Brazil’s Marta is aiming to win her first title at her last Women’s World Cup. But the striker is just one of many star players at the tournament in Australia and New Zealand. Sportschau.de presents the soccer players who can put their stamp on the 2023 World Cup.
Megan Rapinoe (USA)
Megan Rapinoe is the lighthouse of the US team – not only because of her often striking hair color. The top player and top scorer of France 2019 is aiming to help her team win their third straight title. After that, she wants to end her career in the national jersey at the age of 38. As an activist against discrimination, Rapinoe will probably be in the spotlight for a long time to come.
Alexandra Popp (Germany)
Captain of the DFB selection, goalscorer on duty, “face” of women’s football in Germany – and “extended arm” of the national coach on the field: striker Alexandra Popp from VfL Wolfsburg has been a top performer for years and is indispensable for her fourth World Cup appearance in Germany Team.
Ada Hegerberg (Norway)
For almost five years, Ada Hegerberg boycotted the Norwegian national team in protest at the neglected treatment of women in the football association. The striker from Olympique Lyon and Champions League record scorer (59 goals) is back Down Under. After the embarrassing loss of the preliminary round at the European Championship, she wants one thing above all: to attack!
Alexia Putellas (Spain)
Alexia Putellas, two-time world and European footballer of the year, missed the EM in England 2022 due to a cruciate ligament rupture shortly before the start. The technically outstanding attacking midfielder from FC Barcelona celebrated her comeback at the end of April after months of rehab. Whether the 29-year-old can shine at the World Cup is uncertain.
Wendie Renard (France)
Wendie Renard has been collecting trophy after trophy for more than 15 years: the world-class defender has won the French championship 15 times, won the cup nine times and won the Champions League title eight times with Olympique Lyon. After her “resignation from retirement” from the national team, she may now be at a World Cup for the last time: on the day of the opening game, she will be 33 years old.
Sam Kerr (Australia)
Sam Kerr’s trademark is the backflip when celebrating a goal. The hopes of co-hosts Australia resting on the shoulders of the 29-year-old Chelsea striker to make it to the final of their home World Cup. As the first woman ever, the captain and record goalscorer of the “Matildas” adorned the worldwide cover of the football game FIFA 23.
Christine Sinclair (Canada)
Christine Sinclair is a Canadian soccer legend: the 40-year-old has scored 190 times in 323 international matches. In 2021 she led the “Big Reds” in Tokyo to Olympic victory. At the end of her extraordinary career, the World Cup should go a long way again, after four years ago in France she was eliminated in the round of 16.
Pernille Harder (Denmark)
Former Wolfsburg player Pernille Harder is moving from Chelsea back to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga for the new season. Before that, the 30-year-old wants to cause surprises in her World Cup debut with Denmark. Europe’s Footballer of the Year 2018 and 2020 is the captain of her team – and depending on how the tournament goes, she could also meet partner Magdalena Eriksson from Sweden.
Martha (Brazil)
Brazil’s striker Marta is the record scorer for the World Cup with 17 goals so far, but is still waiting for the crowning glory: she has not been able to celebrate a world championship title with the Selecao since her debut in 2003. Will the six-time world footballer succeed in her sixth and last World Cup participation? After a cruciate ligament rupture, the 37-year-old is probably no longer part of the Brazilian team.
Georgia Stanway (England)
Georgia Stanway was one of the cornerstones of the English team in last year’s European Championship triumph in their own country – and that at only 1.63 meters tall. Stanway recently demonstrated her playful and fighting qualities in midfield in her first season in Munich when she won the German championship title with FC Bayern.
Stina Blackstenius (Sweden)
Emma Stina Blackstenius plays for Arsenal FC in England. The striker made her debut in the Swedish national team eight years ago, and the 28-year-old has long been an integral part of it. Third place at the 2019 World Championships in France and the silver medal at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo are already part of her success story.
Lieke Martens (Netherlands)
Six years ago, the star of the Dutch Lieke Martens shone particularly brightly: the then 24-year-old led the Oranje Lions to win the European Championships at home in 2017, was named the best player of the tournament and later also the World and European Footballer of the Year. One thing is certain: The experienced striker from Paris Saint-Germain will again strive for the maximum at this year’s World Cup.
Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria)
28-year-old striker Asisat Oshoala is the undisputed star of the Nigerian team. The five-time African Footballer of the Year plays in Europe for FC Barcelona, with whom she became the first player on her continent to win the Champions League title in 2021. She repeated that triumph with Barca in early June.
Ali Riley (New Zealand)
American-born defender Alexandra “Ali” Riley is to New Zealand what Sam Kerr is to Australia: figurehead and star. The daughter of a New Zealander has been captain of the “Football Ferns” for six years. For the 35-year-old former FC Bayern player, her fifth appearance at the World Cup will likely be her last. Almost twelve years lay between her first (2010) and second (2022) goal in the national jersey. Will the third follow at the World Cup?
Saki Kumagai (Japan)
Defender and captain Saki Kumagai was 20 years old when she scored on penalties in the final against the USA at the 2011 World Cup in Germany and gave Japan the title. The 32-year-old is moving from Munich to Rome for the new season. At her fourth World Cup, she can act as a role model for her younger teammates without much pressure of expectation.
Lia Walti (Switzerland)
The Swiss Lia Wälti has been playing at FC Arsenal in London since 2018 – in her first season she celebrated the national championship title there. The 30-year-old is considered a tactics expert for the Swiss; as captain, she is the most important contact for national coach Inka Grings. After 2015, the midfielder is taking part in a World Cup for the second time. Apparently she has recovered from an injury from the end of the season.
Catalina Usme (Colombia)
The Colombian international and goalscorer Catalina Usme has been a striker for her home country since 2006. At the World Cup finals in Germany in 2011 as captain and in Canada in 2015, she did not score her own goal. The 33-year-old left-footed player is only too happy to do that differently in her third and probably last World Cup participation.
Vanina Correa (Argentina)
Argentina’s national goalkeeper Vanina Correa will never forget her first appearance at a World Cup: in 2007 she conceded eleven (!) goals in a group game against the DFB team. The mother of twins paused for years, when she made her World Cup comeback in 2019 she was eliminated as a first-choice goalkeeper with “Las Chicas” after the preliminary round. Is it going better for the 39-year-old captain this year as her career ends?
Khadija Shaw (Jamaica)
Versatile striker Khadija Shaw makes the difference for Jamaica – and that’s exactly why she’s signed at top club Manchester City since 2021. She made her national team debut at the age of 18. Jamaica’s record goalscorer was instrumental in the “Reggae Girlz” qualifying for the 2019 and 2023 World Cup with her goals.