Women’s football has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years thanks, in part, to television broadcasters showing an increasing number of games featuring female players. While there is still a considerable disparity between the salaries commanded by women compared to men, female players are gaining more recognition on a global scale. They are becoming football superstars in their own right.
There is some fantastic talent in the women’s game of football. While it is unlikely women and men will play alongside each other in the professional game, the following four female football stars probably would not look out of place competing against the opposite sex.
The Perfect Midfielder
Alexia Putellas Segura is regarded as the best female football player on the planet and the current holder of the Ballon d’Or Feminin. The 28-year-old Spanish midfielders received 186 points in the 2021 voting, 102 more than her nearest rival; that is how amazing at football Putellas is.
Putellas began her career with Espanyol in 2010 before moving to Levante the following season. Her passing vision and shooting prowess did not go unnoticed, and FC Barcelona secured her services in time for the 2012-13 season. To say she has become a cult hero is an understatement. She currently has the third-most appearances for Barcelona and is their second-highest all-time goalscorer with 157 goals in 371 games in all competitions. Putellas is also Spain’s most-capped female player, with 93 caps at the time of writing.
The World’s Best Defender
Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Attack-minded players tend to receive all the attention from the media, but Lucy Ward is an exception to that rule. The 30-year-old English full-back plays her club football for Manchester City, having previously turned out for Sunderland, Everton, Liverpool, and French outfit Olympique Lyonnais. Ward has also represented England 85 times since 2013.
Ward was named the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year in both 2018 and 2020. In addition, Ward won the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year Award in 2019, becoming the first English footballer to do so. In 2020, Bronze was crowned the Best FIFA Women’s Player.
A Female Goal Machine
Pernille Harder is a Danish professional footballer who currently plays in the English FA Women’s Super League for the London team, Chelsea. The forward began her career with Team Viborg and IK Skovbakken in her native Denmark before transferring to Swedish club Linkopings FC. She played 88 games for Linkpoings, scoring 71 goals.
German women’s Bundesliga side Vfl Wolfsburg signed Harder in December 2016. She scored 68 goals in 75 appearances before Chelsea paid a world record fee “in excess of £250,000” to secure Harder’s services in September 2020. Harder’s impressive goalscoring record has continued in England, with her finding the back of the net 16 times in 36 games.
Harder won the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year Award in 2018 and again in 2020.
The Elite Star From Down under
Australia is not the first country that springs to mind when you think of football, but Sam Kerr is determined to put Australian football on the map. Kerr is a 28-year-old striker who is considered one of the best female forwards to have ever stepped onto a pitch.
Kerr’s father and uncle were professional footballers in the West Australian Football League, so the game was always in her blood. After scoring an incredible 98 goals in 135 games for Australian teams Perth Glory, Sydney FC, and Sky Blue FC, Kerr headed to the United States and turned out for Chicago Red Stars. Another 35 goals in 43 games followed, which prompted Chelsea to open their checkbook and sign her on an initial two-year deal. She has gone on to fire in 45 goals in 62 appearances in addition to scoring 56 goals in 107 games at the international level for Australia.
