Women’s football has seen its share of jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring moments. It has a history made rich with fairy tale denouements and exhilarating spectacles. For this reason, it is a bit painful that women’s football often goes under the radar.
While names like Marta, Carli Lloyd and Mia Hamm may be quite familiar, the list of women’s footballing greats and their achievements deserve far more praise than they get. This is a list of the greatest women players who have championed the beautiful game.
#11 Nadine Angerer
In 2007, the German outfit were absolutely dejected when their first choice goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg was hit with a knee injury that would see her miss the World Cup. They turned to a certain Nadine Angerer to step into those shoes, and the rest as the say (mind the cliche) is history.
Angerer walked on to the pitch day in and day out and pulled the shutter on her goal time and again. Germany didn’t concede a single goal in six games and she even saved Brazilian footballing legend Marta’s penalty in the finals as Germany claimed the World Cup with a 2-0 win.
Her reputation as a shot-stopper began to grow and like all the best goalkeepers in the world, she is fearless and doesn’t mind lunging into where the boots are flying.
After German legend, Birgit Prinz’s retirement, Angerer was made the captain of the national team and she, in the times to come would vindicate that decision. The Lohr a. Main born went on to make two vital penalty saves against Sweden to help Germany to the 2013 European crown.
Angerer has played for Frauen-Bundesliga clubs Bayern Munich, Turbine Potsdam and FFC Frankfurt. She won the UEFA Women’s Cup in 2005, the Bundesliga in the 2003-04 and 2005-06 seasons and the German Cup in 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons with Turbine Potsdam.
The now 38-year-old has also played for Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Damallsvenskan and Brisbane Roar of the Australian W-League in 2013 and 2014 before ultimately calling it quits on her career with Portland Thorns FC of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angerer has won the World Cup’s Best Goalkeeper award in the 2007 edition of the Women’s World Cup. She has also won the UEFA Women’s Euro best player of the tournament award in 2013.
And she will go down in history as one of the best goalkeepers to grace the football pitch.
You can check out Nadine Angerer’s match winning saves in the penalty shootout in this video:
#10 Kristine Lilly
One of the most decorated women footballers ever, Kristine Lilly’s trophy cabinet makes for quite astonishing viewing.
A relentless runner with the ball, Lilly was a left winger gifted with super speed, stamina and skill. Blessed with a mean left foot, she was never hesitant to test the goalkeeper from long range. And watching her in action was nothing short of a treat as she raided the left wing and race past defenders to swing in intimidating balls into the centre of the box.
The former Boston Breakers star began her club career with Tyresö FC in Sweden. And they went on to play for the Washington Warthogs of the now-defunct Continental Indoor Soccer League and the Damallsvenskan club KIF Orebro DFF whilst later starring for the Breaker in Women's Professional Soccer.
Kristine made a world record 354 appearances for the USA, scoring 130 goals in the process. She has won two World Cups, two Olympic golds, and one Olympic silver. Her goal line clearance in the 1999 World Cup is something football fans will never forget.
You can watch her goal line clearance at 0:53 seconds into the following video.
#9 Christine Sinclair
When it comes to consistency, very few footballers can be written in the same line as Christine Sinclair. Carrying an astounding eight FIFA Footballer of the Year nominations, Sinclair is the highest active goalscorer today. In fact, she is only second all-time behind the great Abby Wambach who herself is an admirer of the Canadian skipper.
Wambach once even said, “She (Christine) is perhaps the greatest all-round player in the world.” Her coach, John Herdman, says Christine has a unique willingness to learn, improve and grow and that is what makes her unique. Her hunger, desire, and passion come second to no one when it comes to the game.
Sinclair is two-footed and tall and both of these are attributes that clearly played a great role in making her one of the greatest goal getters in the history of the game with a staggering 168 goals from 259 matches. Voted as the Canadian athlete of the year in 2012, the 34-year-old also won the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, a Gold Medal at the Pan American Games as well as Bronze Medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.
The University of Portland grad represented FC Gold Pride in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons of the Women's Professional Soccer before moving on to the Western New York Flash in the 2011 season. She currently plays for Portland Thorns FC which she joined in 2013.
