Please Enjoy 10 of Alex Morgan's Most Incredible Goals, Because This Woman Is Invincible
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Alex Morgan is a bona fide soccer star with over 100 international goals to her name. Since 2010, she's played for five different professional teams and, with the US Women's National Soccer Team, has collected two World Cup trophies and an Olympic gold. We've watched her rise from the youngest American at the 2011 World Cup to a confident co-captain in the 2019 tournament, leading her team to the decisive final victory that cemented their status as the world's best.
When Alex takes control of the ball, the game changes: If she's not going for the goal herself, she's expertly passing the ball to teammates and crafting opportunities all around the field. Of course, the 30-year-old striker is more than just a soccer player: she's a role model, an actual model, an author, and one of Time's Most Influential People of 2019, to name a few. But she's also a brilliant goal-scorer, as evidenced by how difficult it was to distill all those international goals, plus the ones she's netted in her professional career, down to a double-digit list of her best.
Here, we present our 10 current favorites, from a winning stoppage-time goal in the 2012 Olympics to her most recent tea-sipping semi-final goal in the World Cup. Plus, a bunch of gorgeously creative, incredibly high-pressure scores in between. The most exciting part? She's not even close to being done.
Alex Morgan Scores the Fastest Goal in US Soccer History
Quick goals were something of a USWNT specialty in the 2019 World Cup, but none came so quickly as Alex Morgan's 12th-second score in this 2016 Olympic Qualifying match against Costa Rica. She netted the near-post shot with her first touch of the game, making it the fastest-scored goal in US Soccer history.
Alex Morgan's Genius Deflection For the Orlando Pride
Though she's most well-known for her USWNT success, Alex is also a star for her professional club, the Orlando Pride. From this 2017 goal, you can see why. Alex turned a set piece from Brazilian superstar Marta into a leaping, back-of-the-foot deflection that the goalkeeper never even touched.
Alex Morgan's First Goal For the USWNT
Alex scored her first goal for the USWNT in 2010 against China that tied up the game. A long ball soared toward Abby Wambach, who flicked it to Alex, who took one touch and sank the ball into the back of the net.
Alex Morgan's Stoppage Time Goal in the 2016 SheBelieves Cup
The USWNT and France were scoreless past the 90 minute mark in this matchup at the 2016 SheBelieves Cup, an invitational tournament in the US. That is, until Mallory Pugh slotted a ball through to Alex Morgan, who lasered it into the back of the net for a last-minute victory.
Alex Morgan's Overtime Game-Winner in the 2012 Olympics
The US and Canada were tied at 3-3 in a gritty Olympic semi-final that seemed destined for penalty kicks. In the last seconds of the final overtime period, Alex lofted a header past the Canadian goalie to seal the USWNT's ticket to the final. (They went on to win.)
Alex Morgan's Creative Goal vs. Germany in 2016
This goal, another from the 2016 SheBelieves Cup, is just a piece of art. A long pass came in over Alex's shoulder, and she skillfully chipped it around a defender and sent it flying into the back of the net.
Alex Morgan's First World Cup Goal
Alex scored her first-ever FIFA World Cup goal in 2011, converting a pass from Megan Rapinoe into a chip shot past the goalkeeper to cement a 3-1 victory over a talented French team.
Alex Morgan's Game-Winning Goal vs. England
The tightly-contested semifinal between the US and England in the 2019 World Cup was all tied up, 1-1, when Lindsey Horan lofted a perfectly-timed ball across the box. Alex sprinted onto it, leapt, turned it into a game-winning goal, and promptly celebrated by sipping some well-deserved tea.
Alex Morgan's Third Goal vs. Thailand at the 2019 World Cup
Any one of Alex Morgan's five record-tying goals in the USWNT's World Cup win over Thailand could have made this list, but we had to go with her third for the sheer audacity. Cramped at the top of a crowded box, Alex took one spin and created a back-post goal out of thin air.
Alex Morgan's First World Cup Final Goal
Alex scored her first goal in a World Cup Final back in 2011, when the US faced Japan. She took a long ball from Megan Rapinoe into the box and scraped it into the far corner, putting the US on the board first. The USWNT would go on to lose this game in penalties, but Alex's goal showed that even in her first World Cup, even as a substitute, she had the ability to impact the games that mattered most.