Meghan Elizabeth Klingenberg (born August 2, 1988) is a retired American professional soccer player who most recently played in 2024 as a defender for the Portland Thorns in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A former member of the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central Ameri ...

, she is a

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

champion, two-time NWSL champion, and two-time

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

winner. She also played for three teams in the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, for Tyresö FF in Sweden's

Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988. The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...

, and for the Houston Dash in the NWSL.

Early life

Klingenberg was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and raised in the North Hills suburb of Gibsonia, Pennsylvania. She has a younger brother named Drew who played college soccer at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

. She attended Pine-Richland High School from 2003 to 2007 and was the captain of the girls soccer team. In 2005, she helped lead Pine-Richland to the Pennsylvania state high school championship and was an NSCAA All-America selection. She was also named a ''Parade'' All-American. Klingenberg claims she enhanced her soccer skills by practicing Taekwondo, and that the martial art made her a more aggressive player. She is now a black belt.

University of North Carolina

Klingenberg attended the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

and was a four-year starter for the Tar Heels. She scored 18 career goals with 24 assists. Klingenberg was a highly flexible player, playing on all three lines for UNC. As a freshman in 2007, she played in 24 games, starting 10, and earned Freshman All-ACC honors. She scored five goals with three assists and was a Soccer America First-Team All-Freshman selection. Klingenberg led UNC freshmen in all offensive categories and was an All-ACC Academic Team selection. As a sophomore in 2008, she played in 20 games, starting eight, and missed the last six games of the season playing for the US at the

2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 4th edition of the tournament. It was held in Chile between 19 November and 7 December 2008. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all six confederations, took part in the final competition, i ...

in Chile. She tied for second on the team with nine assists and two goals. Klingenberg was named to the ACC All-Academic women's soccer team and the ACC Honor Roll. As a junior in 2009, she played in 26 games and played 1,668 minutes while scoring five goals with one assist. Klingenberg scored the game-winning goal in a 5–2 triumph over Wake Forest in the NCAA quarterfinals. As a senior in 2010, she was an NSCAA All-American while playing in all 24 games for the Tar Heels and was fourth on the team with 23 points. She had 11 assists (second on the team), scored six goals, and was named First-Team All-ACC. Klingenberg studied business with a concentration in entrepreneurship while at UNC Chapel Hill.

Club career

WPS, 2011

In 2011, Klingenberg was selected by the

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom may refer to: * Washington Freedom (cricket) * Washington Freedom (soccer) {{dab ...

in the first round of the WPS draft. After the team was moved to Florida and renamed magicJack, she was traded in early June to the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...

. Klingenberg played 10 matches for Boston, starting them all and totaling 961 minutes for the season. She ended the season with one goal and two assists. She also spent time at

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...

where she won the 2012 Women's Premier Soccer League Elite.

Tyresö FF, 2012–2013

In 2012, Klingenberg signed with Swedish club, Tyresö. During her time with Tyresö she won the 2012 Damallsvenskan.

NWSL, 2013

After the WPS folded, the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

was created with support from the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Houston Dash, 2014–2015

On January 10, 2014, it was announced that the Houston Dash had selected Klingenberg with the sixth pick in the 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft. She finished

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

with Tyresӧ FF, before joining the Dash mid-season. She left in October 2015 after making nineteen appearances for the club.
Soccerway. October 26, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.

Portland Thorns, 2016–2024

In October 2015, Klingenberg was part of a pingpong trade that had her join the Seattle Reign FC, Seattle Reign as she was traded by Houston Dash for Amber Brooks and a conditional selection in the 2017 NWSL College Draft, then traded to the NWSL 2016 expansion team Orlando, who then traded her to the

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

for

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American former professional association football, soccer player.She co-captained the United States women's national soccer team, United States national team with ...

and other considerations. On December 30, 2024, Klinenberg announced that she had departed the club.

