The top 100 women’s footballers of all time has naturally been a very tricky list for me to oversee as FourFourTwo’s Women’s Football Editor, with the abundance of talent the women’s game has seen and its rapidly evolving standing in world sport.
I haven’t been alone when it has come to compiling and finalising the list. Along with some colleagues we have whittled names down to 100 and placed them in order until we reach, the player we believe, is the best to ever grace the pitch.
But who made out official list and who has been judged the greatest player of all time? Let’s find out, shall we?
This list was a labour of love and a difficult one to put together because of the amount of talent the sport has seen. It was led by women’s football editor, Sarah Rendell, before other football experts at FourFourTwo were asked for their opinions.
It was not only trophy success that was considered for the list but technical ability, statistics and pioneering influence in women’s football.
The experts also tried to ensure players from across the globe were included to make sure the depth of talent in women’s football was on display.
Of course there will be some readers who disagree with the list and who may think some stars have been left out who should have been included. Let us know your thoughts via @FourFourTwo on social …
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100. Lily Parr
An icon and trailblazer of the game, Parr was known for her passing ability but her strength was her style of play. She played her senior career at Dick Kerr Ladies and scored 108 goals in her first year with the team. As she was born in the early 1900s she would regularly play against men’s teams and it is said she had a harder shot than male players.
During her career, which ended in 1951, she scored 986 goals.
99. Ji So-Yun
Ji So-Yun was a key player in Emma Hayes’ Chelsea squad which developed into a dominant force. The South Korean competed for the Blues from 2014-2022 and won 13 trophies with the English club.
Her footwork is impressive and her ability to create great chances is second to none. She helped her national side to a runners-up position at the 2022 Asian Cup and also has two Asian Games bronze medals.
98. Gilly Flaherty
Gilly Flaherty’s first season at Arsenal was their all-conquering quadruple campaign and the club are still the only women’s English team to win the Champions League. The defender retired from club football in 2023 but won 22 trophies in her 17-year career. her achievements have seen her inducted into the WSL Hall of Fame.
She also was capped for England and made nine appearances for the national team.
97. Jordan Nobbs
Jordan Nobbs is an Arsenal legend. She played for the team for 13 years between 2010 and 2023 and won 11 trophies in that time. In a bid to get more minutes, she left the club for Aston Villa.
In 2024 she broke the record for the most WSL appearances and is still producing great performances at the highest level which will only see her add to that total.
Internationally, she has amassed over 70 caps for England with injury preventing her from being a part of the 2019 World Cup and 2022 Euros. Her added playing time at Villa did earn her a spot in the 2023 World Cup squad where England reached the final.
96. Lauren James
At 23 years old, James is still only just getting going; but then, age has never particularly meant much to the forward.
James went from England debutante to one of their most important players rapidly after making her bow in 2022, and has only gone from strength to strength from there, becoming more and more important to the Lionesses and to Chelsea.
Already a three-time title winner, a World Cup finalist, and with a cabinet full of individual honours, James looks to be on track to enjoy one of the most decorated careers in the history of the English game.
95. Karen Carney
Karen Carney is one of the highest-capped England players of all time with 144 to her name. In that time she was a runner-up in the 2009 Euros and recorded a third place finish at the 2015 World Cup.
She did pick up a lot of silverware at club level as she was a part of the incredible Arsenal team of the early 2000s. She played for the Gunners from 2006 to 2009 and won the quadruple with the team in the 06/07 campaign. In total she won nine trophies with the London club.
Since retiring in 2019 she has been an advocate for the game and released a report showing where improvements had to be made.
94. Mayra Ramirez
Mayra Ramirez is a hugely impressive, strong forward who has taken like duck to water to live in London playing for Chelsea in their squad full of stars.
She has made headlines since joining in 2024 and has been a consistent player for her national side Colombia too. It would be no surprise if she climbs this list in years to come.
93. Lianne Sanderson
Liane Sanderson played for Arsenal over two spells but her first was from 2003-2008 and did not lose a single league match during her time at the club. She was a part of the quadruple-winning side in 06-07 and won a total of 14 trophies with the Gunners. She played for nine other clubs but only won trophies with one other than Arsenal which was Juventus. She won two titles with the Italian club.
Sanderson had a bumpy time with England as she did always see eye-to-eye with Hope Powell, the then-manager. She ruled herself out of selection while Powell was in charge but did earn more caps when Mark Sampson took over. Sanderson was also a part of the team who were runners-up at the 2009 Euros.
92. Fran Kirby
Fran Kirby is a player who flies under the radar but her presence was definitely missed during the 2023 World Cup for England. While the team reached the final, there were less chances created and that might’ve been different had Kirby been at the tournament. She was a crucial part of the 2022 Euros-winning team and started every game.
Kirby has left her imprint on the WSL, particularly during her nine-year spell at Chelsea. With the Blues, she won seven WSL titles, five FA Cups, two League Cups, a Community Shield and was runner-up in the Women’s Champions League. She now plies her trade at Brighton and has had an immediate impact, contributing to their improved form.
91. Leah Williamson
Leah Williamson wrote herself into football history as she captained the Lionesses to the Euros trophy in 2022.
She started every match and famously said “the kids are alright” after beating Germany 2-1 in the final. The Lionesses were the first senior English side to win the European trophy. Sadly for the skipper an ACL rupture ruled her out of the 2023 World Cup, where England reached the final but lost to Spain.
At club level, she has only ever played for Arsenal. She joined their academy in 2006 and made her senior debut in 2014. Since then she has won seven trophies including the WSL title in the 2018/19 season.
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90. Jess Fishlock
Jess Fishlock is a Welsh legend, she is the team’s all-time top-scorer and helped them qualify for their first major tournament in 2024.
As well as her scoring helping her national side, she has aided her club teams to silverware success. Fishlock has won America’s NWSL Shield three times and the Women’s Champions League twice.
In terms of individual awards, she has been named Welsh Footballer of the Year five times.
89. Lena Oberdorf
The midfielder is known for her strength and ability to outmuscle opponents and win the ball. She is a central player figure in the German national team and helped them reach the 2022 Euros final, where the team lost 2-1 to England. An ACL rupture paused her career but she will be back in 2025.
At club-level, she won five trophies with Wolfsburg before moving to Bayern Munich in the 2024 summer transfer window.
88. Alex Greenwood
England and Manchester City defender Alex Greenwood is one of the best defenders in the world and was the Lionesses’ outstanding player at the 2023 World Cup. The team reached the final in that tournament, losing 1-0 to Spain, but it was the first World Cup final the Lionesses had ever reached. Greenwood was also a part of the team that won the Euros in 2022.
At at club level, she is Manchester City’s captain and has won two trophies with them. She picked up four trophies while at Lyon, including the Champions League.
