Alex Morgan Biography

Alex Morgan biography, who was born on July 2, 1989, describes her as a professional soccer player who serves as the striker and captain of San Diego Wave FC in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the top-tier women’s professional soccer division in the United States.

In addition, she is also a member of the United States women’s national soccer team and has co-captained it alongside Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe between 2018 and 2020.

Alex Morgan biography highlights her accomplishments beyond the soccer field, including her work as an author and actress. Morgan collaborated with Simon & Schuster to create a series of middle-grade books called The Kicks, which revolves around the lives of four soccer players.

The first book, Saving the Team, debuted at number seven on The New York Times Best Seller list in May 2013. Moreover, Morgan made her acting debut in a film called Alex & Me, released in June 2018, where she played a fictionalized version of herself.

In addition to her creative work, Morgan has been ranked as the highest-paid American women’s soccer player in 2015 by Time magazine, largely due to her multiple endorsement deals.

She was also one of the first female soccer players to appear on the cover of FIFA video games in 2015, alongside Canada’s Christine Sinclair and Australia’s Steph Catley. Furthermore, Morgan was included in Time’s list of 100 Most Influential People in both 2019 and 2022.

Everything to Know About Alex Morgan

Here are Alex Morgan stats 2023 so that you get to know her a bit better.

Alex Morgan Real Name: Alexandra Morgan Carrasco
Alex Morgan Age: 33 years old
Alex Morgan Height: 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Nationality: American
Current Team: San Diego Wave, United States women’s national soccer team
Position: Striker
Alex Morgan 2022 & 2023 NWSL Total Matches Played: 20
Alex Morgan 2022 & 2023 NWSL Total Goals: 17

Alex Morgan Personal Affairs

Alex Morgan life story reveals that Morgan got married to fellow soccer player Servando Carrasco on New Year’s Eve in 2014. The couple first met at UC Berkeley, where they both played soccer.

In October 2019, they announced that they were expecting a baby girl, who was born on May 7, 2020, and named Charlie Elena Carrasco.

During her earlier days on the U.S. women’s national team, Morgan was nicknamed “Baby Horse” by her teammates, owing to her running style, youth, and speed. She was presented with the key to the city of her hometown, Diamond Bar, on January 24, 2016.

In October 2017, Morgan was one of several athletes who were asked to leave Epcot in Florida for being “impaired and verbally aggressive” towards staff and other guests. While Morgan apologized, the incident was recorded in a police file.

Morgan and her U.S. teammate Megan Rapinoe were the first two female players in the United States to sign up for the Common Goal campaign, created by Juan Mata of Manchester United, which involves players donating 1% of their wages to support soccer-related charities.

Aside from soccer, Morgan is passionate about martial arts and has incorporated it into her fitness routine. She holds a black belt in Kyokushin karate and attributes it to improve her balance, strength, flexibility, and discipline.

She is also a vegan and was named one of PETA’s Most Beautiful Vegan Celebrities of 2019, along with NBA player Kyrie Irving.

Alex Morgan‘s Family and Early Football Life

Alexandra Morgan Carrasco, whose parents are Pamela and Michael Morgan, was born in San Dimas, California, and raised in Diamond Bar with her two older sisters, Jeni and Jeri. Morgan began playing soccer at a young age with AYSO, and her father was among her first coaches, an interesting fact in Alex Morgan biography.

She started playing club soccer at age 14 when she joined Cypress Elite and won the Coast Soccer League under-16 championship and placed third at the under-19 level with the team.

Morgan attended Diamond Bar High School, where she was a three-time all-league pick and named All-American by the NSCAA. She played for Olympic Development Program (ODP) regional and state teams, which she later credited as an integral part of her soccer development.

At age 17, Morgan was called up to the United States under-20 women’s national soccer team, but she sustained an ACL injury while playing in a scrimmage against the men’s junior national team and did not play for the team again until April 2008.

Morgan was known for her speed and sprinting ability in high school.

Her Club Career

We are going to talk about his professional soccer career throughout the years, starting with her time at Western New York Flash in 2011.

Starting Strong

The Alex Morgan biography states that on January 14, 2011, Morgan was selected as the first overall pick in the 2011 WPS Draft by the Western New York Flash. This made her the first Cal player to be drafted in the first round of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS).

Morgan scored her first goal for the Flash in a 3-0 win over the Atlanta Beat on May 1, 2011, during the team’s home opener. Throughout the 2011 season, she scored four goals in 14 matches played.

The Western New York Flash won both the regular season title and the WPS Championship title that year. When the WPS suspended operations in early 2012, Morgan joined the Seattle Sounders Women’s team for the 2012 season, along with national teammates Hope Solo, Sydney Leroux, Megan Rapinoe, and Stephanie Cox.

Due to her national team commitments and preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics, Morgan only made three regular-season appearances for the club, but she scored two goals and served two assists.

In 2013, Morgan joined the Portland Thorns FC, where she scored eight goals and had five assists, finishing the regular season as the team’s joint-scoring leader with Christine Sinclair. Portland won the league’s inaugural championship title that year, with Morgan assisting on the second goal.

