Soccer legend Abby Wambach – who played at Florida between 1998 and 2001 – was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame over the weekend.
The 38-year-old thrived while playing for the United States women’s national soccer team between 2001 and 2015, scoring 184 goals in 256 appearances. 184 goals is a record total – for both men and women – at the international level.
Wambach appeared in four FIFA Women’s World Cups, finally winning the competition in 2015. Other accolades include two Olympic Gold Medals (2004 and 2012), six U.S. Soccer Player of the Year awards and the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year award.
As a Gator, Wambach helped lead her school to the only national championship in program history in 1998 and won four-straight SEC titles. Her 96 goals, 50 assists and 10 hat tricks are all Florida records. She was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012.
Wambach, who was elected in her first year on the ballot, called it an “amazing” honor in a video posted to the National Soccer Hall of Fame’s Twitter.
In this July 5, 2015, file photo, United States' Abby Wambach runs toward the stands to greet her wife after the team defeated Japan in the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer championship in Vancouver, British Columbia. Wambach has been elected to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s Hall of Fame. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA Women's World Cup champion heads a class that also includes coaches Andy Capellan and Charles Engel, field hockey star Tracey Fuchs, three-sport star Heidi Mann Vittengl and Section IV administrator Ben Nelson