87 – Formiga
Formiga, like too many of her Brazilian counterparts, doesn’t have the international honours to show for her contributions, but her career has formed its own legacy over time.
Having finally retired from international football at the end of 2021 at the age of 43, Formiga’s longevity has certified her as a one-of-a-kind footballer. It’s very unlikely that we will ever see another player performing at the level she played at when she was well into her 40s.
That Formiga’s first major honour came 25 years ago says everything, such is the span of her career successes. Few read and control games like Formiga and the midfielder has won major honours in both South America and Europe with PSG, as well as being named in the CONMEBOL Team of the Decade for the period between 2011 and 2020. A true legend the likes of which we will probably never see again.
86 – Briana Scurry
Though Hope Solo eventually replaced Briana Scurry in goal for the USA, Scurry still had an incredible run between the posts for her national team. Keeping 71 clean sheets, she won Olympic gold medals in both 1996 and 2004 and saved a crucial penalty to help the USWNT win the 1999 World Cup.
Solo went on to become one of the greatest-ever goalkeepers, so it’s not stain on Scurry’s record that she was eventually ousted by one of the very best.
85 – Bente Nordby
With 172 caps, Nordby comes up just behind Scurry in appearances, but her contribution of only conceding one goal as Norway won the 1995 World Cup, preceded by a European Championship followed by an Olympic gold stands her out as one of the best.
She was a FIFA World Player of the Year nominee four times too. One of only a few players who can say they have won the European Championships, World Cup and an Olympic gold. Nordby was for a long time considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world and her legacy certainly puts her down as one of the greatest of all time when looking back at what she achieved.
84 – Fara Williams
The most-capped England player of all time enjoyed a long, distinguished and decorated career despite the significant disadvantage of having been homeless for seven years during her early days on the pitch.
Williams’ goalscoring record was exceptional for a midfielder, and those goals were often spectacular. She had a particularly uncanny knack for spotting a goalkeeper off her line or a top corner through a crowded box and could find the net from distance.
Williams went not far short of a goal every other game across her club career and helped England reach the 2009 Euros final and the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup.
83 – Camille Abily
Primarily playing as a midfielder, Camile Abily won 26 trophies at club-level with the lionshare of those coming with Lyon where she won five Champions League titles with the French club.
For France she was a stalwart, winning her first cap in 2001 and retiring from international football in 2017. She won two Cyprus Cups and a SheBelieves Cup with the national team.
Chelsea fans may also know her as the club’s assistant coach.
82 – Mary Earps
England goalkeeper Mary Earps was a vital part of the team who won the 2022 European Championships. She played every minute and only conceded two goals all tournament. Earps was also a key part of the Lionesses team at the 2023 World Cup which reached the final. She won the tournament’s Golden Glove and made several important saves, including a penalty save in the final itself.
Earps has also won the Finalissima, the SheBelieves Cup and two Arnold Clark Cups with England. At club-level she won the FA Cup with Manchester United and the Frauen Bundesliga with Wolfsburg.
Individually she was won FIFA’s Best Goalkeeper twice and was England’s Player of the Year in the 2022/23 season.
81 – Keira Walsh
It hasn’t always been plain sailing for Walsh, but it is a testament to her drive for self-improvement that she has turned herself into one of the most lauded and influential deep-lying midfielders in all of world football.
Her stunning performances at Euro 2022 were capped by a Player of the Match performance in the final against Germany. It spoke volumes that when she went down with what turned out to be a minor knee injury at the following year’s World Cup, many feared England’s chances may have gone up in smoke. Once seen as unsung and understated, Walsh’s influence is now impossible to ignore.
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80 – Rachel Yankey
Rachel Yankey was part of an Arsenal team who are the only English side to win the quadruple. In the 2006-07 season Arsenal won the league, League Cup and FA Cup as well as the Champions League. They won every single game of the league season, not dropping a single point. In total for the Gunners, across two spells at the club, she won 22 trophies. She retired from football in 2016.
Yankey also made a splash at national level and was one of the players who broke through to be a household name. She was one of the first to be awarded a central contract by the FA. Individually, she was awarded a MBE and CBE. Yankey has also been inducted into the WSL Hall of Fame.
79 – Katie Chapman
Katie Chapman is one of the most decorated and impressive English players of all time. In her club career she won 28 trophies including four during the quadruple-winning season at Arsenal in 2006/07. She also won Chelsea’s first WSL title with the club in 2015 and she was at the Blues when she retired in 2018. For her club efforts she was inducted into the WSL Hall of Fame in 2022.
For England she won 94 caps and during her international career was a runner-up at the 2009 Euros and recorded a third-place spot at the 2015 World Cup.
Individually she was named the FA’s Young Player of the Year twice in 1999 and 2001 and was named England Player of the Year in 2002 and 2010.
78 – Ellen White
You don’t get more perfect ways to retire than your final game being a winning Euros final. That is exactly what happened for England’s Ellen White, who started every game of the 2022 tournament. She hung up her boots as the Lionesses’ top scorer and England’s third-highest scorer across the men’s and women’s teams.
At club level she played for the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea. Throughout her career, she won 10 trophies with her last coming in the 2021/22 season with the League Cup title for City.
77 – Ann Kristin Aarønes
Ann Kristin Aarønes may be one of the lesser-known names on this list, but her contribution to one of the greatest success stories in women’s football can’t be diminished.
Aarønes won the Golden Boot when Norway won the 1995 World Cup and was an all-star team member four years later. Aarønes scored 60 goals in just 111 caps for her country and domestically also picked up five league titles.
76 – Kim Little
At her peak, Little was one of the very best in the world. She was part of an all-conquering Arsenal side before heading to the USA where she quickly became a household name in Seattle. Now back at Arsenal, she continues to dictate play with her superior control and passing.
Whether it’s setting up others or scoring a hatful herself, Little has excelled throughout her career on both sides of the Atlantic. Upon international retirement in 2021 she had scored 59 goals for Scotland.
75 – Dzsenifer Marozsán
Marozsán has a more glorified trophy cabinet than many on this list.
There are few better on the ball than the German and her individual honours, including being named UEFA Player of the Year three times in a row between 2015 and 2017 proves that. She has won four league titles, five Champions Leagues, an Olympic gold and a European Championship in 2013.
74 – Rachael Kundananji
Rachael Kundananji became the most expensive footballer in the world when she broke the transfer record in 2024. It was reported that Bay FC paid Madrid CFF $860,000 for the number nine and she is worth every penny. Her ability to not only create big chances but finish ones created for her makes her a lethal threat in any team.
For Zambia, she has helped to promote women’s football in Africa and aided the team in one of the most famous World Cup upsets. In 2023 Zambia defeated Germany 3-2 and Kundananji scored one of the goals to end Germany’s tournament at the group stage.
