Background and career
Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. She played for the U.S. women's national soccer team from 2003 to 2015. With 184 international goals, she ranks second on the all-time list of international goals scored by players of any gender. Wambach is a six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, and was named the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2012. She was included on the 2015 Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. Wambach competed in four editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup, winning the tournament in 2015. She won the gold medal at the Olympics in 2004 and 2012. In college, she helped the Florida Gators women's soccer team win its first NCAA Division I Championship. She played at the professional level for Washington Freedom, magicJack, and the Western New York Flash. Wambach is known for scoring goals with diving headers. During a quarterfinal match against Brazil at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Wambach scored a last-minute equalizer goal from a precise cross from Megan Rapinoe, which helped the U.S. secure victory. The goal set a record for the latest goal ever scored in a World Cup match, and received ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Play of the Year. Wambach also won the tournament's Bronze Boot and Silver Ball. In 2011, she became the first soccer player of any gender to be named Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press. Wambach retired in 2015, playing her last game on December 16 in New Orleans as part of the United States' 10-game Victory Tour following its win at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Wambach's autobiography, titled Forward, was published in 2016. Her second book, Wolfpack: How to Come Together, Unleash Our Power and Change the Game, was published in 2019. Both books became New York Times Best Sellers.
Wambach was born to Pete and Judy Wambach in Rochester, New York, and was raised in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford. She is the youngest of seven children, with two sisters and four brothers. She began playing soccer at the age of four after her sister Laura tried the sport. Their mother checked out a book from the library explaining how to play, and from then on soccer became a family tradition. In a 2011 interview, Wambach said her large family felt like a team environment which taught her how to compete. She explained that her siblings never let her win, forcing her to earn her victories. She was toughened up by her elder brothers, who fired hockey pucks at her for target practice. Wambach credited this early competition for her later success. While playing in her first youth soccer league at age five, Wambach was transferred from the girls' team to the boys' after scoring 27 goals over three games. As a pre-teen, she eluded defenders by heading the ball over them and then running around them. Wambach's brother Matthew described her as fiercely competitive; after he witnessed her tackle a neighbor boy at the age of 11 or 12, he felt she was destined for sports success.
Wambach attended Our Lady of Mercy High School in Rochester from 1994 to 1998, where she competed in soccer and basketball. She scored 142 goals during her high school career, including 34 in 1997. Her soccer coach, Kathy Boughton, recalled that Wambach often asked to practice diving headers—a skill which became her trademark as an international player. Following her senior season, Wambach was named to Parade magazine's High School All-America Team, and was voted national high school player of the year by Umbro and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). In 1997, she was named NSCAA Regional Player of the Year, NSCAA State of New York Player of the Year, Gatorade Circle of Champions New York Player of the Year, and cited by USA Today as one of the nation's top 10 recruits. Wambach was a three-year captain for the Rochester Spirit club team and was named All-Greater Rochester Player of the Year in 1995 and 1997. She was a member of the Olympic Development Program U-16 National Team in 1996 and the 1997 National U-20 Player Pool. She trained and played with the U.S. women's national soccer team while competing in the 1997 U.S. Soccer Festival in Blaine, Minnesota. In 1997, she was a member of the first American youth soccer team to compete in Beijing, China.
Considered the top college recruit in 1997, Wambach was sought after by numerous colleges, including top soccer programs at the University of North Carolina, UCLA, the University of Portland, and the University of Virginia. Wambach accepted a full athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she played for coach Becky Burleigh's Florida Gators women's soccer team from 1998 to 2001. Florida's program was only three years old, and the challenge of joining a less-established team appealed to Wambach. As a freshman in 1998, she helped the Gators win their first NCAA national championship over the 15-time champion North Carolina Tar Heels. The Gators also won four consecutive Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships from 1998 to 2001. Individually, Wambach was the SEC Freshman of the Year (1998), a freshman All-American (1998), a first-team All-SEC selection for four straight seasons (1998–2001), and a two-time SEC Player of the Year (2000, 2001). She twice received SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors (2000, 2001), and was named a first-team All-American her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons in 1999, 2000 and 2001. In addition to leading the Gators to the Final Four of the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament as a senior in 2001, Wambach set school career records for goals scored (96), assists (50), points (242), game-winning goals (24), and hat tricks (10). Wambach was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2012.
In 2002, Wambach was selected second during the first round of the WUSA draft by the Washington Freedom for the second season of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA). The Freedom had tied for last place with the Carolina Courage the previous season, but were able to finish third in 2002 with a berth in the playoffs. The Freedom upset the Philadelphia Charge 1–0 in the semifinal, then lost 3–2 to the Courage in the final. Wambach served one assist during the final. After leading all first-year players in scoring, Wambach was named 2002 WUSA Rookie of the Year. She was the Freedom's leading scorer with ten goals and ten assists, and was tied for fourth for scoring in the league. She scored twice in the inaugural 2002 WUSA All-Star Game, and was named MVP of the game. During the 2003 season, Wambach tied with Freedom teammate Mia Hamm for first in league scoring, with 33 points. Her contributions helped propel the Freedom to the championship match of the Founders Cup, where she scored the game-winning goal to defeat the Atlanta Beat 2–1. Wambach was named the MVP of the tournament. Five days before the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, the WUSA folded, citing financial difficulties and a lack of sponsorship. In the summer of 2005, Wambach played for Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) club Ajax America Women, alongside national teammate Shannon Boxx. Wambach scored five goals and served three assists in three appearances.
In 2008, a new U.S. women's professional league was announced: Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). Wambach was assigned to the Washington Freedom during the 2008 WPS Player Allocation, which assigned twenty-one players from the U.S. national team player pool to the seven teams in the new league. League play began in March 2009. During the fifth week of play, Wambach was voted WPS Player of the Week after scoring two goals during the Freedom's first win. On May 3, she received a yellow card for a tackle that left St. Louis Athletica midfielder Daniela with two damaged knee ligaments and a crack in the tibia, sidelining her for the rest of the season. Wambach was suspended for one game after the tackle was reviewed by the league commissioner. Wambach was named WPS Player of the Week two more times during the 2009 season. She ended the season with eight goals and was named to the 2009 WPS All-Star Team. During the 2010 season, Wambach was named Player of the Week in week 2. She received the most votes in 2010 WPS All-Star voting, making her one of two captains for the 2010 WPS All-Star Game. Wambach received 100% of votes from the media and coaches, and received the most fan votes with 31%. In 2011, the Freedom relocated to Boca Raton, Florida and were renamed magicJack under new ownership. On July 22, Wambach was named the team's player-coach for the rest of the 2011 season. She was named Player of the Week for the seventh time in August. On October 26, the WPS League Governors voted to terminate the magicJack franchise. The WPS suspended operations in early 2012.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