Sinclair has, in fact, won three professional championships with all three teams: the 2010 WPS Championship with FC Gold Pride, the 2011 WPS Championship with Western New York Flash, and the 2013 NWSL Championship with Portland Thorns FC.
She was also the leading scorer in the 2012 Olympics and was selected as the Canadian Player of the Year 13 times.
Christine Sinclair’s terrific hat-trick scoring effort which went in vain against the USA in the 2012 Olympic Games can be seen below.
#8 Sun Wen
China was a dominant force in the world of women's football. Their scintillating displays were a testament to the brilliance of the individual players who championed a passion for the game that could be barely matched.
Boasting a goal scoring record of 106 in 152 matches, Sun Wen was known for showing up whenever China needed her to. Yet another player who was just as good a scorer as she was a creator, Wen has the rare achievement of winning both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball In the 1999 World Cup.
At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Wen scored a spectacular 32-yard free kick that is unforgettable for anyone who witnessed it. The Chinese legend is also the first woman to be nominated for the Asian Football Confederation Player of the Year award.
She has not been as successful as her contemporaries on this list when it comes to international accolades. China led by Sun Wen finished runners-up in the 1996 Olympics as the 1999 World Cup.
But her individual accolades can’t be questioned. Wen shared FIFA’s female footballer of the 20th-century award with USA’s Michelle Akers.
Sun represented two clubs in her career, Shanghai SVA and Atlanta Beat of the Women’s United Soccer Association. In the 2001-02 season, an array of inspired performances from Wen got Atlanta Beat into the finals but they lost out on winning the season title to San Jose CyberRays on penalties.
#7 Homare Sawa
The Japanese legend announced her arrival on the big stage in the most startling manner and the world stood up and took note. In her debut match, Sawa found the net an unbelievable four times.
Sawa was an absolute cracker on a football pitch. A playmaking midfielder with a penchant for scoring, she was also a powerful header of the ball who amassed 83 goals in 204 appearances in a career spanning 23 years.
The 2011 World Cup is where Sawa proved to the world what she is all about. A Japanese squad, crushed and confused in the wake of 2011 Tsunamis that brought the nation to their knees, went on to do something that will be written in bold in the history books.
For a team of players that had more battles than one in their head, defying odds was starting to become a characteristic feature. Marching on into the finals with pride, determination and a never-say-die attitude, the world knew that the team from the land of the rising sun couldn't be written off even when they were trailing the USA by a goal in the 116th minute.
And as they say, “Cometh the moment, cometh the man.” Only this time to be rephrased by the word “woman”.
Sawa recollects vividly a feeling that she was going to score. And score she did. Off of a corner that landed short of the six-yard box, Sawa rushed in and helped it on with the side off her foot with a Zlatan-esque flair to score what remains the most ridiculously beautiful goal in World Cup finals. From there on the Japanese women defeated the USA in the penalty shootout to inscribe their names forever in history.
For her contributions that year – which included winning the World Cup with Japan (she won the Golden Shoe in the tournament), Sawa was recognised as the 2011 FIFA footballer of the year.
A veteran of six World Cup, Sawa played for five clubs in her career. After making her debut in L. League, Japan’s highest domestic league with NTV Beleza in 1991 at the age of 12, she moved to Denver Diamonds in 1999. She later joined Atlanta Beat in 2001 before returning to Japan in 2003 and signing for NTV Beleza.
In 2004, the Japanese attacking midfielder was named the Women Player Of The Year for the Asian Football Confederation. With NTV Beleza Sawa won the Nadeshiko League an astounding eight times, the Empress' Cup All-Japan Women's Football Tournament a further seven times and Nadeshiko League Cup once.
She then on to play for Washington Freedom and INAC Kobe Leonessa with whom she won the Nadeshiko League thrice, the Empress's Cup All-Japan Women's Football Tournament, the International Women’s Club Championship and Nadeshiko League Cup once each.
Here is a video of Sawa scoring that sensational goal against USA in the 2011 FIFA Women’s Football World Cup Final.