73 – Patri
Patri is one of the best current footballers in the world and has impressed so much that there could not be a top 100 list without her on it. She has played for Barcelona since 2015 and has been a central cog in making Barca the dominant machine it now is. Patri has significantly contributed to the 22 trophies she has lifted with the Spanish giants.
On the international stage she plays for Spain and won her first cap in 2017 but took two years out of the Spanish team. She protested to improve conditions for the national squad. Her first appearance back was at the Paris Olympics.
72 – Barbra Banda
Barbra Banda is a trailblazer and in 2024 was voted the highest ranked FIFA Best of any African player ever. She came second to Spain’s Aitana Bonmati after an incredible season which included scoring a hat-trick at the Paris Olympics and winning the NWSL championship.
Banda is a lethal striker and if you give her an inch of space she will make it a mile. Her impressive 2024 also saw her pick up the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year and African Women’s Footballer of the year. She has always been great with the ball at her feet but she has not yet peaked, a scary thought for her opponents.
71 – Carolina Morace
Carolina Morace is one of Italy’s greatest goalscorers but didn’t get the chance to win the amount of silverware some of her compatriots on this list did, internationally at least.
Morace scored over 500 league goals and won the Golden Boot an incredible 11 seasons in a row. She scored the first-ever World Cup hat-trick and ended her career with 105 goals in 153 caps for Italy. If only her career coincided with Patrizia Panico, Italy could well have won something.
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70 -Therese Sjögran
One of Sweden’s finest, Therese Sjögran is tied with Birgit Prinz as the European player with the most international caps at 214. She fell narrowly short in both the World Cup and European Championships with her nation unfortunately, finishing as runner-up in both tournaments during her career.
Despite that, she still managed to win five domestic titles, as well as compete in four World Cups, three European Championships and three Olympic Games.
69 – Pernille Harder
Pernille Harder’s trophy record speaks for itself. Since the 2016 Damallsvenskan season, when she played for Linkopings, the midfielder has won the league at every club she has been at every season. At Wolfsburg in the 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons she won the Frauen Bundesliga. In the 2020-21,2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons she won the Women’s Super League with Chelsea and the 2023-24 season she won the Frauen Bundesliga with Bayern Munich. Simply incredible.
Her club record is not the only part of her career that is groundbreaking though. For national side Denmark, she is the team’s top scorer, breaking Merete Pedersen’s record in 2021 and she has only added to it since then. She has been named Danish Player of the Year seven times and came runner-up at the Euros in 2017. On top of all of her playing credentials, she was named captain of her country in 2016.
68 – Hanna Ljungberg
Hanna Ljungberg was, is, and always will be one of Sweden’s greatest.
When she retired, she was Sweden’s top scorer with 72 goals and after dragging her country to a surprise World Cup final in 2003, was a finalist for the FIFA World Player of the Year award. For Umeå IK, she scored a scarcely believable 196 goals in 277 appearances.
67 – Irene Paredes
Irene Paredes has captained Spain several times and was part of the squad who were hugely impressive in the 2023 World Cup, going on to with the trophy for the first time in women’s football. She also won the Nations League in 2024.
She can sometimes fly under the radar, especially at Barcelona with the team packed full of stars. But Paredes is one of the most consistent and reliable players in world football. The defender has won 13 club trophies, including two Champions Leagues with Barca.
66 – Bunny Shaw
A near goal-per-game striker at all levels throughout her career, it’s incredible to think the towering striker only moved up front from midfield during the later stages of her college career.
Shaw was pivotal in helping Jamaica reach their first World Cup in 2019 – the women’s team having been briefly disbanded just a few years before – but opted to pursue a move to Europe rather than go to the NWSL.
It’s worked out and then some. Quick and technically gifted, Shaw hit the ground running at Bordeaux and Manchester City alike, claiming golden boots for both clubs.
65 – Sissi
Sissi may have only had one standout tournament for Brazil, but what a display of undeniable quality it was.
A fabulous player better known for her creative and technical ability than her goalscoring, the diminutive Sissi still managed to finish as joint-top scorer at the 1999 World Cup with seven goals. On top of that, she bagged the tournament’s first golden goal, helping her nation to third place.
A truly gifted player, her No.10 status in 1999 for the Selecao was a beautiful thing to watch, regardless of it ending in glory or not.
64 – Carla Overbeck
Carla Overbeck won 168 caps for a USA team that at times during the 1990s dominated the landscape of women’s football. After winning the World Cup in China in 1991, in which Overbeck was a mainstay in the US defence, she went on to play every single minute of the 1995 World Cup, 1996 Olympics and the 1999 World Cup, one of only two players to do so.
Throughout her time with her nation, Overbeck was an ever-dependable presence at heart of a hugely successful decade for the world’s most-decorated women’s national team. On top of the aforementioned honours, she also managed to add another World Cup and an Olympic gold medal in the latter part of her career.
63 – Christie Pearce
The former defender and captain of the USWNT left her mark on the sport. She was named skipper of the national side in 2008 and led her team to a Olympic gold medal and a runner-up at the 2011 World Cup. Pearce won two other Olympic golds and a silver.
She also won the World Cup twice but she represented the team five times in World Cup finals. She was solid at the back for all the teams she represented, hanging up her boots in 2017.
62 – Pia Sundhage
Sweden’s Pia Sundhage may now be better known for her illustrious coaching career, but being voted the sixth best player of the 20th century shows her playing career wasn’t too shabby either.
When Sundhage retired in 1996, she did so as Sweden’s top scorer at the time with 71 goals in her 146 caps. A classic centre forward, Sundhage was the top scorer as the Swedes won the first-ever official European Championships in 1984 and went on to represent her nation in several more major tournaments.
Sundhage won four Damallsvenskan titles and briefly moved to Italy in the 1980s, which at the time was a sure sign that you were a highly coveted footballer.
61 – Silvia Neid
More recently the long-time head coach of the Germany national team, Silvia Neid also enjoyed a hugely successful playing career in which she formed part of a Germany side that won three European Championships between 1989 and 1995.
The midfielder also picked up seven Bundesliga titles, too, six of which came during a dominant period for TSV Siegen.
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60 – Kelly Smith
Kelly Smith is undoubtedly one of England’s greatest-ever players, as well as one of the most decorated. Smith’s peak came before the FA Women’s Super League boom but her talent was evident to anyone who watched her.
Smith was part of the historic Arsenal quadruple winners and helped the Gunners to an array of domestic successes, but her moments for England on the biggest stages are the true joys, especially against Japan in the 2011 World Cup in Germany.
Smith’s footwork, skill and devastating ability to score every type of goal made her stand out from many of her compatriots at the time.
Her final ever professional goal, a deft lob against Doncaster Rovers Belles from well outside the box, was a fitting tribute to a player who could do the extraordinary with seemingly no real effort.
