Youth national team Lloyd represented the United States at the
under-21 level before making the jump to the senior team at the age of 23.
Senior national team Lloyd made her first appearance for the
United States women's national soccer team on July 10, 2005, against
Ukraine. She scored her first international goal on October 1, 2006, against
Taiwan. At the 2006 Four Nations Tournament, Lloyd won a third cap. Her first two starts of her international career came at the 2006
Algarve Cup, starting the group game against
Denmark and in the final against
Germany. She played in 19 games, starting 13, and scored one goal. Lloyd logged her first
brace for the national team during a 6–1 win against
New Zealand. During their first match of the tournament, the U.S. tied
North Korea 2–2. The team faced
Sweden in their next match on September 14 and won 2–0 with two goals from
Abby Wambach. The U.S. finished group play with a 1–0 win over
Nigeria women's national football team on September 18. During the quarterfinal match against
England on September 22, the U.S. won 3–0. All three goals were scored within 12 minutes. The U.S. faced Brazil in the semi-final in what would become a controversial and game-changing match for the team. Coach Greg Ryan decided to bench starting goalkeeper,
Hope Solo, and instead started
Brianna Scurry, a veteran goalkeeper who had started in three World Cups and two Olympics, but who had started very few matches since the 2004 Olympics. The U.S. was defeated 4–0 by Brazil. The loss relegated them to a final match against
Norway, which they won 4–1, to secure third place standing at the tournament. Lloyd started three of the five games in which she played at the tournament. Lloyd was named the
2008 U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year along with
Tim Howard. She was on the starting lineup in all 35 games in which she played in 2008, tying for the team lead in matches started during the year. Her 2,781 minutes on the pitch for the U.S. ranked third on the team in minutes played. Her nine goals and nine assists resulted in her best scoring year yet on the national team. Although she suffered a broken ankle in the fourth game of the
2010 WPS Season while playing for
Sky Blue FC, she played in 15 matches for the United States in 2010, starting 14. Throughout the tournament, she tallied an assist, a goal, In the
World Cup final, after finishing the game tied 2–2 the U.S. went on to penalty kicks with
Japan. Along with two teammates who failed to convert their penalty kicks, Lloyd mishit the ball over the crossbar. The U.S. won the silver medal at the tournament.
2012 London Olympics The national team opened 2012 with the
Olympic Qualifiers in
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The U.S. was placed in Group B with the
Dominican Republic,
Guatemala, and
Mexico. In the first match, the United States routed the Dominican Republic by a score of 14–0 with Lloyd tallying one goal and one assist. This time, the U.S. beat Mexico 4–0 with Lloyd netting her first career
hat trick. She was subsequently named player of the match. Lloyd finished the tournament with six goals and three assists and tied for the team lead in goals scored. At the
2012 Summer Olympics in London, Lloyd scored the go-ahead goal in the 56th minute of the team's opening match against
France, to boost the U.S. to a 3–2 lead; the match ended with a final score of 4–2. She scored her second goal of the tournament against
Colombia during the group stage. During the Olympic gold medal match against
Japan, played at London's
Wembley Stadium, Lloyd scored both American goals in the team's 2–1 victory. Her four goals in the tournament tied for the second highest on the U.S. squad. She is the only player (of either gender) in history to score the game-winning goal in two separate Olympic gold medal matches; her first occurred during the
Beijing 2008 final against Brazil. After scoring her 46th international goal in the 13th minute of a friendly against
New Zealand in October 2013, Lloyd became the highest-scoring midfielder in the team's history, passing
Julie Foudy, who finished her career with 45 goals.
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup win at the ticker tape parade in New York City, July 2015 In April 2015, Lloyd was named by head coach
Jill Ellis to the 23-player roster for the
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada. Lloyd captained the team during four of the team's matches, including the quarterfinal against China, in which she scored the winning goal on her 200th cap, semi-final against Germany and final against Japan, and scored six goals during the tournament, finishing the tournament on a four-game goalscoring streak that spanned the knockout stage and that culminated in a
hat-trick in the game's opening 16 minutes during the
final against Japan. The last goal was hailed by
Reuters as "one of the most remarkable goals ever witnessed in a Women's World Cup", and featured Lloyd catching Japanese goalkeeper
Ayumi Kaihori off her line and chipping her virtually from the halfway line. For her efforts in leading the United States to a record third World Cup title, and first since 1999, she won the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament. While Lloyd's six goals were enough to match
Célia Šašić as the tournament's top scorer, Šašić won the Golden Boot for playing fewer minutes and Lloyd was awarded the Silver Boot. Lloyd also became the first woman to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final and the first player, male or female, to do so since
Geoff Hurst did so for England against West Germany at Wembley in
1966. Only one player has since replicated the feat –
Kylian Mbappé for France against Argentina in Lusail, Qatar in
2022. Furthermore, her third goal earned her a nomination for the
FIFA Puskás Award, FIFA's annual award for Goal of the Year. Finally, Lloyd is the only player to have scored a hat-trick in normal time of a World Cup final; Hurst scored two goals in extra time and Mbappé one.
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Lloyd scored in her first two games of the
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup; one against
Thailand and two against
Chile. Hence, she became the first player to score in six straight Women's World Cup matches.
Reaching her 300th cap, 2019–2021 On April 10, 2021, Lloyd earned her 300th cap in a friendly match against Sweden to become the third player to achieve that feat after
Kristine Lilly and
Christie Pearce. On June 14, 2021, she became the oldest player at 38 years and 332 days to score for the United States in a 4–0 win over
Jamaica at the
BBVA Stadium, and thereby beating the record previously held by Kristine Lilly (38 years, 264 days).
2020 Tokyo Olympics and retirement On August 5, 2021, she scored twice in a 4–3 win over
Australia in the bronze medal match of the
2020 Summer Olympics, to set the U.S. women's record for most Olympic goals, 10 goals in total, surpassing Abby Wambach. Following the Olympics, Lloyd announced she would be retiring from the national team in 2021. In early 2022, she partnered with Teqball USA and one of her retirement plans is to make
Teqball an Olympic sport by 2028. She also developed CL10 Soccer Clinic, a program to help people improve their soccer skills. In October 2022, she co-conducted the draw for the
2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand held at the
Aotea Centre in Auckland. She also co-conducted the draw for the
2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, held at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center, in April 2022.
Criticism of USWNT post-retirement Since retiring, Lloyd has made numerous critical comments regarding the national team, saying she "hated" playing for the team in the final years of her career. Lloyd has said that the culture became "toxic" after the 2015 World Cup victory, alleging that players became more focused on building their brands than winning as a team. During the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, Lloyd criticized the team for celebrating after finishing runners-up in their group, avoiding elimination after being close to losing to Portugal in their last group match, saying, "Players are smiling. They're laughing. It's not good enough." Lloyd's comments created controversy and drew pushback from both current players and former teammates. Later in 2023, she said U.S. Soccer never wanted her to be the star of the team. “That’s just the way the world works as far as showcasing players," Lloyd said. "They’re not always highlighting the best players. They’re oftentimes highlighting the most marketable players.” ==Style of play==