She returned to the Thorns for the 2014 season, scoring six goals in 15 appearances. During the 2015 season, Morgan played in only four games for the Thorns due to her national team commitments at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, scoring one goal in a 3-3 draw against the Washington Spirit on August 31.

Signing with the French Champions

In Alex Morgan biography, we read that on October 26, 2015, it was announced that Alex Morgan, along with her teammate Kaylyn Kyle, had been traded by the Thorns to the newly-formed Orlando Pride team.

As part of the deal, the Thorns received Pride’s number-one picks in both the 2015 NWSL Expansion Draft and the 2016 NWSL College Draft, as well as an international roster spot for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

During her 15 appearances for the Pride, Morgan managed to score four goals. However, despite her efforts, the team finished in ninth place during the regular season.

On January 5, 2017, Alex Morgan signed a six-month contract with French champions Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon) for a reported monthly salary of $33,000, which included a mutual option for another season.

She debuted for the team on January 14, 2017, during a 3-0 win against En Avant de Guingamp, providing two assists. On March 17, during a match against ASPTT Albi, she scored two goals in the second half to help secure a 5-0 victory.

On May 7, she scored two more goals during the team’s 9-0 win over ASJ Soyaux, which led to the club being named league champions for the ninth consecutive season. In total, she scored five goals in eight regular-season appearances.

More Success with Lyon

On March 12, Morgan scored a hat-trick against Rodez to lead Lyon to a 6-0 win and advance to the semi-finals of the French Cup, another interesting fact included in our Alex Morgan biography. During the semi-final match against Henin-Beaumont, she scored four goals and provided two assists, three of which occurred within a ten-minute span.

Lyon won the Cup after a penalty shootout on May 19, but Morgan was unable to play during the final due to a lingering hamstring injury that she had sustained during a match against Paris Saint-Germain.

Morgan made her 2016-17 UEFA Women’s Champions League debut on March 23, during the first leg of the quarterfinals, in which Lyon won 2-0 against VfL Wolfsburg.

On June 1, she started in the 2017 UEFA Women’s Champions League Final but was substituted off after just 23 minutes due to a hamstring injury. Despite this, Lyon managed to win the match after a penalty shootout.

Moving Back to Orlando Pride

In June 2017, the Orlando Pride announced that Alex Morgan would join their 20-player roster for the 2017 season after waiving Christina Burkenroad to create space.

We read in Alex Morgan biography that Morgan had suffered a hamstring injury during the 2017 UEFA Women’s Champions League Final, but she eventually made her competitive return for Orlando against the Chicago Red Stars on July 1.

During the season, Morgan scored nine goals in fourteen games, and the Pride finished with an 11–6–7 record. In October, Morgan played in the team’s first-ever NWSL playoff match, but they lost 4–1 to the Portland Thorns FC.

Despite having the option to return to Lyon in 2018, Morgan announced in September 2017 that she would instead return to Orlando for the start of the 2018 season.

Morgan spent most of the 2019 season on international duty, including the World Cup, but ended the season with an injury. She played in only six games for Orlando and did not score, marking the first time she ended a Pride season without a goal.

In October 2019, Morgan announced that she was pregnant and eventually gave birth in May 2020.

She did not participate in the early-summer 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic but returned to training with the Pride in early September ahead of the Fall Series, a slate of games scheduled for the end of the season in September and October.

Playing with The Spurs

Alex Morgan biography says that Morgan joined Tottenham Hotspur, an English FA Women’s Super League team, on September 12, 2020. Her contract was initially set to run from September to December 2020, with the option to extend it until May 2021.

Despite not having played since August 2019 and having given birth in May 2020, Morgan made her debut as a substitute in a 1-1 draw against Reading on November 7, 2020. She then made her first start for the Spurs on November 14, playing 45 minutes before being substituted at half-time.

In her third appearance, she played against Arsenal and missed the decisive penalty in a shootout, resulting in a 5-4 defeat for Spurs. Morgan scored her first goal for the club on December 6, 2020, in an 84th-minute penalty during a 3-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.

She scored another penalty in the following week’s match against Aston Villa, which Spurs won 3-1. However, on December 21, 2020, Tottenham announced that Morgan would be leaving the club and returning to the United States.

2021 to Present

Morgan returned to the Orlando Pride for the 2021 season after her brief stint with Tottenham Hotspur.

Although she missed the start of the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup while playing for the US national team in friendlies against Sweden and France, she made her first appearance for Orlando on April 21, 2021, in a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit, contributing an assist for the only goal of the game.

In Alex Morgan biography, we can see that Morgan went on to score in each of the first four games of the regular season, making history as the first player to do so in NWSL history.

Her outstanding performance earned her the NWSL Player of the Month award for May 2021, the second time she had received the honor in her career. On December 13, 2021, it was announced that Morgan had signed with San Diego Wave FC.

The trade terms were disclosed three days later, with Orlando receiving a record $275,000 in Allocation Money and Angharad James in exchange for Morgan.