59 – Mia Hamm
Even years after her retirement, Hamm is a player still revered and iconic to the USA national team. Her longevity and success counts for plenty, but it’s her individual talent, ability and skill which was truly remarkable.
Hamm ended her career with an incredible 158 goals in 276 games for the USA, a tally that once was the best in the world, even nearly two decades on it still sees her sat in the top three of all time.
With all the talent that has passed through the USA team over the years, to stand out as number one shows how special Hamm was. FIFA World Player of the Year two years running in 2001 and 2002 saw her labelled the best in the world having finally got her coveted World Cup medal in 1999 at the third time of asking. Hamm epitomises everything the USWNT is and has been across the decades. There’s no doubt she will forever go down as not only one of the greatest forwards, but one of the greatest players, full stop.
58 – Perpetua Nkwoch
With a claim to be the best African player ever, Nkwocha helped Nigeria win five of the seven Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournaments she competed in, leading her nation as captain with some mesmeric displays. She set a tournament record of nine goals in the 2004 edition, including four finishes in the final vs Cameroon.
An explosive player, Nkwocha was also named African Player of the Year four times managing 80 goals in 99 international games. Domestically, she starred for Swedish side Sunnanå SK.
57 – Jess McDonald
Another USWNT player who achieved a lot in the game, a career highlight for Jess McDonald was winning the World Cup in 2019. She also advocated for women’s footballers throughout her career and is a trailblazer in many ways.
With North Carolina Courage she won two NWSL championships and two NWSL Shields. She was also voted the NWSL MVP in 2018. She retired from the game in 2023.
56 – Alexandra Popp
There are a lot of German internationals on this list and for good reason, the team have been all-conquering in the world of football. One of the icons of their team is Alexandra Popp.
A scoring machine, she slotted home every game she played at the 2022 European Championships. Popp got injured in the warm-up before the final at Wembley, which Germany then lost 2-1 to England. If she had played, who knows what the result would have been as she was in the form of her life.
She announced her international retirement in 2024, hanging up her boots with 144 caps and 64 goals. At the time of her retirement, she was her country’s third-highest scorer only trailing Birgit Prinz and Heidi Mohr. She also won a gold and bronze Olympic medal with Germany.
At club level, Popp has won seven Frauen Bundesliga titles and three Women’s Champions League trophies.
55 – Lucy Bronze
The huge rise of interest in the Lionesses in the 2010s produced many new household names, but none of them made more of an impact than Bronze.
The right-back’s consistently brilliant performances for club and country made Bronze one of the most sought-after players in world football at her peak, as reflected in the absolute powerhouses of the women’s game she has represented.
Bronze has played in a World Cup final, won the Euros, and claimed five Champions Leagues and seven league titles, as well as being recognised by FIFA as the best female player in the world in 2020.
54 – Homare Sawa
It may be that 2011 was one of the greatest years the women’s game has ever seen. Sawa, just months after Japan was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami, led her team to an almost unthinkable World Cup triumph.
She also scored the extra-time goal that took the final to penalties, ending the tournament with both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball, and later that year the title of FIFA Women’s Player of the Year.
Sawa at her best was truly special and she enjoyed an incredible amount of domestic success across two decades. Sawa remains the most capped Japanese player in history, with 205 appearances as well as her nation’s top scorer with 83 goals.
53 – Vivianne Miedema
When talking or writing about Vivianne Miedema you tend to run out of adjectives because of how incredible she is. The Netherlands international became her country’s all-time leading scorer, overtaking Robin van Persie and Manon Malis, in 2019 at the age of just 22.
With her national team she has won the 2017 European Championship and reached the 2019 World Cup final, losing to the USWNT.
At club level, she has won multiple trophies and broken records. She won two Frauen Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich. Miedema won the WSL title in 2018/19 season and the following campaign she became the league’s all-time top scorer – a record she still holds.
She now plays for Manchester City and though knee injuries have hampered her playing time, Miedema is still one of the best in the world.
52 – Brandi Chastain
When you hear the name Brandi Chastain, it’s hard not to think of that World Cup-winning moment in front of her adoring home crowd in 1999. While not a bad thing to define your career, Chastain’s actually spent two whole decades as a professional footballer and was about so much more than one penalty.
Predominantly a defender or midfielder, Chastain also managed 30 goals across the 192 international caps she accumulated – not a bad return for someone who cared more about stopping the opposition than scoring herself.
A determined individual, Chastain even played – and won – an Olympic gold medal even after suffering an injury in the team’s semi-final win. That came three years prior to her second World Cup triumph, but instantly cemented her legacy as one of America’s greats.
51 – Ada Hegerberg
Ada Hegerberg is one of the most iconic players to have ever played the game. She is top scorer in the Women’s Champions League and continues to add to her tally. The Norwegian plays for eight-time winners Lyon, having won six herself with the French club.
As well as the European titles, Hegerberg has won nine French league trophies and six French Cups with Lyon. Her incredible ability saw her win the inaugural women’s Ballon d’Or in 2019.
She has taken her skills to the international stage too, finishing runner-up in the 2013 Euros. Hegerberg has also been a role model off the pitch. She did not play for Norway for five years because the standards for the women’s team weren’t good enough.
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50 – Bettina Wiegmann
Another great from the dominant era of German football, Wiegmann also impressed as a midfielder across a 15-year career. An all-action player, she managed 51 goals in 154 caps for her country.
Plus, Wiegmann won four European Championships between 1991 and 2001, as well as the World Cup in 2003, walking away from her international career with five major honours.
49 – Mapi Leon
A left-back-turned-centre-back and equally capable in either role, Leon’s well-rounded skillset has been a perfect fit for Barcelona’s classy stylings and their rise to Champions League dominance.
Leon is a Rolls Royce of a defender, always on hand with perfectly-timed sliding challenges, interceptions, or last-ditch blocks when it matters most, while her capabilities on the ball have been crucial in enabling her coaches to play a progressive style. Leon would have added even more medals to her collection had she not been part of a group of players to take a stand against conditions in Spain’s international setup.
48 – Alex Morgan
Alex Morgan is one of the USWNT legends who won the World Cup in consecutive tournaments in 2015 and 2019. She is not only famous for her goalscoring ability but the celebrations that came with them. During the 2019 World Cup she scored against England and did a tea-drinking celebration (pictured) which went viral.
Not only has she won two World Cups with her national team she has also claimed an Olympic gold and bronze medal, six SheBelieves Cups and three CONCACAF trophies. Morgan was also a part of the group of players who fought for and won equal pay.
At a club level she won seven trophies across her career, including the Champions League with Lyon in the 2016/17 season. She retired from the game in 2024 but will live long as a legend.
47 – Ali Krieger
The USWNT took over Germany’s dominance in international football and at the heart of the squad was Ali Krieger. She had a 13-year international career with her first cap coming in 2008. Krieger, who played as a midfielder and defender, won back-to-back World Cups in 2015 and 2019, two SheBelieves Cups and two Algarve Cups.