#6 Carli Lloyd
The United States after making short work of all their opponents ended up facing Japan in the 2015 World Cup final, the grandest stage of them all. A wondrous occasion for exceptional athletes. The kind of occasion where the mighty step up and the meek bow down. Well, special players produce special moments and boy, isn't Carli Lloyd special!
The American goal machine disembarked to the grandest stage of them all determined to occupy the pulpit. Lloyd scored an incredible World Cup final hat-trick; a feat never achieved before and she did it like it was just another day in the park.
Five minutes into the game and the the then 32-year-old had already rattled the Japs’ net twice and rounded up the third, a magnificent strike from the halfway line, before the clock showed 15 minutes! Lloyd won the Golden Ball for the Best Player of the tournament and the Silver Boot for the six goals and the one assist she amassed.
Famous for her obsession with hard work, the tall American striker is a goal hunter with an appetite that won't die down. Lloyd has made a habit out of making the most of the big occasions, scoring match-winning goals in the 2008 and 2009 Olympic Gold medal matches.
The New Jersey-born Manchester City forward has had her fair share of ups and downs and had even struggled to find a spot in the starting eleven in 2011. But she turned it around like all great players do and if not for her inconsistency Lloyd could definitely have been a greater player than she is. And that is saying a lot!
The US veteran has played for 10 different clubs since making her debut for Central Jersey Splash in 1999 and is currently on loan at Manchester City. In her club career spanning over 18 years and counting, she has played for Central Jersey Splash, New Brunswick Power, South Jersey Banshees, New Jersey Wildcats, Chicago Red Stars, Sky Blue FC, Atlanta Beat, Western New York Flash, Houston Dash and Manchester City.
Besides the World Cup glory in 2015, Lloyd finished runner-up in 2011 and has 2 Olympic Gold medals to her name. The 35-year-old was CONCACAF Women’s Player Of The Year in 2015.
You can see her brilliant hat-trick from the 2015 World Cup final in the following video:
#5 Abby Wambach
255 matches, 184 goals. Let that sink in. Abby Wambach is the greatest goalscorer of all time in women's football and these numbers are a testament to her incredible capability.
Back in 2004, USA was faced with unbridled uneasiness owing to the impending retirement of the then 32-year-old Mia Hamm. With the United States of America desperate for a big personality to step up and take the reins at the Athens Olympics, Wambach showed up. An intimidating presence in the final third, the towering striker scored a sensational goal in the 112th minute of the 2004 Olympics Gold medal match and the world knew that she was going to be the torch bearer that leads the USA into the next era. And that she did with enviable flair and swagger.
In the 2011 World Cup quarter-final clash against Brazil, the USA were reduced to 10 players. Finding themselves a goal behind in extra time, USA seemed all set to be plumbing the depths. Well, that is true for a lot of people except Wambach because she had other ideas. The goal machine’s relentlessness reaped rewards when she headed the ball into the back of the net in the 122nd minute to force the game into penalties. The Americans would go on to break the Brazilians’ heart and win the match. FIFA would later go on to declare Wambach’s effort as the greatest Women’s World Cup goal.
The Rochester-born USA veteran’s aerial ability was unparalleled and she scored a third of her goals from headers. She is not only the greatest goal getter but is an exceptional creator and has the third most number of assists in women's football. In the words of her teammate and one of the greatest of all-time, Mia Hamm, 'the standards which she (Abby) sets are extremely high and that's why the team is as successful as they are.'
The now 37-year-old has played for three different clubs in her career viz. Washington Freedom, MagicJack, and Western New York Flash.
Given all her achievements in Football, Wambach was still hungry for the elusive World Cup crown which she ultimately won in 2015. By the time she retired she also had two Olympic gold medals to her name and was announced as the 2012 FIFA Women's Footballer of the Year.
Wambach has won the US Soccer Athlete of the Year Award six times. In the 2011 World Cup, she won the Bronze Boot and Silver Ball and received the Associate Press Female Athlete of the Year award becoming the first soccer player to receive it.
