In 2011, the Freedom relocated to Boca Raton, Florida and became the magicJack under new ownership. On July 22, 2011, Wambach was named the player-coach for the magicJack for the rest of the 2011 WPS season. She was named WPS Player of the Week for the seventh time in August 2011.
On October 26, 2011, the Women's Professional Soccer League Governors voted to terminate the magicJack franchise. The league suspended operations in early 2012.
After defeating Germany in overtime during the semi-final, the U.S. faced Brazil for a second time in the Olympic final. Wambach's 10-yard header in the 112th minute off a corner kick from Kristine Lilly gave the U.S. a 2–1 victory and the gold medal win. Her last-minute goal was hailed as one of the five biggest goals in U.S. women's national team history by ESPN in 2011. Wambach finished the tournament with four goals and one assist. Her four goals set a new record for goals scored by a single U.S. player at an Olympic Tournament. The Olympic win also marked the start of significant changes for the national team as it was the final competitive international match for veteran players Mia Hamm, Joy Fawcett and Julie Foudy, who had played with the team since the first Women's World Cup in 1991. On the significance of the win, Wambach said, "It's the least we can do for the women who have meant so much to us." At the end of 2004, Wambach had scored 31 goals and 13 assists in 30 matches for the national team. She finished fourth in voting for the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year.
On May 9, 2011, the U.S. roster for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup tournament in Germany was announced, including Wambach. The 2011 Women's World Cup was the third World Cup tournament in which she played. After playing without scoring a goal in the first two group stage matches against North Korea and Colombia, Wambach scored in the 67th minute during the team's final group stage match – a 2–1 loss to Sweden. With the loss, the U.S. finished second in their group and went on to face the first place team from Group D Brazil in the quarterfinal.
On July 10, 2011, during the Americans' quarter-final game against Brazil, Wambach scored a header goal in stoppage time after the 120th minute (120th+two minutes of injury time) to even the score at 2–2 against the Brazilians. The U.S. went on to win the game on penalty kicks and advanced to the semi-final. Wambach's goal set a new record for latest goal ever scored in a FIFA competition. Her last-minute goal was awarded ESPN's 2011 ESPY Award for Best Play of the Year. Wambach scored her third tournament goal during the Americans' 3–1 semi-final win over France.
Wambach competed in four FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments: 2003 in the United States, 2007 in China, 2011 in Germany and 2015 in Canada. She played in two Olympics tournaments: 2004 in Athens and 2012 in London. All together, she played in 30 matches and scored 22 goals at these five global tournaments. Along with her U.S. teammates, Wambach won two Olympic gold medals, finished third twice at the Women's World Cup, finished second at the 2011 World Cup, and won the 2015 Women's World Cup.
In 2011, Wambach was awarded the Bronze Boot and Silver Ball at the FIFA Women's World Cup. She was also awarded the 2011 ESPY Award for Best Play for her 122nd-minute equalizing goal against Brazil during the quarterfinal. The same year, she was named the Women's Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year and received the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, the first individual soccer player ever – man or woman – to receive the award. In July 2011, the mayor of Rochester, New York named July 20 "Abby Wambach Day" and she was given a key to the city. In August 2012, after returning home from winning gold at the Summer Olympics in London, the city of Rochester honored Wambach by hosting a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony in which the entrance to Sahlen's Stadium was named "Wambach Way."
Wambach was named the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year, becoming the fourth woman ever, and the first American since Mia Hamm 10 years earlier, to win the award. Wambach received 20.67 percent of the votes from national team coaches and captains as well as select media over teammate Alex Morgan (13.5) and five-time winner Marta (10.87). During her acceptance speech, she thanked FIFA and President Blatter, her family, coaching and medical staff, and teammates and said, "... winning any individual award is a total product of the team that you play for. I've never scored a goal without receiving a pass from somebody else. Thanks to all the fans out there who continue to inspire me and the rest of the team to win as many games as we can." Wambach was also a finalist for the award in 2011 and 2013.
Wambach has done philanthropic work for the Epilepsy Foundation and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She has participated in Mia Hamm's annual Celebrity Soccer Challenge which raises money for Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the Mia Hamm Foundation. In August 2011, Wambach joined teammates Alex Morgan and Hope Solo in a Bank of America charitable campaign at the Chicago Marathon. $5,000 was donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Association on her behalf. In 2013, she became an ambassador for Athlete Ally, a nonprofit organization that focuses on ending homophobia and transphobia in sports.