She retired from the game in 2023 and had a perfect send-off as her final match was the NWSL final. She won the game and the NWSL Championship with Gotham.
46 – Megan Rapinoe
A bona fide cultural icon on top of everything she accomplished on the pitch, Rapinoe may be the single most recognisable face of the women’s football revolution. Part of that is because of her admirable stands for equality and refusal to shrink away from critics – but none of that would have made as much impact if she weren’t also an exceptional footballer.
The 2019 Ballon d’Or winner helped inspire her clubs to four league titles and the United States to back-to-back World Cup triumphs and Olympic gold. It’s staggering to think what more the goalscoring playmaker might have achieved if her career had not been beset by injuries. She retired with 203 caps for USWNT and 63 goals.
45 – Sam Kerr
The greatest Australian player of all time, Kerr is has quite simply been one of the most devastating finishers in world football.
She scored in excess of a goal per game in her five-year spell at Perth Glory, which was supplemented by equally successful summer spells with Sky Blue FC, where she won the first of her three NWSL golden boots in a row (the latter two coming with Chicago Red Stars).
The striker added to that with two WSL top scorer awards since joining all-conquering Chelsea in 2020, making her the only woman ever to take that gong in three different leagues and on three different continents.
Along the way she has also won five WSL titles, three FA Cups, two League Cups and a Community Shield. Kerr is also Australia’s all-time top scorer.
44 – Patrizia Panico
One of the greatest Italians to have ever played, Pancio’s senior career spanned 23 years in an era where Italian domestic football was up there with the best. Panico won ten league titles as well as an incredible 14 Golden Boots with her goal-scoring exploits in Serie A. Yes, you did read that correctly: 14.
Plus, she managed 110 international goals and amassed 196 caps for the Azzurri, earning a deserved spot in the Italian Hall of Fame. Though she never managed to win anything internationally, she’ll undeniably go down as one of the best.
43 – Caroline Seger
Caroline Seger retired from international football in 2023 after 18 years and signed off as the most-capped European international player male or female with 240 caps. During her time playing for Sweden she won two Olympic silver medals, two Algarve Cups and recorded two third-place finishes at World Cups.
In club football, from which she retired in 2024, she amassed 17 trophies including the Champions League with Lyon in 2017. She will go down as one of the greatest players Sweden has ever produced.
42 – Christen Press
A back-to-back World Cup champion, an Olympic bronze medallist and four-time SheBelieves Cup champion with the USWNT. The one and only Christen Press. Her impact on and off the pitch has only aided women’s football and raised its profile. When she played for Manchester United for a season her shirt sold-out in record time.
As well as her groundbreaking period with Manchester United, she also played in a Champions League final in 2014. However, her club at the time (Tyreso) lost out.
41 – Caroline Graham Hansen
Caroline Graham Hansen is one of the most gifted players to ever grace the pitch. What she is able to do with the ball defies gravity and she is wickedly talented.
In her club career across Stabaek, Wolfsburg and Barcelona she has won 29 trophies. The Norway international has also been voted her country’s best footballer four times.
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40 – Shannon Boxx
USA midfielder Shannon Boxx would likely rank higher had her career not taken off later than most. Incredibly, Boxx didn’t make her senior USA debut until she was 26, just before the 2003 World Cup.
She went on to become the first player to score in her first three national team matches. Such was her rise, she finished seventh in the 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award and was a finalist a year later after helping the USA win Olympic gold.
It took until 2015 for her to get her hands on a World Cup after years of dealing with injury and illness, and Boxx got to walk away as one of the team’s greatest midfielders despite her late debut.
39 – Julie Ertz
Upon retiring in 2023, Julie Ertz had won everything a footballer would want to. She had back-to-back World Cup trophies, an Olympic bronze medal, four SheBelieves Cups and was a two-time winner of USWNT player of the year.
Her club record, despite a high level of performance throughout her career, did not translate into trophies. The closest she came was in 2019, 2020 and 2021 as a runner-up in the NWSL Championship and Shield.
38 – Salma Paralluelo
Salma Paralluelo is a vital and experienced part of Barcelona and the Spain national team, which is impressive as she is still in the early stages of her career. She is the only player to have ever won the World Cup, U20 World Cup and U17 World Cup.
Paralluelo transferred to Spanish giants Barcelona in 2022 and has gone on to win multiple titles. Her minutes at Barcelona helped her win her first cap for Spain in November 2022 and she scored a hat-trick in the game, a 7-0 win against Argentina. She scored a crucial goal in Spain’s World Cup semi-final as they beat Sweden 2-1.
Her ceiling appears to be unlimited and it’s a scary thought how many trophies she may retire with.
37 – Cristiane
One of the Brazilian greats, Cristiane has led the line for Brazil since her first cap in 2003. She has won two Olympic silver medals, two Pan American Games and was runner-up at the 2007 World Cup. She has over 150 caps for the country.
Her club career has spanned many countries including Germany and the US. She won the Champions League with German club Turbine Potsdam in 2005. Christiane continues to play and is currently competing for Flamengo.
36 – Eugenie Le Sommer
The top scorer in the history of both Lyon and France, Eugénie Le Sommer is one of the greatest goalscorers of her generation. Closing in on a century of international goals for France, with more than 300 strikes in her domestic career, Le Sommer is able to score both tap-ins and screamers.
Crowned UEFA Women’s Player of the Year for four years in a row between 2015 and 2018, Le Sommer has contributed to Lyon where she won ten league titles in a row, eight Champions Leagues and nine Coupe De France trophies. Indeed, she’s amassed a staggering FIVE trebles at the all-conquering French side.
35 – Lauren Holiday
Lauren Holiday was part of the golden generation in the USWNT eras as she won two Olympic gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Games. She also won the World Cup in 2015 playing as a forward and a midfielder.
She also won two NWSL championships and since her retirement in 2015 has been an important advocate for women’s football.
34 – Amandine Henry
Not only was Amandine Henry a part of a sensational Lyon team, she was a central figure. She scored goals for fun and one of her most memorable was a worldie in the 2021/22 Champions League final. She played for the French club across two spells, from 2007-2016 and 2018-2023, and she won a total of 28 trophies including seven Champions Leagues in those glorious periods.
She now plies her trade at Toluca but her footwork and goalscoring ability is still prevalent. Henry retired from international football in 2024, having won 109 caps and scoring 14 goals. The defensive midfielder won the SheBelieves Cup and the Cyprus Cup with her national side.
33 – Wendie Renard
Still a current player at the top of her game, Renard’s inclusion lies on her incredible longevity and dominant success with Lyon. One of the game’s modern greats, the central defender has been integral for both club and country since she broke through in 2006.