In 2015, Wambach was named in the Time’s 100 most influential people in the world.
You can see the video of Abby Wambach’s 122nd minute goal in this video.
#4 Birgit Prinz
The Germans have ceaselessly produced some of the greatest footballers to walk the planet. And Birgit Prinz belongs up there with the very best. A strong and intimidating presence on the pitch, Prinz was pacey and was always at the right place at the right time.
Standing at almost 6 ft tall, the Frankfurt-born German forward had never had any qualms about getting physical and was always up for a battle. An elusive attacker, she was always weighing her options and sizing up her opponents while patiently waiting for the right time to disrupt the indolence of the opposition’s netting. The destructive striker’s acrobatic finish in the 2003 World Cup against Argentina is an incredibly mesmerising sight.
After making her club career debut with FSV Frankfurt in 1993, Prinz played at the club till 1998 where she won two Bundesliga Cups and two German Cups while becoming the Bundesliga top scorer in 1997 and 1998. She then made a switch to rival club FFC Frankfurt where she enjoyed another glorious. In the 13 years Prinz spent at FFC, she won six Bundesliga titles, three UEFA Euro Cups, eight German Cups and was the Bundesliga top scorer in 2001 and 2007.
After subsequently joining the WUSA’s Carolina Courage, where she stayed for two seasons, Prinz claimed the WUSA Championship in 2002. And after the 2003 World Cup, she was even invited to play for the Italian Seria A men’s club AC Perugia but she declined.
Prinz gathers goals like a leaf cutter and has a return of 128 goals in 214 international appearances. Her club goalscoring record is even more astounding with a staggering 282 goals in 282 appearances. The German Wonderwoman won the Golden Ball in 2003 when Germany lifted the World Cup and went on to win the Silver Ball in the next edition where Germany once again ended up as champions.
The now 39-year-old was selected as the FIFA Women's Footballer of the Year an awe-inspiring three times and was the German footballer of the year for eight years straight! The list of the accolades that she garnered, however, doesn’t end there as Prinz also has three Olympic bronze medals to her name.
To see Birgit Prinz’s outstanding finish from the 2003 World Cup, check out this video:
#3 Michelle Akers
The FIFA Women's World Cup finally became a reality in the People's Republic of China in 1991. The Americans, however, were the ones to show real might as they won all three of their group matches and eased into the quarter-finals.
In the quarters, USA were even more ruthless and Chinese Taipei was at the sharp end of their attacks. The Americans scored seven times with Akers herself racking up a mind blowing five goals; a record that still stands today. A striker of the most lethal kind, Akers couldn't be afforded an inch's space. In the 1991 world cup final, the then 25-year-old American opened the scoring for the USA with a rollicking header and then followed it up with a match-winning goal with just 2 minutes to go when she cut past the goalkeeper, slid the ball across the goal line and slid right into the heart of the Americans and the history books.
Akers is as unyielding, determinate and tenacious as they come and is a relentless hard worker. But life proved to be no fairytale as things took a sharp u-turn when she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome in 1994 which is as career-threatening a condition for a footballer as they come. But instead of hanging up her boots and letting the nation spread her jersey from the rafters, the California-born striker stepped back onto the football field and occupied the heart of the midfield- shifting from being a lethal striker to an unrelenting defensive midfielder who stopped attacks like nipping flowers in their bud.
Akers, before the injury, was scoring at almost a goal per game and when she eventually retired, the persistent netfinder had a tally of 105 goals from 134 appearances. What is even more impressive is that the National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee espoused her new role with a vigor seldom seen and helped the USA to an Olympic gold in 1996 and World Cup triumph in 1999.
FIFA named her the female player of the 20th century; an award she shared with Sun Wen.
Michelle Akers represented Orlando Calibre School Club of Orlando and ended up as runner-up Women's Amateur National Cup Finals before playing 3 seasons with the Swedish Club Tyresö FF where she scored 43 goals in the 1992-93 season and became the leading scorer in Sweden, male or female, in the professional circuit.
Check out this video Michelle Akers scoring two goals in the 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals.
