With the World Cup underway, it feels like the right time to revisit a conversation with someone who knows exactly what it takes to perform on that stage. In today's episode, Ryan talks with two-time World Cup champion Carli Lloyd about the work behind a championship career: learning to handle pressure, raising your own standards, staying disciplined when talent is no longer enough, and knowing when it’s time to move on.
Carli is a former American professional soccer player who retired in 2021 and was inducted in the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2025. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, two-time FIFA Player of the Year and four-time Olympian, competing in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020.
Carli scored the gold medal-winning goal in the final of the 2008 Olympics and both U.S. goals in the gold medal match at the 2012 Olympics. She also helped the United States win the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cups, earn bronze at the 2020 Olympics and finish as runners-up at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
👉 Follow Carli on Instagram | @CarliLloyd
📚 Read Carli's memoir: When Nobody Was Watching: My Hard-Fought Journey to the Top of the Soccer World.
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