Gareth Bale announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 33.
The Wales captain is the most capped player for his country with 111 appearances.
He joined Los Angeles FC in the summer of 2022, after playing for Real Madrid, Tottenham, and Southampton.
Bale published a statement on social media explaining his decision to retire from football.
He came through Southampton’s academy and made his first-team debut at the age of 16.
Bale moved to Real Madrid for a world-record fee of €100.8m (£85.1m).
“After careful and thoughtful consideration, I announce my immediate retirement from club and international football,” he wrote.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to have realised my dream of playing the sport I love. It has truly given me some of the best moments of my life.
“The highest of highs over 17 seasons, that will be impossible to replicate, no matter what the next chapter has in store for me.”
“My decision to retire from international football has been, by far the hardest of my career,” he wrote.
“My journey on the international stage is one that has changed not only my life but who I am.
“The fortune of being Welsh and being selected to play for and captain Wales, has given me something incomparable to anything else I’ve experienced.
“I am honoured and humbled to have been able to play a part in the history of this incredible country, to have felt the support and passion of the red wall, and together have been to unexpected and amazing places.”
Bale, a five-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, is arguably Wales’ finest ever footballer.