Renard has an incredible 16 league titles with the French giants, eight Champions League titles – including five in a row – and has been named in the FIFPro World XI six times. Plus, she even manages to pop up with a consistent number of goals: she’s closing in on 150 club strikes, with more than 30 at international level, too. A huge presence at both ends of the pitch.
32 – Crystal Dunn
When you say football icon Crystal Dunn is a player which comes to mind. She is able to play as a forward, midfielder and defender and has used her versatility to help her teams win trophies.
With the USWNT she has won the World Cup, Olympic gold medal, six SheBelieves Cups and the Algarve Cup. She has maintained a high level for over a decade and continues to be a groundbreaking force in the game. At club level she has won nine titles and continues to be an asset for her side Gotham FC.
31 – Aya Miyama
Aya Miyama perhaps never got the credit she deserved when she was a player, but is certainly appreciated now she has retired.
Perhaps it’s a summary of her personality that when Japan won the World Cup in 2011, she did not immediately join her teammates in celebration, but went to shake the hands of the opposing USA players.
Miyama could hardly have been more influential in her nation’s greatest success. She was named AFC Footballer of the Year three times and played in an Olympic final and another World Cup final, ending a superb career where she showed off her technical skills and deadly set-pieces 162 times for her country by netting 38 goals.
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30 – Doris Fitschen
Doris Fitschen is one of the most successful and decorated German players in the sport’s history, yet perhaps not a household name to many. If her four Bundesliga titles don’t do the job, her five European Championship medals should convince you.
Her success and talent spanned a whole decade, evident by the fact she was named best player at the 1989 European Championships, and ten years later named in the all-star team at the 1999 World Cup.
A composed defender who propped up a successful Germany side, Fitschen’s contribution was so big she received a special achievement award from UEFA when she retired.
29 – Sandra Minnert
Sandra Minnert’s contribution to German football may best be described by the fact she was awarded the ‘Silbernes Lorbeerblatt’ – the highest sports award in Germany – six times between 1995 and 2007.
Minnert won four European Championships, two World Cups, five Bundesliga titles and a WUSA in America with Washington in 2003.
An all-star team member at the 2003 World Cup, which Germany won, Minnert was a constant and important presence at the heart of a successful and dominant Germany side in the early to mid-2000s. She also got her hands on a European Cup and two Olympic bronze medals during her trophy-laden career.
28 – Tobin Heath
Yet another USWNT player to make the list from that incredible era for the team in the 2010s. Playing as a forward and midfielder, she won back-to-back World Cups, two Olympic gold medals and two SheBelieves Cups.
She is also a player who has broken into the mainstream with a lot of people outside of women’s football recognising her as a star. Her time with Manchester United saw her shirt sell out and her presence raised the profile of the team.
Heath has also won the NWSL title twice. She hasn’t played competitively since 2022 because of a knee issue but she has not retired with fans eagerly waiting her return.
27 – Melanie Behringer
At her best, Melanie Behringer was one of the most joyous players of the modern era to watch live.
How she managed to both control and read games contributed to a decade that saw her win two European Championships, a World Cup and an Olympic gold medal.
But that’s not all. She also won the Golden Boot and was a FIFA World Player of the Year nominee for her performances.
26 – Joy Fawcett
One of the greatest defenders ever from the women’s game, Fawcett retired as the USA’s top defensive scorer, having managed to find the back of the net on 27 occasions across an incredible 241 caps.
Obviously, goals aren’t what Fawcett’s career is judged on. Instead, it’s her innate ability at the heart of several successful teams that have helped her stand out, with a stellar international career spanning 17 years in the world’s best team highlighting just how important she was.
After winning the 1991 World Cup, Fawcett played every single minute of the 1995, 1999 and 2003 World Cups, as well as the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. She won a further World Cup in 1999 and an Olympic gold medal three years prior to that.
24 – Hege Riise
Hege Riise may be better known to modern-day fans of the sport as a coach – indeed the coach who led Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 – but she is also one of the finest players of a generation.
Riise is one of a very select amount of players who can claim to have won a European Championships, a World Cup and an Olympic gold medal, which she did across a seven-year span of unprecedented success with Norway between 1993 and 2000.
When Norway shocked the bigger nations to win the World Cup in 1995, Riise was named Player of the Tournament, as she had been two years previously at the 1993 European Championships.
If being named the best player at two consecutive major tournaments doesn’t cement your legacy as a top player and a true legend, very little else will. After 188 caps and 58 goals, Riise retired and will forever go down as one of Norway’s greatest players.
23 – Carli Lloyd
Carli Lloyd retired at the end of 2021 after an illustrious career that secured her place as one of the USA’s all-time greats.
With 134 goals in 316 games, Lloyd is one of the top scorers in international football history, but it was in her later years where she produced her biggest moments, with one standing out in particular.
Her quickfire hat trick, sealed with an audacious lob from near the halfway line in the World Cup final, lives long in the memory and will forever be one of the finest individual performances on a stage as big as this.
But to pigeonhole a career, that also includes another World Cup, two Olympic gold medals and a whole host of other honours, such as an FA Cup with Manchester City, into one moment would be wrong.
Lloyd’s individual honours list is also an embarrassment of riches, topped off by being named FIFA World Player of the Year in 2015.
22 – Hope Solo
Hope Solo will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest goalkeepers the women’s game has seen.
As a long-serving number one of the number one national team in the world, Solo enjoyed plenty of success in her 202 caps across 16 years with the USA. Between winning back-to-back gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, Solo was named the best goalkeeper at the 2011 World Cup.
An imposing figure, she made a name for herself as one of the best and eventually landed the biggest trophy of all, the World Cup in 2015, just a year before retiring. Solo won 153 of her 202 games with the national team and on her retirement held the record for most clean sheets, with 102.
21 – Tiffeny Milbrett
Considering Tiffeny Milbrett’s full-time career with the USA lasted ten years, her record of 100 goals in 206 games is an incredibly impressive one, averaging almost a goal every other game.
Milbrett was the ultimate striker and showed herself at big moments in her career, the first of which came when she scored the winner in the 1996 Olympic final against China to get her first of two gold medals.
At the 1999 World Cup, which the USA also won, Milbrett was the team’s top scorer across the tournament and a year later was one of three nominees for the first-ever FIFA Women’s Player of the Year award. Overall, she managed to score 12 goals across five major tournaments.
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20 – Inka Grings
With 195 goals, Inka Grings was the top scorer in the history of the Bundesliga upon retirement, winning the league’s Golden Boot six seasons in a row. She was named Germany’s Player of the Year three times. With 64 strikes in 96 appearances at international level, Grings will certainly go down as one of the best German goalscorers.
It’s hardly surprising her domestic form contributed to an era of German dominance on the international scene, where she won back-to-back European Championships in 2005 and 2009, as well as a European Cup in the same year as the latter. Grings also won the Golden Boot in both tournaments.
