Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on the U.S. women's natio ...

is a retired professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who competed as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...

from 2001 to 2015. In 255 appearances for the senior national team, she scored 184 goals and is second in the world for goals scored at the international level by both female and male soccer players. The previous record holder was Mia Hamm who scored 158 international goals during her career, also for the United States. Wambach broke Hamm's record on June 20, 2013, as she completed a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. Wambach scored her first international goal in the seventh minute of a friendly against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

on April 27, 2002, in her second game for the national team. She scored her first international hat trick during a friendly against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

leading the national team to an 8–2 win in her fourth appearance for the team. Her first international goal scored during a competitive match occurred on November 2, 2002, during the national team's 9–0 win over

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

in the

2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup The 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup was the sixth staging of the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup. It was held in Seattle, Washington, United States and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The winning team, the United States, and runners-up, Canada, qual ...

. During her first

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

tournament, she scored three goals in six games. Wambach completed her international career having scored a total of 14 goals in her 25 World Cup match appearances, placing second on the all-time World Cup scoring list behind

Marta Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) :István Márta composer * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), an ...

. Known for scoring goals with diving headers, one of her more notable goals occurred in the 122nd minute of the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

quarterfinal match against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

from a last-minute cross from midfielder Megan Rapinoe. Wambach scored the equalizer in

stoppage time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and the Americans defeated Brazil in a penalty shootout. The team eventually progressed to the World Cup final against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Wambach's last-minute goal set a new record for the latest goal ever scored in a World Cup match and was awarded ESPN's 2011 ESPY Award for Best Play of the Year. Following her performance at the 2011 World Cup, Wambach was awarded the tournament's

Bronze Boot Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

and Silver Ball. In 2011, she became the first ever soccer player of any gender to be named Associated Press Athlete of the Year.

International goals

:''"Score" represents the score in the match after Wambach's goal. "Score" and "Result" list the United States' goal tally first. Cap represents the player's appearance in an international level match.''

Statistics

References

External links

Statistical Breakdown of Wambach's Goals (U.S. Soccer Federation)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wambach, Abby United States women's national soccer team Wambach Women's association football records and statistics Wambach goals

International goals

Statistics

See also

References

External links