Julie Ertz, Two-time World Cup Champion Retires from Professional Soccer After 10-Year Career

On August 31, 2023, Julie Ertz, two-time World Cup Winner announced her retirement from professional soccer after a long and successful career.

Two weeks following the U.S. Women’s National Teams’ exit from the World Cup in the Round of 16, Ertz took to Instagram to announce her official retirement from International and Club soccer.

Ertz says, “I gave everything I had to the sport that I love. With that, I can walk away with no regrets because while I gave soccer every ounce of myself, soccer gave me even more, and for that I’ll always be thankful.” Ertz has been a main figure in the success of the team since her first cap for the National Team in 2013 at just 21 years old.

She has been the starting midfielder for the team since her debut and most recently the starting center-back at this year’s World Cup.

Ertz has had a long and illustrious career in professional soccer and has been no stranger to adversity and hardships along with success and triumph. Ertz won the World Cup in 2015 and 2019, as well as becoming an Olympian in 2016 and 2021. She was also named U.S. Soccer Young Player of the Year as well as the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year twice.

After two successful World Cups, Ertz took a year off from professional soccer to have her first child with her husband, Zach Ertz. The 31-year-old stepped away after the 2019 Olympics, giving birth to her first child with husband Zach Ertz in August 2022, according to Clare Brennan from Sports Illustrated. In Ertz’s absence, the team’s midfield struggled. Ertz’s impact on the national team was more present than ever when she took time off. After her time away to have her child, she was right back into playing soccer and already being rostered for this year’s World Cup.

After exiting the World Cup in the Round of 16, Julie Ertz played her final game on September 21, 2023, in a Friendly against South Africa and got the huge sendoff she deserved as one of the World’s top women’s soccer players.