19 – Nadine Angerer
Germany legend Nadine Angerer is the only goalkeeper to, arguably, eclipsing and surpassing Hope Solo’s success and reputation in the modern-day era of the sport.
For so long an understudy to Silke Rottenberg for the national team, Angerer took over as the number one at the 2007 World Cup and didn’t concede a single goal as Germany won the tournament.
A penalty-saving expert, Angerer saved two in the Euro 2013 final and ended her career with five European Championship titles and two World Cups, as well as several major domestic honours, including a European Cup with Turbine Potsdam.
The only goalkeeper to be named FIFA World Player of the Year, Angerer asserted herself as the world’s best when it came to all disciplines of the position.
18 – Ariane Hingst
There are a fair few German players on this list and their total domination in the 2000s should make it no surprise. Ariane Hingst won four Euros titles in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009. Also in her trophy cabinet are two World Cup trophies which she won back-to-back in 2003 and 2007. Hingst has two Olympic bronze medals too.
It’s not just at an international level that Hingst dominated, she won six trophies with Turbine Potsdam between 2003 and 2006. A legend of the game.
17 – Carin Jennings
Carin Jennings was probably the most feared wide player of her time. The way she could beat any player with ease made her a key component of an all-star USA attack in the early 1990s.
Her 23-minute hat-trick against Germany in the 1991 World Cup semi-final was dubbed one of the greatest individual performances by any American ever, and it’s hard to argue.
Jennings would go on to lift the trophy in 1991 and ended her playing career with over 100 caps and over 50 goals for her country, despite not being an out-and-out forward.
Her 1991 performances ensured she was the first player to win the tournament’s Golden Ball award, and nine years later she was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. In 1996, she retired just after winning an Olympic gold medal in America.
16 – Abby Wambach
Heralded as a great goalscorer, it’s arguably Wambach’s effective style of play that ensured she would endure such a long and distinguished career at the top of the game. While Christine Sinclair (somehow) managed to beat her 184 goals over 14 for the United States, Wambach enjoyed international success that the Canadian could only dream of.
She was never the most technically gifted, but her physical presence and aerial ability made her one of the most dangerous forwards in the world. Wambach was at the peak of her powers at the start of the 2010s, named FIFA Player of the Year in 2012 she was a finalist a year either side of this during a spell leading the world game as the ultimate centre forward.
Being named in TIME magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2015 topped off an incredible year for Wambach – she had already picked up her coveted World Cup medal earlier that year.
15 – Alexia Putellas
Alexia Putellas is a legend of the game and was the first female footballer to win back-to-back Ballon d’Or trophies.
She won the World Cup with Spain in 2023 and despite being used as a substitute she was at the heart of the tournament win. It is thought she was deeply rooted in helping to lead and coach the team amid controversy among backroom staff.
As well as her national team heroics, she has won an abundance of titles with Barcelona. She has 28 trophies with Barca and she even scored in the last three of four Women’s Champions League finals. Putellas is a big game player but also does so much work off the ball, and the pitch, to ensure her team succeeds.
15 – Lotta Schelin
Lotta Schelin’s contribution to Swedish football cannot be underestimated. Far from a conventional striker, the tall, imposing, yet ultimately unselfish forward still ended her career as her nation’s top goalscorer with 88 goals.
Her list of achievements is as big as any player in the world, and while she was never able to pick up a major honour with her country, she did pick up a vast amount of individual honours and was the top scorer at Euro 2013.
Schelin won eight consecutive league titles with Lyon, as well as two Champions League titles and a whole host of other domestic honours during a highly decorated career.
14 – Kelley O’Hara
Kelley O’Hara is credited with inspiring a generation of players, many of whom are now playing for the USWNT. She claimed back-to-back World Cups, an Olympic gold medal, an Olympic bronze medal and five SheBelieves Cups.
She was the standout star in the US team for years, an impressive feat with just how many quality players the country produces. At club level she won the NWSL twice.
13 – Kerstin Garefrekes
Germany midfielder Kerstin Garefrekes defined an era that saw her dominate on both the club and international stage.
Whether it was with the all-conquering FFC Frankfurt side or the Germany national team, Garefrekes walked away from her career with an incredible list of honours.
She had already won the Bundesliga Golden Boot when Frankfurt snapped her up. There she went on to win three Bundesliga titles and three Champions League titles across more than a decade.
With Germany, she won back-to-back World Cups and back-to-back European Championships during an incredible six-year spell for the national team. Perhaps not a household name, but one of the most decorated German players nevertheless. That’s saying something.
12 – Renate Lignor
Another hugely decorated player and another key component of a Germany side that dominated world football for a significant period.
Lignor won three European Cups and seven Bundesliga titles domestically during the 2000s, when FFC Frankfurt was at the top of German football and Lingor was a huge part of that.
Her success on the international stage wasn’t bad either, as the midfielder walked away from her Germany career with two World Cups and three European Championships, as well as three Olympic bronze medals.
Her performances at the 2007 World Cup earned Lingor a spot on the all-star team. There are few in German football with a bigger list of honours than this midfielder.
11 – Julie Foudy
Aside from her impressive tally of 274 international caps and 45 goals for the USA, Julie Foudy helped lead her nation through one of their most successful spells.
As co-captain in the 1990s, Foudy won two World Cups and an Olympic gold medal, and added another as team captain in 2004 before retiring. Foudy was part of a golden era of USA players and is still involved in the sport to this day, but her legacy as one of their top midfielders during such a successful stint lives long in the memory.
Foudy’s role as co-captain and captain, and the trophies that came with it, will be hard for anybody to match in the future.
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10 – Aitana Bonmati
There is only one trophy that Aitana Bonmati has not won in football and she and Spain will be targeting it this summer. That elusive silverware is the European Championship. With Spain she was part of the team who won the World Cup in 2023 and she was a crucial element to the win. Bonmati was awarded player of the tournament after the team beat England 1-0 in the final.
She is not only the linchpin to the Spain team but she also stands out in a star-packed Barcelona team. Bonmati has won 22 trophies with Barca, a club she has played for since 2012, including three Women’s Champions League titles.
And individually she won back-to-back Ballon d’Or awards in 2023 and 2024. She is flying high and showing no signs of slowing down.
9 – Heidi Støre
Norway’s Heidi Støre did what any player dreams of, captained her country to a World Cup triumph in 1995.
Norway were not one of the biggest countries compared to some of their rivals, but Støre’s influence on and off the pitch was pivotal in the team’s historic success.
Beyond that the midfielder, who ended her career with over 150 caps, played in another final in 1991, as well as winning two European Championships in 1987 and 1993.
Støre also won an Olympic medal in Atlanta in 1996 before retiring a year later. A mercurial player with a ton of talent, Støre is one of her nation’s greatest players.
