FS1 Offers Extensive Coverage of Soccer Legend Abby Wambach’s Final Professional Match

FOX Sports pulls out all the stops for the final farewell in the legendary 15-year career of U.S. Women’s National Team superstar Abby Wambach, as the team she led to two Olympic Gold medals and the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup title faces China at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Wednesday, Dec. 16 on FS1. A special one-hour pregame show at 7:30 PM ET precedes the international friendly, which kicks off at 8:30 PM ET. The U.S.-China game is a rematch of the 2015 Women’s World Cup quarterfinal in June, which the Americans won, 1-0, on a Carli Lloyd goal.

The world’s all-time leading goal-scorer – male or female – with 184 in 252 international matches, Wambach takes the field as a professional for the last time, as the USWNT wraps up its Women’s World Cup victory tour. Play-by-play announcer JP Dellacamera, analyst Cat Whitehill and reporter Jenny Taft call the momentous occasion, all of whom have covered over a dozen U.S. women’s matches this year for FOX Sports, including the squad’s incredible run to the World Cup final, the most-watched soccer match in American history. Retired USWNT defender Heather Mitts, longtime teammate of Wambach at both the University of Florida and the national team, also contributes to pregame and game commentary on-site in New Orleans, with both Wambach and head coach Jill Ellis scheduled to join the FOX Sports’ set on the field.

Rob Stone hosts pregame coverage from Los Angeles on FS1 with comprehensive analysis and commentary from a formidable panel of analysts featuring more former Wambach teammates and international foes who have known her both on and off the field. Stone is joined by retired USWNT midfielder Leslie Osborne, England’s record goal-scorer Kelly Smith and former Canadian Women’s National Team goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc, who retired following the 2015 Women’s World Cup. Stone, Osborne, Smith and Mitts were all major contributors to FOX Sports’ critically-acclaimed tournament coverage in Canada this past summer, and LeBlanc was a guest.

FS1’s pregame coverage is highlighted by an inspiring feature on Wambach’s contributions to soccer, her impact on women, men, girls and boys, and includes #ThanksAbby tribute video clips compiled from fans across all 50 states. The feature is also set to reveal Wambach’s reaction to seeing it for the first time. In addition, during the pregame show, FOX Sports announces the winner of the 2015 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year with nominees Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Hope Solo, Becky Sauerbrunn and Lauren Holiday in the running.