The best players in women’s football will descend on Australia and New Zealand for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Here are 12 of the best and biggest names preparing for the showpiece event, excluding Matildas stars.
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Alex Morgan (USA)
A genuine superstar, Morgan is featuring at her fourth World Cup, along with American team-mates and 2019 Ballon d’Or recipient Megan Rapinoe and Kelley O’Hara – the trio are the 10th, 11th and 12th players in USWNT history to be selected for four or more tournaments.
The 33-year-old has won two consecutive World Cups and a gold medal at the 2012 Games and she was the joint-leading goalscorer at the 2019 World Cup in France, alongside Rapinoe and England’s Ellen White who all scored six goals apiece.
With a UEFA Women’s Champions League crown and other honours to her name, Morgan – who has 121 international goals in 206 appearances – is shaping up as another big threat in a stacked USWNT side.
Alexia Putellas (Spain)
She is the biggest name in women’s football and the two-time reigning Ballon d’Or winner, having edged out Matildas superstar Sam Kerr.
At the age of 29, Putellas – who has recovered from an ACL injury – has already won the Champions League, LaLiga F, Copa de la Reina and the Spanish Supercopa with Barcelona. Individually, the Spain superstar also has multiple individual honours, including two FIFA Best Awards.
The first player to reach 100 caps with the Spain women’s team, she became the third ever footballer – and first female – to receive the prestigious Creu de Sant Jordi in 2021, an award to honour services to Catalonia. The two previous footballing recipients were Barcelona great Lionel Messi and Dutch icon Johan Cruyff.
Ada Hegerberg (Norway)
The Norway sensation – teammates with Matildas star Ellie Carpenter at Lyon – is another history-maker.
Hegerberg, who won the Ballon d’Or win 2018, is the all-time top UEFA women’s club scorer having incredibly won six Champions League titles with European juggernaut Lyon.
In January 2016, the 27-year-old became just the second woman to win the Golden Ball as Norway’s best footballer. The previous female recipient was Hege Riise after Norway won the 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
She also exiled herself from international football six years ago due to a dispute with the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) due to their treatment of women’s football before ending her five-year absence last year.
Wendie Renard (France)
Renard initially planned to skip the World Cup Down Under but the France captain returned to the squad when head coach Corinne Diacre was sacked and replaced by Herve Renard after a player revolt.
Her experience will be crucial for a team eyeing their first world title and best performance at the tournament, having finished fourth in 2011.
The 32-year-old has 144 caps and 34 international goals to her name, and she is one of the most decorated players in modern women’s football with 14 Division 1 Feminine trophies and eight Champions League crowns at Lyon, dating back to 2006.
Christine Sinclair (Canada)
She is not only the most success player to ever represent Canada, but Sinclair stands alone as the highest scorer in the history of international football – men’s and women’s.
The 40-year-old has 190 goals in 323 appearances for Canada. That’s more than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Sinclair is now gearing up for her sixth World Cup, having also taking part in three Olympic Games, winning that elusive gold medal in 2021. She has scored at least one goal at five different World Cups, a record shared with Marta.
And Australian fans will be able to see her up close and personal when Canada meet the Matildas in Melbourne on July 31.
Katie McCabe (Republic of Ireland)
McCabe is the face of the Irish team and the captain, with some Australian links.
The 27-year-old star is a winner having claimed won the 2018-19 Women’s Super League League (WSL) with Arsenal, who were coached by A-Leagues great Joe Montemurro at the time.
McCabe still plays alongside Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley at Arsenal, and she will reunite with the Matildas pair on the opening night of the World Cup in Sydney on July 20.
In 2022-23, McCabe – the youngest-ever captain for Ireland – was named Arsenal’s Player of the Season.
Saki Kumagai (Japan)
Kumagai has enjoyed a glittering career as the Japan captain embarks on another World Cup adventure.
She converted the winning penalty for Japan in their 2011 World Cup final against the United States, helping the Asian nation sensationally conquer the USWNT in front of more than 47,000 fans in Frankfurt.
Since moving to Europe in 2011, the 32-year-old has become the most successful Japanese player of her era – male or female. She has won five Champions League titles and seven league trophies with Lyon. Kumagai – a World Cup runner-up in 2015 and an 2018 AFC Asian Cup champion – also won the league with Bayern Munich last season.
Danielle van de Donk (Netherlands)
The Netherlands are without their talismanic striker Vivianne Miedema due to a serious knee injury but they’re still able to turn to an experienced star in Van de Donk.
Van de Donk has already enjoyed great success with the national team – winning the 2017 UEFA European Women’s Championship, while she was part of the Dutch side that finished runners-up at the last World Cup.
One of the leading names in European women’s football, the 139-cap international won the 2018-19 WSL with Montemurro’s Arsenal. Alongside Matildas star Ellie Carpenter, she has also won league trophies and the Champions League with Lyon.
Fridolina Rolfo (Sweden)
Like those around her and at the World Cup, Rolfo is ready to take centre stage and ignite the tournament.
The Swedish star is no stranger to the bright lights. At international level, the 29-year-old has two silver medals at the Olympic Games and a bronze medal via the 2019 World Cup in France.
At club level, Rolfo’s trophy cabinet is overflowing with a Champions League crown for Barcelona and four other titles to go with six other honours at German giants Wolfsburg and Linkoping in her native Sweden.
Pernille Harder (Denmark)
The Dane has been a delight to watch over the course of her illustrious career, and just last season she won a third consecutive WSL alongside Australia captain Kerr at Chelsea.
She was the first player to win the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year twice and she is Denmark’s all-time leading goalscorer as she swaps Chelsea for Bayern Munich. In 2020, Harder became the first player since Brazil’s Marta in 2008-09 to score four goals in a club quarter-final as Wolfsburg went on to finish Champions League runners-up.
With 140 international appearances and 70 goals, the 30-year-old has blazed a trail for Denmark.
Alexandra Popp
She is the heart and soul of Germany’s national team, and a two-time German Footballer of the Year.
Popp’s career is laden with major honours at club and international level as the Germany captain arrives Down Under eyeing more glory.
The 32-year-old, who is a full-back-turned-forward-turned-midfielder-turned-playmaker, has been starring in Europe for more than a decade and for her World Cup opponents, she shows no sign of slowing down.
An Olympic Gold medallist and European Championship runner-up last year, Popp – fifth on the country’s all-time scorers list – has three Champions League titles to her name via Duisburg and Wolfsburg. Not to mention the countless other domestic honours.
Alessia Russo
England are the European champions and they have an embarrassment of riches – from Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh and Chloe Kelly, to young gun Lauren James and Rachel Daly. Then there is Russo, who took the Women’s Super League (WSL) by storm in 2022-23.
Russo is growing into one of the most complete forwards in women’s football, having starred for WSL runners-up Manchester United last season, scoring 10 goals and 13 across all competitions, and flourished for England during their triumphant Euros on home soil.
The 24-year-old, who has departed the Red Devils amid links with a move to Arsenal where Caltey and Foord are based, is shaping up as the face of England’s forward line with 11 goals in 21 appearances.
