 4, and the championship game is on November 11.