If you are interested in more articles like this, feel free to check out Beth Mead Biography as well.

Her International Career

Now to her International presence, which is quite an exciting part of Alex Morgan biography.

Starting with the Under-20 Squad

Alex Morgan, a professional soccer player, suffered an ACL injury in 2007 that slowed down her progress. She was not able to train with the United States under-20 women’s national soccer team until April 2008.

Her first appearance for the under-20 team occurred during the 2008 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship in Puebla, Mexico. She scored her first international goal against Cuba in this match.

Morgan scored a total of four goals in the tournament against France, Argentina, and North Korea. Her fourth goal was a match-winner that won the U.S. tournament, which was subsequently voted the best goal of the tournament.

Later, FIFA recognized it as the second-best goal of the year. In the senior national team, Morgan’s first appearance was as a substitute in a match against Mexico in March 2010. Her most important goal to date came in a crucial road match against Italy.

After entering the match in the 86th minute, she scored in the fourth minute of added time to give the United States a 1–0 victory over Italy in the first leg of a playoff to qualify for the final spot for the Women’s World Cup.

Morgan was the youngest player on the U.S. national team that placed second in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Continuing to Impress

In the 2012 London Olympics, Morgan became a regular starter for the U.S. She scored the winning goal in the Olympic semi-final match against Canada in extra time, sending the United States to the gold medal match against Japan.

Her goal came in the 123rd minute, the latest goal ever scored by a member of the U.S. women’s team and a FIFA record. The match-winning goal was Morgan’s team-high 20th in 2012, becoming only the sixth and youngest U.S. player to do so in a single year.

In the final, a 2–1 win against Japan on August 9, Morgan assisted on a Carli Lloyd header. In 2012, Morgan led the U.S. in goals (28), multi-goal matches (9), assists (21), and points (77).

Winning the Golden Boot

In 2013, Morgan had a successful run in the Algarve Cup, finishing with four assists and three goals, including the equalizer against Sweden and two goals against Germany in the final.

Morgan continued to perform well, scoring two goals in a match against Canada in 2013 and being named the CONCACAF 2013 Female Player of the Year.

She also made her third appearance on the 10-player shortlist for FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year in 2013 and finished fourth in the voting.

In 2014, Morgan returned from an injury to score five goals in seven matches for the USWNT before reinjuring her ankle at the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship.

Upon returning, she helped the USWNT win their tenth Algarve Cup in 2015 and played a key role in the team’s victory in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, scoring the opener in the last 16 win over Colombia and winning penalties for the USWNT in the victories over Colombia and Germany in the semi-finals.

Morgan was also awarded the Golden Boot and the MVP award at the first SheBelieves Cup competition in 2016 and marked her 100th cap for the USWNT with a goal and an assist.

She also scored the fastest recorded goal in the history of the USWNT and in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifiers in February 2016, helping the team secure their qualification for the Rio Olympics.

Although Morgan scored a goal in the opening match of the Rio Olympics against New Zealand, the USWNT was knocked out of the tournament in the quarter-final round via a penalty shootout loss to Sweden. Morgan ended her 2016 national team goal-scoring campaign with a brace of goals in the team’s 8–1 victory over Romania.

Her 100th Goal

Alex Morgan biography includes the fact that before the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, she scored her 100th international goal in a friendly match against Australia. She led the USWNT during the tournament and scored five goals in the opening game against Thailand, helping to set a new record for the largest margin of victory in a World Cup match.

Morgan also assisted in three goals during that game. In the tournament final against the Netherlands, Morgan helped the team win by earning a penalty that was converted into a goal by Rapinoe. She was awarded the Silver Boot for finishing as the joint-top scorer with six goals.

Morgan had to miss the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship and the 2020 SheBelieves Cup due to pregnancy. She returned to the national team after a 509-day hiatus and played in a friendly against the Netherlands in November 2020.

Morgan was later named to the 2021 SheBelieves Cup roster and the 18-player roster for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

She played in all six matches during the tournament, helping the team win the bronze medal. In September 2021, Morgan scored her sixth career international hat trick in a friendly against Paraguay.

Best Player of The Tournament

USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski chose to leave out a group of experienced players, including Morgan, from his 22-player roster ahead of two matches against Australia in November 2021.

He wanted to give younger players a chance to gain valuable experience before the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. As a result, Morgan was not selected for the 2022 SheBelieves Cup in February.

However, she was later recalled to the national team in June 2022 for two friendlies against Colombia and the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship.

Morgan played a pivotal role in helping the team win their third consecutive CONCACAF title and secure direct qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics by scoring the game-winning goal on a penalty kick in the final against Canada.

She also scored two goals in the team’s opening match against Haiti and was part of the squad for their 5-0 win over Jamaica, which secured their qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The last thing to know regarding Alex Morgan biography is that she was named in the tournament’s best XI and was awarded the golden ball as the best player of the tournament, having scored three goals and tied with three other players for the tournament’s top scorer.

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