Wambach, Abby (1980-…), is a former American soccer star. She helped the United States Women’s National Team win gold medals at the 2004 and 2012 Summer Olympic Games . Wambach, a forward, holds the world record for goals (183) in international competition for both men and women. In 2011, the Associated Press named her Female Athlete of the Year, the first soccer player to win the award. In 2012, she was named FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football). FIFA is soccer’s world governing body. In 2015, Wambach helped lead the United States to a FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament championship. She had previously played on U.S. World Cup teams in 2003, 2007, and 2011.
Mary Abigail Wambach was born on June 2, 1980, in Pittsford, near Rochester , New York. She began playing soccer when she was 4 years old. She was voted high school player of the year her senior year. Wambach also played club soccer from 1995 to 1997 for the Rochester Spirit. Club soccer consists of teams within a league, in contrast to national teams representing a country. While attending the University of Florida from 1998 to 2001, Wambach was named an All-American three times. As a freshman, she helped lead Florida to the school’s first soccer national championship.
Wambach joined the U.S. national women’s team in 2001. She has been named U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year a record six times, in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2013.
Wambach played in the professional Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) from 2002 until the league folded in 2003. She also played in the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league from 2009 to 2011. After that league ceased operations in 2012, Wambach joined the newly formed National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Wambach retired from soccer in December 2015.
