Upon her initial retirement from international play in September 2016, she is one of the world's most capped soccer players with over 230 international appearances to her name. She is a skilled flank player, currently tied for fifth with Julie Foudy in USWNT history for assists. She is also the eighth most capped player in USWNT history. On October 27, 2019, she played her final match for the North Carolina Courage before retiring, winning the 2019 NWSL championship.[4]
Born to Andrew and Carol O'Reilly, Heather O'Reilly is the youngest of four children. Growing up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, O'Reilly attended Saint Bartholomew's School and later played on the girls soccer team at East Brunswick High School.[6] In her four-year career, she scored 143 goals.[7] As a junior in 2001, she led the team to the New Jersey state high school title.
Throughout high school, O'Reilly was a member of the National Honor Society and played on the school's basketball team.[8] During her senior year, she was named All-American and National Player of the Year by Parade Magazine.[8] In 2002, she was named the Gatorade High School National Player of the Year and the National Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Year. She was also named by Soccer America as the top college recruit in the country.[7]
On January 18, 2017, Arsenal announced they had signed O'Reilly.[13] The club is a member of the top division of the Football Association Women's Super League, the highest level of women's professional soccer in England. After 38 appearances in all competitions and four goals, it was confirmed by Arsenal that she would leave the club in the summer of 2018.[14]
North Carolina Courage, 2018–2019
After FC Kansas City ceased operations, the Utah Royals FC maintained O'Reilly's NWSL rights. On June 28, 2018, the Courage traded Makenzy Doniak and a 2019 3rd round pick for O'Reilly and a 2019 2nd round pick.[15] O'Reilly appeared in 8 regular season games and both playoff games for the Courage. North Carolina won the NWSL Shield & NWSL Championship.[16]
North Carolina participated in the 2018 Women's International Champions Cup, O'Reilly started in the Championship Game and scored a goal in the 10th minute. The Courage defeated Olympique Lyonnais 1–0 to win the inaugural edition of the tournament.[17]
On April 12, 2019, O'Reilly announced via social media that she would retire from professional soccer at the conclusion of the 2019 NWSL Season.[18]
Shelbourne, 2022
On July 28, 2022, O'Reilly announced that she would be coming out of retirement to play for Irish champions Shelbourne, fulfilling her dream of playing in the UEFA Women's Champions League (UWCL). During her participation at Soccer Aid 2022, Arsène Wenger had suggested O'Reilly continue her playing career, which prompted her to look for a suitable UWCL club. She found Shelbourne's offer attractive because she is an Irish American.[3][19]
O'Reilly made her Shelbourne debut on July 30, 2022, against Sligo Rovers.[20][21]
On August 18, 2022, O'Reilly started for Shelbourne in their UEFA Women's Champions League qualifier against Slovenian side Pomurje. O'Reilly scored the only goal of the game, a header in the fourth minute.[22] Following Shelbourne's elimination from the UEFA Women's Champions League, O'Reilly took temporary leave of the team, stating that she would be "joining back with the team later [in the] season."[23]
O'Reilly joined back up with Shelbourne in October 2022,[24] returning to action in the side's 2-0 victory against Sligo Rovers.[25] O'Reilly enjoyed playing for Shelbourne and was pleased to contribute to their 2022 Women's National League title win: "I didn't think that the team would mean so much to me, and that I would really want to come back and help them win the league. I kept an eye on things when I went back home and, when the title race was heating up, I wanted to come back and help in any way that I could." She also made a substitute appearance in the 2022 FAI Women's Cup Final, as Shelbourne beat Athlone Town 2–0 to secure a League and Cup Double.[26]
North Carolina Courage U23, 2023–
O'Reilly returned to the North Carolina Courage organization in 2023 to serve as a player-coach for its amateur USL W League side, joking that the team would have to change its name from "North Carolina Courage U23" to "North Carolina Courage U39".[27] O'Reilly was rostered for NC Courage U23 again in 2024, coming into play as a substitute during the team's 3–0 playoff win over Long Island Rough Riders.[28]
International career (2002–2016)
In 2002, while still in high school, O'Reilly was named to the U.S. national team. O'Reilly made her first appearance with the United States women's national soccer team on March 1, 2002, against Sweden.
2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Cup
O'Reilly was a key member of USA's U-19 winning team, scoring four goals and created seven. This helped the USA youth to win their first World Championship ever for this level.[29]
2004 Athens Olympics
After recovering from a broken fibula from a match the year before, O'Reilly made the national team roster for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. At nineteen years old, she was the youngest player on the roster. On August 23, 2004, she scored the match winning goal[30] in the Olympic semi-final match against Germany, propelling the United States into the final, in which they defeated Brazil for the gold medal.
