Abby Wambach

Abby Wambach Bio

Abby Wambach is an American former soccer player and coach born in Rochester, New York on June 2, 1980. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA Women’s World Cup Champion. Wambach played on the U.S. Women’s national soccer team from 2003 to 2015 and as a forward is the highest all-time goal scorer for the national team and holds the world record for most international goals for both men and women soccer players with 184 total goals. In 2012 she was awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year, the first American woman to win the award in 10 years. She started playing soccer at 4 years old and played for her high school team at Our Lady of Mercy High School. In 1997 she was named Gatorade Circle of Champions New York Player of the Year NSCAA Regional Player of the Year and NSCAA State of New York Player of the Year. In 1998 she started attending the University of Florida and played for the Florida Gators women’s soccer team from 1998 to 2001. In 2002 she was selected by the Washington Freedom in the first round of the 2002 WUSA Draft. She also played for the teams MagicJack, Western New York Flash and the United States national team. She announced her retirement on October 27, 2015 and played her last game on December 16 of that year.