Megan Rapinoe Reveals 'Sad' Death of Older Brother Michael in 2025 After 'Long Battle' with Alcoholism

Adam EnglandMon, June 15, 2026 at 1:18 PM UTC

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Megan RapinoeCredit: Rick Kern/Getty -

Megan Rapinoe's brother died from alcoholism last year, the soccer star has shared for the first time

Speaking on her A Touch More podcast, she said that she went home to be with family after his death

"I see the obsession and compulsion and addiction in myself and him too," Rapinoe told her guest Abby Wambach on the June 11 episode

Megan Rapinoe's brother died from alcoholism last year, the soccer star shared on her podcast last week.

The American soccer star, 40, was speaking to her guest Abby Wambach, 46, on the Thursday, June 11 episode of A Touch More when she opened up about the loss.

"I went home last year after my older brother Michael died," Rapinoe told her ex-girlfriend and former U.S. Women's National Soccer Team teammate. "He had a long battle with alcoholism... It was sad."

Megan RapinoeCredit: Alika Jenner/Getty

Wambach noted that they've both now lost a brother — her eldest brother, Peter G. Wambach Jr., died in December 2023 at 51 due to complications of a heart attack.

"I see the obsession and compulsion and addiction in myself and him too," Rapinoe continued, as the pair discussed what their careers have cost them.

"It's like you're searching for something. And I was thinking so much while I was home, like, 'Wow, I can't remember the last time I was home for this long, not for a holiday or a wedding or something."

Wambach explained that, while she believes soccer has given her more than it's cost her over the years, it's affected relationships with loved ones and "being able to relate to people because I was gone so often."

Abby Wambach and Megan Rapinoe on the 'A Touch More' podcastCredit: A Touch More: The Beautiful Game/Youtube

She continued, "I had to miss one of my brother's weddings, which feels like one of the bigger regrets, because of soccer."

Wambach added that it's been difficult to adjust to not seeing her U.S. Women's National Soccer Team teammates as regularly post-retirement after spending so much time together over the years.

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"I saw [former teammate Heather O'Reilly] a couple weekends ago and, like, we have so many bound-up memories," she said, "but now we are not forced into seeing each other as much."

She continued, "It's confusing because you're so close with these people, these teammates of yours, and a lot of them you become really close and actual real friends with. But you don't see each other as much as we used to because we had these forced hangout times."

Rapinoe had not previously discussed Michael's death, but she has spoken about her other brother Brian's drug addiction in the past.

In her 2020 memoir One Life, she looked back on the moment her parents told her and her siblings that Brian had been arrested for possession of meth and was sent to a juvenile detention center.

She also wrote in the book that he was later sent to prison at 18 for stealing a car, before spending the next two decades in and out of jail.

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"For whatever reason, the drugs sunk their teeth into Brian. He didn't need federal prison; he needed drug rehab," she told PEOPLE at the time.

The previous year, after she helped the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team to its second straight World Cup, Rapinoe addressed Brian in an on-field interview. "Just one thing. Happy birthday, Brian. I love you so much," she said, blowing a kiss into the camera, CBS News reported.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”