2007 FIFA Women's World Cup
In the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, O'Reilly scored a critical goal against North Korea in the 69th minute, which tied the match at 2–2 and saved the Americans from a devastating opening-round loss. The United States ended up taking the bronze medal, with O'Reilly scoring a goal during the 4–1 win against Norway. She was nominated as Sports Illustrated's 2007 Sportsman of the Year.[31]
2008 Beijing Olympics
O'Reilly competed at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic games. She scored the quickest goal in Olympic women's soccer history against New Zealand to advance to the quarterfinals.[32] She also scored a goal in the semi-final match against Japan. The team went on to defeat heavy-favorites Brazil 1–0 to win the gold medal. Prior to the Summer Games, Time magazine ranked her number 15 on its list of 100 Olympic Athletes to Watch.[33]
Playing for the U.S. national team in San Jose, Calif., 2015
At the 2012 Olympics in London, she made a crucial assist in the 123rd minute of the semi-final match against Canada, sending a cross from the right to Alex Morgan who headed the ball into the goal over the hand of Erin McLeod, propelling team USA to the gold medal match against Japan.
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
O'Reilly was selected for her third World Cup in 2015.[35] She appeared in the quarter final game against china as a substitute to help the U.S. win 1-0. O’Reilly became a World Cup Champion on July 5, when the United States defeated Japan 5–2 in the Women's World Cup final. O'Reilly joined the national team on a Victory Tour following their World Cup win.
2016 Rio Olympics
To some controversy, she was left off the team by Jill Ellis and made an alternate for the 2016 Rio Olympics even with having the most caps of the squad at the time (229).[36] The U.S. national team went on to achieve its worst Olympic finish, being knocked out by Sweden in the quarter-finals.
Retirement, 2016
On September 1, 2016, O'Reilly announced her retirement from the Women's National Team after 15 years.[37] She retired on September 15 after a friendly match against Thailand, held in Columbus, Ohio,[37] after the USWNT scored 9 goals.[m 1]
Following the United States' win at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, O'Reilly and her teammates became the first women's sports team to be honored with a ticker tape parade in New York City.[45] Each player received a key to the city from Mayor Bill de Blasio.[46] In October of the same year, the team was honored by President Barack Obama at the White House.[47]
O'Reilly began cohosting the BBC World Service's BBC World Football program with Mani Djazmi, Pat Nevin, and Peter Odemwingie when the program changed formats in 2018.[53] She is also now the co-host of “Played In” on SiriusXM FC with Lori Lindsey.
Personal life
O'Reilly married former UNC lacrosse player Dave Werry in 2011, whom she met when the two attended UNC.[54] Their son William was born on June 18, 2020.[55] O'Reilly gave birth to their second child, Jack, on November 26, 2021.[56]
She is nicknamed "HAO," the initials of her name (Heather Ann O'Reilly) and pronounced 'hey-oh'.[1]
O'Reilly has endorsement deals with Adidas. In 2013, she appeared in a commercial for Adidas' Adizero™ running shoe.[57]
Career statistics
International goals
Key (expand for notes on "international goals" and sorting)
Location
Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred Sorted by country name first, then by city name
Lineup
Start – played entire match onminute (offplayer) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time
offminute (onplayer) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time
(c) – captain Sorted by minutes played
#
NumberOfGoals.goalNumber scored by the player in the match (alternate notation to Goal in match)
Min
The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal.
Assist/pass
The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information.
penalty or pk
Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.)
Score
The match score after the goal was scored. Sorted by goal difference, then by goal scored by the player's team
Result
The final score.
Sorted by goal difference in the match, then by goal difference in penalty-shoot-out if it is taken, followed by goal scored by the player's team in the match, then by goal scored in the penalty-shoot-out. For matches with identical final scores, match ending in extra-time without penalty-shoot-out is a tougher match, therefore precede matches that ended in regulation
aet
The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation
pso
Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parentheses; the match was tied at the end of extra-time
Light-purple background color – exhibition or closed door international friendly match
Light-yellow background color – match at an invitational tournament
Light-orange background color – Olympic women's football qualification match
Light-blue background color – FIFA women's world cup qualification match
Orange background color – Olympic women's football tournament
Blue background color – FIFA women's world cup final tournament
NOTE: some keys may not apply for a particular football player
For their first match of March 2019, the women of the United States women's national soccer team each wore a jersey with the name of a woman they were honoring on the back; Kelley O'Hara chose the name of Heather O'Reilly.[60]
Crothers, Tim (2010), The Man Watching: Anson Dorrance and the University of North Carolina Women's Soccer Dynasty, Macmillan, ISBN1429946261
Grainey, Timothy (2012), Beyond Bend It Like Beckham: The Global Phenomenon of Women's Soccer, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN0803240368
Lisi, Clemente A. (2010), The U.S. Women's Soccer Team: An American Success Story, Scarecrow Press, ISBN0810874164
Stevens, Dakota (2011), A Look at the Women's Professional Soccer Including the Soccer Associations, Teams, Players, Awards, and More, BiblioBazaar, ISBN1241047464
Stewart, Barbara (2012), Women's Soccer: The Passionate Game, Greystone Books Ltd, ISBN1926812603