8 – Anja Mittag
There’s no doubt that Germany’s Anja Mittag is one of the most decorated strikers of the 21st century, and was arguably the best striker anywhere in Europe in the early 2000s.
Retiring as top scorer in the European Cup with an incredible 51 goals, Mittag won Europe’s most prized club trophy twice, as well as other honours you could reel off forever.
Five Bundesliga titles, a World Cup, three European Championships and an Olympic bronze medal, plus several youth trophies and individual successes, which include being named Player of the Year in Sweden twice during her FC Rosengård days. One of the very best goalscorers of her generation.
7 – Birgit Prinz
Germany legend Birgit Prinz was one of the most clinical and devastating strikers to play the game.
If her 128 goals in 214 caps for her national team don’t tell the story, her record at club level in terms of both goals and medals won is arguably even more impressive.
Prinz won an incredible five European Championships and two World Cups, playing an influential role throughout an era of German dominance, particularly in their own continent. FIFA World Player of the Year three years running, Prinz was runner-up another five times and was named German Player of the Year eight years in a row. Yes, eight.
Only Marta has more World Cup goals and that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Prinz’s achievements. Prinz won nine Bundesliga titles, seven of them with the all-conquering FFC Frankfurt side, as well as three European Cups, scoring the decisive goal in two of her side’s triumphs.
Prinz even decided to tackle America in 2002 and flourished there too, helping Carolina Courage to the 2002 WUSA Championship, only adding to her ridiculous honours board. Europe may never find another striker who can match the legacy Prinz has left behind.
6 – Sun Wen
Undoubtedly Asia’s greatest women’s football player of all time, it’ll take someone truly special to surpass the Chinese superstar. Sharing FIFA’s Player of the Century award in 1999 highlights her brilliance, with the peak of her powers coming in that year’s World Cup.
Winning both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot, Wen came within whiskers of winning the entire tournament, with China losing in dramatic fashion on penalties. Still, that didn’t deter Sun Wen, as she helped her nation to an Olympic silver and four consecutive Asian Cup triumphs, ending her career with 106 goals in 163 caps for China.
A successful period in the USA with Atlanta Beat also cemented her status as one of the best, but as well as being the ultimate goalscorer, she could also find the time to create opportunities for her team-mates, too. With a superb passing range and such skilful ability, Wen was one of the most complete all-round forwards the game has seen.
5 – Michelle Akers
Michelle Akers holds a record that still hasn’t been broken to this day, decades later. Her ten goals at the 1991 World Cup is an individual record that has stood the test of time, and at the time helped her country win the first women’s World Cup.
That, though, doesn’t do justice to what Akers achieved over her career and the talent she held. Akers was named FIFA Female Player of the Century in 2002, that in itself quite an honour, shared with China’s Sun Wen.
An integral member of the USA squad, Akers ended her international career with 105 goals in 156 caps, with a staggering amount of them – 39 – coming in just one calendar year in 1991, coinciding with her double-figure tally in China.
So talented was Akers, that she eventually moved into a midfield role to dictate games on an increasing basis. She didn’t relinquish any control or influence on the game in doing so, however, with her ability apparent wherever she stood on the pitch. Unfortunately, a series of knee issues eventually took their toll, but Akers still performed and succeeded at the top level, playing in a position that wasn’t naturally hers.
Akers managed to stay around long enough to win a second World Cup, before retiring in 2000 as her nation’s second top scorer in history.
4 – Heidi Mohr
Though Mohr’s profile cannot match some of the other more established names on this list, her influence and effectiveness on the pitch certainly cannot be underestimated.
Indeed, being voted Europe’s Player of the Century in 1999 is, quite frankly, a phenomenal achievement, and if that doesn’t tell you what Mohr was like as a forward, nothing will. Between 1991 and 1995, Mohr won the Bundesliga Golden Boot in all five seasons, and with her country she didn’t let up either; she top-scored at the 1991 Euros, and came second in the 1991 World Cup, too.
Three European Championships with Germany also helps her status, too – without her, the nation might not have enjoyed as much success as it did.
Sadly, Mohr passed away in 2019, but her legend as one of the greatest the game has seen will live on forever, and her goal-scoring record in Germany for club and country is something that will rarely be beaten.
3 – Christine Sinclair
Incredibly, Sinclair played into her 40s before retiring from international duty in 2023 and club football in 2024. Despite her lack of team achievements, Sinclair’s individual success and legacy as the top scorer in the history of international football means it’s impossible to put the striker any lower on this list.
Sinclair has so often been the talisman for Canada, an icon and legend for her country and the face of the sport in the north, helping to drive the national team to a place where it could go out and get its first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2021, and finally got Sinclair a well-deserved major honour with her country.
With 190 goals for Canada clearly a phenomenal achievement, it’s perhaps even more ridiculous that she somehow pulled on the shirt 331 times. That goal record may never be beaten, and she still managed to find time for a few domestic triumphs, too, particularly in the NWSL with Portland Thorns.
2 – Kristine Lilly
Three hundred and fifty four. That’s how many international caps Lilly earned during her career – 354! An incredible feat, Lilly’s record may simply never be broken.
One of the most dominant midfielders of a generation, Lilly’s forward ability also made her a proven goalscorer, finding the net 130 times for the USA across a 23-year career.
It’s her longevity that’s most impressive, however. Lilly won everything in sight, more often than not on multiple occasions, and also regularly picked up plenty of individual awards along the way which inevitably helped contribute to her team’s success.
When you think of the USA women’s team and the star players over the years, Lilly will be one of the first names to spring to mind due to the longevity of her performances and how she remained a top player until the end, an incredible two and a bit decades after making her debut.
1 – Marta
The best to ever do it. In terms of natural, pure ability, the Brazilian is simply streets ahead of anyone else to have ever played the women’s game. Though she might not have enjoyed the same international team success as her American or German counterparts, her individual brilliance helps her stand out from the rest.
If you haven’t been lucky enough to witness the Brazilian icon with your own eyes, her stats alone tell a daunting tale. Brazil’s top scorer with 119 goals, the top scorer in World Cup history with 17 goals and the first to score at five consecutive World Cups, Marta has been named the FIFA World Player of the Year an impressive six times, with five of them coming in consecutive years.
She may never have picked up a World Cup itself or an Olympic gold, but her individual honours stretch beyond imagination. At club level the forward won four consecutive titles with former European giants Umeå IK, as well as a European Cup. Marta also added the NWSL Championship in 2024.
Her performance when Brazil demolished the USA 4-0 in the 2007 World Cup semi-final will forever be remembered, and she is viewed back home as a legend, an honour that has, over time, spread around the world. She retired from international football in 2024.
To stand out from the pack is no easy feat and it’s hard to believe there will ever be another quite as special as Marta.
