Marta plays last World Cup game in draw to Jamaica

ORLANDO, Fla. — Brazil’s World Cup game Wednesday against Jamaica was a farewell to Marta.

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Marta’s first start in the World Cup was in the team’s last group play match against Jamaica.

Brazil started this year’s World Cup with a 4-0 win over Panama and the team showed a thrill that had been missing the last few years.

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In the second round, they lost to France 2-1 after an 83-minute goal by France’s Wendie Renard.

Wednesday’s game against Jamaica was a must win if Brazil wanted to advance.

The game ended in a draw, sent Brazil home, and sealed Jamaica’s second place in the group and France’s first place finish.

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After the game, Jamaican players and coaches celebrated but quickly turned their attention to Marta to pay their respects to the legend with tears, hugs, and laughs during every interaction.

Going into this World Cup, Marta was the all-time goals leader in World Cup history, men’s or women’s, with 17 goals and has scored at five World Cup tournaments.

Marta has been honored with the FIFA World Player of the Year award six times and has played in six World Cups.

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She spent the majority of the 2022 season recovering from knee surgery.

She rejoined the Brazil international team during the 2023 She Believes Cup as a sub against Japan in the 68-minute.

In the 72-minute, Marta assisted with the game’s only goal to kick off the tournament by beating Japan 1-0.

Marta, Adrianna, and Rafaelle will return to the Orlando Pride in the coming weeks to finish up the NWSL season.

The Pride signed Marta in 2017 and she is currently the team’s all-time goal scorer with 27 goals and leads the team with 84 appearances.

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