#2 Mia Hamm
If there is one person responsible for putting women's football on the map, it is Mariel Margret Hamm a.k.a Mia Hamm. After making her senior debut for the United State at the age of 15, when most kids were still being driven to school, Hamm became the most influential presence in the United States team. The American striker scored a record breaking 158 goals and had 142 assists to her name when she retired. That is an active involvement in exactly 300 goals! A level-headed individual, who the players and even the coaches looked up to, the impact Mia Hamm has had on the game can be summed up in one word- legendary.
Hamm was the kind of player opposing defenses were clueless about how to deal with. If they suffocated her in the middle of the pitch, the talismanic striker would taunt them and stretch them to the sidelines before bamboozling them with a whipped cross so inviting no one could resist putting it in the back of the net.
She played for Washington Freedom from 2001-2003, topping the assists chart in 2003 with 13 assists and was also the second highest goal scorer in the same season.
Abundantly gifted with skill, vision and a stupefying sense of calm, the Alabama-born American legend won the FIFA Women's footballer of the year in 2001 and 2002 after winning the United States Soccer Association's player of the year awards from 1994-1999. Hamm championed her team to World Cup success twice, once in 1991 and then in 1999 and has won two Olympic Gold medals in 1996 and 2004 and a silver medal in 2000.
This is a video of the Mia Hamm’s 108th goal with which she broke the existing international goalscoring record in 1999 against Brazil.
#1 Marta
Oftentimes have I wondered what school of wizardry Marta attended to pull off tricks that would put David Blaine to shame. When the ball is at her feet, the world slides to the edge of the seats and draws their eyebrows in to figure out what the heck is going on. The flicks, the drugs and the turns that leave defenders flat-footed and staring into oblivion like dumbfounded philosophers during lunch break; the little dances, the 360s, my oh my, Marta Vieira da Silva is nearly impossible to contain and impossible to take your eyes off.
An awe-inspiring rags-to-riches story from the poverty stricken Dois Riachos in Brazil, Marta grew up playing football on the streets with boys. The young girl and her friends had to make footballs out of plastic bags tied together because in the favelas welfare was at a premium.
And of course, she had to endure the constant helpings of patriarchy that was served with distasteful disapproval because what was a woman doing playing football after all, right?! Well, smooth seas don’t make skilled sailors and Marta made defying the odds with strapping tenacity her habit.
One of the most decorated footballers of all time, she started her senior club career in 2000 with Vasco Da Gama before moving to Santa Cruz where she played for two years after which she moved to Umeå IK of Sweden. The Alagoas-born Brazilian won the UEFA Cup at the Swedish club and scored three goals over two legs in the final where they thrashed Frankfurt 8-0.
She has since played for Santos FC, Gold Pride, Western New York Flash, Tyresö FF and FC Rosengard. With Umea IK, Marta won the Svenska Cupen and the UEFA Women’s Cup once each and the Swedish Damallsvenskan four times. After joining Santos, the trickster won the Copa Libertadores de Fútbol Femenino and Copa do Brasil de Futebol Femenino in 2009.
Marta won the WPS Championship in 2010 and 2011 with FC Gold Pride and Western New York Flash respectively and added more Damallsvenskan title to her cabinet again in 2012 with Tyresö FC before winning it twice again in 2014 and 2015 – this time with FC Rosengård.
Lovingly called 'Pele in skirts', a name Pele himself endorses, the Brazilian forward has scored 105 goals in 101 appearances at more than 1 goal per game! The 31-year-old was FIFA Women's footballer of the year for 5 years in a row from 2006 to 2010.
She won the Olympic silver medal in 2004 and 2008 and the Golden Ball at the 2004 U-19 FIFA Women's Footballer of the year. Marta has also won both the Golden Ball award for the Best Player and the Golden Boot award as the top scorer in the 2007 Women's World Cup where Brazil ended as runner-up.
World Cup glory has, unfortunately, eluded the Brazilian genius but she is, hands down, the best individual women's football player in the world.
The following is Marta’s favourite from an array of great goals she has scored.
