USWNT stars Krieger, Rapinoe, Ertz eligible for National Soccer Hall of Fame 2027 class
Three defining figures in the modern U.S. women’s game are one step closer to soccer’s highest individual honor.
Ali Krieger, Megan Rapinoe and Julie Johnston Ertz have become eligible for election into the National Soccer Hall of Fame’s Class of 2027, the organization announced on Monday. If elected in 2027, Krieger, Rapinoe and Ertz would be elected in their first year of eligibility.
Per a NSHOF email, the National Soccer Hall of Fame at Toyota Stadium released the names of all candidates eligible for election in 2027.
Of the 220 people named, 61 are on the Player Eligibility List, 127 are on the Veteran Eligibility List and 32 are on the Builder Eligibility List.
The Hall of Fame’s Screening Committees will narrow the Player, Veteran and Builder ballots before they and other members of the Voting Committees vote on the Final Ballot, electing a maximum of six new Hall of Fame members. As many as three players and two veterans can be selected, along with one Builder.
The Player Screening Committee is responsible for narrowing the 61-person list to a 20-person final ballot for the 2027 election.
Krieger, Rapinoe and Ertz being included comes as little surprise. They were central figures during one of the most successful periods in U.S. women’s soccer history, with careers spanning the final years of Women’s Professional Soccer, (WPS), the birth and growth of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), and the U.S. women’s national team’s back-to-back FIFA Women’s World Cup triumphs in 2015 and 2019.
Their resumes speak for themselves.
Krieger earned 108 caps for the USWNT after making her senior debut in 2008, helping the Stars and Stripes capture consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019.
A cornerstone of the U.S. defense for more than a decade, Krieger represented her country at three Women’s World Cups. At the 2011 tournament in Germany, she played every minute as the Americans reached the final. Four years later in Canada, she started every match and anchored a back line that did not concede a goal in the knockout rounds, finishing with a tournament-record 540 consecutive scoreless minutes on the way to lifting the World Cup trophy. She returned for the 2019 tournament in France, making three appearances as the United States successfully defended its title.
As for her club career, Krieger played for WPS, NWSL, Germany’s Frauen Bundesliga and Sweden, and won the NWSL championship with Gotham FC in 2023.
Ertz’s career followed a different path but was no less influential.
As a defensive midfielder who could also excel at center back, Ertz spent nine seasons in the NWSL, first with the Chicago Red Stars (now Chicago Stars FC) and then with Angel City FC, earning three Best XI selections.
Internationally, she earned 123 caps for the U.S. women’s national team and was a cornerstone of its back-to-back FIFA Women’s World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019. Her versatility became one of her defining traits. Ertz anchored the United States’ defense as a center back during the 2015 World Cup-winning campaign before transitioning into a defensive midfield role, where she emerged as one of the world’s best holding midfielders and played a pivotal role in the team’s successful title defense in 2019. She later returned to center back for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, underscoring the rare adaptability that made her indispensable throughout her international career.
But perhaps Rapinoe’s candidacy is expected to be among the most celebrated of the 2027 ballot.
Few players have had a greater impact on American soccer over the past two decades. Across three seasons in WPS and 10 in the NWSL, Rapinoe became one of the most celebrated players in the league, where she played for the Seattle Reign since the league’s inaugural season in 2013 until her retirement in 2023.
Her international resume is among the finest in the history of the women’s game.
She earned 203 caps for the United States, winning two FIFA Women’s World Cups with Krieger and Ertz, and an Olympic gold medal while scoring some of the most memorable goals in U.S. soccer history. She claimed the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player and the Golden Boot as its leading scorer at the 2019 Women’s World Cup after leading USWNT to its forth title in France.
But perhaps beyond her accomplishments on the field, Rapinoe became one of the sport’s most influential public figures using her platform to advocate for equal pay, LGBTQ+ rights and broader social justice issues. Along with Krieger and Ertz, Rapinoe was among the core group of national team members who filed the landmark gender discrimination and equal pay lawsuit in March 2019. Rapinoe was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022.
Election to the NSHOF recognizes individuals whose accomplishments have made a lasting impact on American soccer.