The U.S. women’s national soccer team became heroes by winning the 1999 World Cup. It was their second title, but the first, in 1991, came in a different era for women’s soccer. The 1999 team helped put women’s soccer on the map in the United States. Now, over 20 years later, where are the players from that roster? Here’s what became of the 1999 Women’s World Cup team in the intervening years. We’re going down the roster by uniform number as to not play favorites.
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Scurry was the starting netminder for the 1999 team and also started in 2003 before losing the role to Hope Solo prior to the 2007 World Cup. She retired from the national team in 2008 and from soccer in general in 2010. In 2017 Scurry was named an assistant coach for the Washington Spirit of the NWSL and also was named to the National Soccer Hall of Fame that year.
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Fair was the youngest player on the 1999 World Cup team at the age of 20. She played a bigger role in the 2000 Summer Olympics and finished with 120 caps for the United States. In 2008 Fair became the first American to sign for a team in the Women’s Premier League. Since retiring, Fair has been a part of many charity and social outreach initiatives, including Right to Play and Show Racism the Red Card.
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Pearce, who was known as Christie Rampone during her playing career prior to her divorce, was the anchor of the U.S. defense for almost 20 years. The center back played a whopping 311 games for the American squad and played in the 2015 World Cup finals as a 40-year-old. Pearce also played for Sky Blue FC through 2017 before finally hanging up her cleats. The New Jersey native has also been a spokesperson for Jersey Mike’s Subs.
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Overbeck was the captain of the 1999 team. She retired from international play pretty much right after that. Even before, though, she had been involved in the coaching game, serving as an assistant coach for Duke since 1992.
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Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak
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Back in 1999, when she was a 21-year-old member of the U.S. team, she was still just known as Tiffany Roberts. She got in two games during the 1999 World Cup but was never a huge factor for the national team. However, since retiring, she’s had quite a bit of success as a coach. After managing the VCU team from 2007-2012, Sahaydak took over at UCF in 2013, where she was immediately named the conference’s Coach of the Year.
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You certainly remember Chastain, as she is the one who converted the penalty kick to win the championship game over China and then proceeded to take off her shirt to celebrate. It’s an iconic sporting image. Since retiring, Chastain has stayed in the game as a broadcaster. She called games during the 2008 and 2012 Olympics for NBC and has done Major League Soccer games as well.
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Whalen appeared in only one World Cup because, unfortunately, injuries cut her career short. In 2002 she suffered torn ligaments in a club team match, got an infection and then had an allergic reaction after her second surgery that nearly killed her. Sadly that ended her career. However, in 2004 she was able to run in the New York Marathon. These days, Whalen is married with three children.
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Shannon MacMillan
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MacMillan was the “super sub” of the 1999 team, and she certainly knew how to find the back of the net. In 176 caps for the U.S. team, she scored 60 goals. After retiring she was an assistant coach for the UCLA Bruins for a couple of seasons before becoming the director of a Del Mar soccer club in 2010.
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You know Mia Hamm. She’s a women’s soccer legend. Hamm is the best player in the history of the U.S. women’s soccer team, and it’s hard to argue otherwise. After retiring, Hamm married another famous athlete Nomar Garciaparra, and she’s a co-owner of MLS’s LAFC. In 2013 she was also the first women inducted into the World Football Hall of Fame.
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Akers is an old-school name in U.S. women’s soccer. She first played with the national team way back in 1985, years before the first Women’s World Cup. After retiring, Akers has not been as prominent as other players from the 1999 team. Evidently she hung up her cleats and headed to a farm in Atlanta where she does horse rescue. Not everybody is looking for fame.
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Foudy had a great career and took over as the team’s captain in 2004. Since retiring, though, she’s been arguably the most prominent figure from this team. Foudy has been an analyst not only for women’s soccer but for men’s soccer as well for ESPN and has been in the booth for several World Cups. She is still a frequent face on ESPN and has a podcast for the sports network called "Laughter Permitted."
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Cindy Parlow Cone
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Cindy Parlow, a young forward on the 1999 team, started every game of the tournament for the U.S. team, scoring two goals. She would go on to score a whopping 75 goals for the national team. Just after retiring, she got married, leading to the “Cone” addition to her name in the second act of her professional career. After a few years as an assistant at North Carolina, Cone coached the Portland Thorns in the first season of the NWSL. They won the title, and then Cone promptly retired to spend more time with her husband.
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Lilly played in a whopping five World Cups for the United States. That’s how she ended up with 354 appearances for the national team, the most of any player. The midfielder became an assistant on the Boston Breakers, a team she played for, in 2012, and she also got married and had two kids.
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Fawcett was a longtime defender for the United States, logging a ton of minutes — as in, she played every single minute of the 1995, 1999, and 2003 Women’s World Cups. In the middle of that run, she was also the coach of UCLA’s women’s soccer team. If you want to feel old, one of Fawcett’s daughters played for the University of Washington from 2012-215. Since retiring Fawcett has served as an assistant for the U.S.’s deaf women’s soccer team.
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Venturini contributed more for the U.S. team that lost to Norway in the 1995 Women’s World Cup, but she still appeared in two games in 1999, scoring two goals against North Korea. That was basically the end of her national career. After retiring, Venturini, who is now known as Venturini-Hoch after getting married, became the national spokesperson for Produce for Better Health.
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Tiffeny Milbrett
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The short, shifty forward notched a whopping 100 goals in over 200 caps for the U.S. team, picking up three goals in the 1999 World Cup. Milbrett stepped down from the national team in 2006, playing some soccer in Europe and also for the FC Gold Pride of WPS. According to her LinkedIn page, she’s currently the Director of Coach and Player Development for the Tampa Bay United Rowdies Football Club.
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Danielle Fotopoulos
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Fotopoulos made only sporadic appearances for the U.S. team. From 1996 through 2005 she picked up only 35 caps but she scored 16 goals. She’s settled in Florida with her family and briefly served as an assistant for her alma mater, the University of Florida. Since 2010 she’s been the coach for Eckerd College, a Division II team in St. Petersburg, Florida.
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Webber was the backup goalie to Briana Scurry, so her role at the 1999 World Cup was to ride the bench. That being said, in her time with the national team she did play in 28 games. In addition to being an assistant coach at North Carolina State and Rutgers, Webber was a host for the show “On Q Live” and has also been involved in the Gay Games.
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Ducar was another backup goalie for the U.S. team. Following the 1999 Women’s World Cup, she was a goalie for the Boston Breakers of the WUSA for a few years. She became the head coach of the women’s team at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2005, and she and her husband run soccer camps in the area as well.
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You would have known her as Kate Sobrero during the 1999 Women’s World Cup. She married in 2004 and continued to play as Markgraf until she retired from the national team in 2010. Soon after, she was a commentator for ESPN during the 2011 Women’s World Cup. She’s also served as an analyst for NBC and FOX. In 2016 she did analysis for the men’s game as well, getting a gig as a color commentator during the 2016 Euros.