Paul A. Hebert / Invision/AP
Alex Morgan, American soccer player and Olympic gold medalist, arrives at the ESPY Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Wednesday, July 15, 2015, in Los Angeles.
Monday, July 20, 2015 | 5:04 p.m.
Lionel Messi will be joined by Alex Morgan on the cover of EA Sports' FIFA 16 video game.
The newest edition in the popular game franchise, which will be released on Sept. 22, includes 12 women's national teams for the first time. That includes Morgan and the U.S. team that won the Women's World Cup earlier this month.
"I know people all over the world play this game and I'm really excited that FIFA 16 is putting such an important spotlight on women's soccer," Morgan said in a statement. "And now to share the cover with today's greatest player is surreal."
Other teams represented in the game include Canada, Australia, Brazil, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain and Sweden. The women's teams compete exclusively against each other in the game.
On the Canadian version, Messi will be joined by striker Christine Sinclair.
Morgan, as well as teammates Abby Wambach, Sydney Leroux and Megan Rapinoe, traveled to Vancouver, British Columbia, earlier this year for a motion capture session. Canadian players, including Sinclair, also participated.
EA Sports also sent its mobile head-scanning unit to tournaments and matches worldwide to capture player's faces and hairstyles. The idea was to make the players and their movements as authentic to the women's game as possible.
EA Sports is a digital interactive entertainment company based in Redwood City, California. It is known for its sports video games, including Madden NFL and NBA Live.
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