Two-time World Cup winner, gold medalist with the U.S. Women’s National Team and Gotham FC defender Kelley O’Hara said Thursday she will retire from soccer at the end of the 2024 NWSL season.
In a career spanning more than a decade, O’Hara has appeared in four World Cups and three Olympic Games while winning championships in the WPS and the NWSL.
She helped Gotham FC to its first-ever NWSL championship title last season.
O’Hara made the announcement in a video as part of her “Kelley on the Street” series with Just Women’s Sports.
“If you haven’t caught on already, this is my retirement announcement,” she said in the video.
“Alright guys you heard it here first, this 2024 season will be my last. I just want to say thank you to every single person who has cheered me on and supported me through the years. I’ve been playing soccer since I was 4 years old and it’s been an absolute joy, but as they don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
O’Hara has been dealing with ankle and knee injuries that have limited her playing time for Gotham this season.
The team posted a tribute to O’Hara on social media after the announcement, as did the NWSL.
“I’ve never taken anything for granted, and I feel like I’ve never coasted either,” she told Just Women’s Sports in a separate interview about her retirement. “I’ve always been like, ‘I gotta put my best foot forward every single day I step on this field’ — which is honestly probably half the reason why I’m having to retire now as opposed to getting a couple more years out of it. I’ve just grinded hard.”
The 35-year-old will retire having firmly cemented her place in American women’s soccer history, having played more than 10,000 minutes for the women’s national team with 160 appearances, three goals and 21 assists, while scoring one of its most memorable goals during the 2015 World Cup.
O’Hara famously came off the bench in the semifinal game against Germany to volley a pass from Carli Lloyd and score in the 84th minute, sealing the United States’ victory and sending them to the World Cup final, where they defeated Japan 5-2.
She made her first USWNT appearance in March 2010 and became a mainstay for the program from then on out.
O’Hara appeared in her final game for the national team last summer when the US fell to Sweden in the World Cup round of 16.
“Once I was like, ‘Alright, you know what, this will be my last year,’ I have had a lot of peace with it,” O’Hara said. “Truly the only thing I felt was gratitude for everything that my career has been, all the things I’ve been able to do and the people I’ve been able to do it with.”
During her professional career, O’Hara helped FC Gold Pride win an WPS championship in 2010 and then was part of the 2021 Washington Spirit championship squad, as well as Gotham’s championship team last year.
Gotham still has 11 home games left on the calendar and the U.S. Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a send-off game in July at Red Bull Arena.
Gotham FC and U.S. Soccer have not announced plans to honor O’Hara.