International career

Klingenberg has played for the

at the U-16, U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels. She received her first call-up to the senior squad for the 2011 Four Nations Tournament and earned her first two caps during the event. She was named an alternate for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In March 2013, she was named to the senior team roster by US WNT coach, Tom Sermanni for upcoming exhibition matches against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Klingenberg made her debut for senior team on January 23, 2011, at the Four Nations Tournament against Canada, coming in as a substitute at seventy-eighth minute. She also played in the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

. The

won the tournament on July 5, 2015. Klingenberg started in every match of the tournament for the team. Despite seeing extensive playing time during the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, Klingenberg would receive sparse minutes throughout 2017 and has not been called up since January 2018.

Off-field

While with the Houston Dash, Klingenberg and teammate Morgan Brian lived with the family of former

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

coach

Jeff Van Gundy Jeffrey William Van Gundy (born January 19, 1962) is an American basketball coach and former commentator who is currently the lead assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. Van Gundy previously served as head coach of the New York Knicks and ...

during the NWSL season, as part of the Dash's host family program. In 2018, Klingenberg participated in negotiating image and likeness rights for the United States women's national team for the U.S. Women's National Team Players Association. In 2019, Klingenberg, along with United States teammates Tobin Heath,

Christen Press Christen Annemarie Press (born December 29, 1988) is an American professional Women's association football, soccer player, entrepreneur, and sports journalist. She plays for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Unit ...

and

Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. She spent most of her career playing for Seattle Reign FC, OL Reign of the National Wom ...

started Re-inc, a gender-neutral lifestyle brand.

In popular culture

Klingenberg was featured with her national teammates in the EA Sports' FIFA video game series in ''

FIFA 16 ''FIFA 16'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Android and iOS. The g ...

'', the first time women players were included in the game. She appeared in the series again in '' FIFA 23'', which added NWSL teams to the game. Following the United States' win at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Klingenberg and her teammates became the first women's sports team to be honored with a ticker tape parade in New York City. Each player received a key to the city from Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...

. In October of the same year, the team was honored by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list United States's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Klingenberg goal.''

Honors

Western New York Flash *

Women's Premier Soccer League Elite The Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL Elite) was a women's semi-professional soccer league created by the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) to support the sport in the United States, both from continued interest by WPSL teams in profes ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Tyresö *

Portland Thorns FC *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

* NWSL Community Shield:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

NWSL Challenge Cup The NWSL Challenge Cup is an annual supercup competition organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), a division 1 women's league in the United States soccer league system. The current (2025) cup holder is the Washington Spirit, who ...

International Champions Cup The International Champions Cup (ICC) was an annual club association football (soccer) official competition staged from 2013 to 2019. COVID-19 resulted in the 2020 edition being cancelled. The tournament was later abolished, but the Women's I ...

United States *

CONCACAF Women's Championship The CONCACAF W Championship is a women's association football competition for national teams organized by the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) that often serves as the qualifying competition ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

* CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament:

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's association football, women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017, and 2018), it was contested by t ...

Individual *NWSL Second XI:

* FIFPro: FIFA FIFPro World XI

References

;Match reports

External links

*
archive

Meghan Klingenberg
at

(archived)
Meghan Klingenberg
at Houston Dash
Meghan Klingenberg
at Tyresö FF (archived)
Meghan Klingenberg
at

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

(archived)
Meghan Klingenberg
at U.S. Soccer (archived) * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klingenberg, Meghan 1988 births 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden American female taekwondo practitioners American people of German descent Women's association football defenders Women's association football fullbacks Women's association football midfielders Boston Breakers players Damallsvenskan players Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Houston Dash players Living people MagicJack (WPS) players National Women's Soccer League players North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players Soccer players from Pittsburgh Tyresö FF players United States women's international soccer players Washington Freedom (soccer) players Women's Premier Soccer League Elite players Women's Professional Soccer players FIFA Women's World Cup–winning players Pine-Richland High School alumni American women's soccer players Portland Thorns FC players Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players for the United States United States women's under-20 international soccer players Western New York Flash players United States women's youth international soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen