Top 10 Best Female Soccer Players of All Time – Ranked

Until the seventies, Women’s soccer was banned in Europe. Despite that big obstacle, the sport has grown leaps and bounds, growing exponentially in popularity and quality, attracting millions of fans to the stadiums and gluing them to their televisions. During this process, some of the female soccer players have captured the attention of the viewers, mesmerizing them with their tricks and skills and providing some of the most memorable moments.

This article explores some of the best female soccer players of all time, looking back at their careers and celebrating their achievements.

Ranking Factors

Determining the best female soccer players of all time requires evaluation of their performances, career longevity, impact, achievements, skills, versatility, and the legacy they left behind. These are the factors we carefully analyzed and came up with in this list fairly and comprehensively.

Performances – Their performances for their club and country during their career. Majorly about their contributions during crucial matches like cup finals, international tournaments, and league deciders.

Longevity – How long they have played at the top level and it’s not just about how long the players were active but how long they were in shape, their mental strength, and their adaptability.

Impact and Importance to the squad – How important their role was to their clubs and country and how much positive impact they’ve had.

Top 10 Best Female Soccer Players of All Time

Rank	Name	Country	Club	Position	Matches	Goals
1	Marta	Brazil	Orlando Pride	Attacker	204	119
2	Aitana Bonmati	Spain	FC Barcelona	Midfielder	65	26
3	Alexia Putellas	Spain	FC Barcelona	Midfielder	119	31
4	Mia Hamm	USA	Retired	Attacker	276	158
5	Alexandra Popp	Germany	Wolfsburg	Attacker	145	67
6	Kim Little	Scotland	Arsenal	Midfielder	149	59
7	Megan Rapinoe	USA	OL Reign	Attacker	203	63
8	Ada Hegerberg	Norway	Olympique Lyonnais	Attacker	86	49
9	Pernille Harder	Denmark	Bayern Munich	Attacker	156	76
10	Vivianne Miedema	Netherlands	Arsenal	Attacker	120	96
11	Caroline Graham Hansen	Norway	FC Barcelona	Winger	105	46
12	Sam Kerr	Australia	Chelsea FC	Forward	128	69
13	Wendie Renard	France	Olympique Lyonnais	Defender	167	39
14	Asisat Oshoala	Nigeria	Bay FC	Forward	61	37
15	Lieke Martens	Netherlands	Paris Saint-Germain	Winger	160	62
16	Fran Kirby	England	Brighton & Hove Albion	Forward	77	19
17	Saki Kumagai	Japan	AS Roma	Defender/Midfielder	154	3
18	Dzsenifer Marozsán	Germany	Olympique Lyonnais	Midfielder	112	33
19	Grace Geyoro	France	Paris Saint-Germain	Midfielder	91	17
20	Ingrid Engen	Norway	FC Barcelona	Midfielder	76	6
21	Sakina Karchaoui	France	Paris Saint-Germain	Left Back/Forward	81	2
22	Ashley Lawrence	Canada	Chelsea FC	Defender	141	8
23	Debinha	Brazil	Kansas City Current	Midfielder	136	59
24	Christiane Endler	Chile	Olympique Lyonnais	Goalkeeper	104	0
25	Deyna Castellanos	Venezuela	Bay FC	Forward/Midfielder	38	22

10. Vivianne Miedema

The Dutch goalscoring prodigy has been making a lot of noise ever since her youth days. She is a fantastic striker with precise finishing and menacing forward play. It is of no surprise that she is the all-time leading scorer in the English Women’s Super League. Her contribution to the senior national team has been tremendous.

Her international career is stellar, playing a significant role in the victory of UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 and the Dutch’s journey to the final of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Miedema has established herself as a legend in Dutch football history by surpassing the all-time goal-scoring record for the national team, both for men and women.

Country	Netherlands
Matches	120
Goals	96

Also Read: Top 10 Best American Soccer Players Of All Time- Ranked

9. Pernille Harder

A fantastic goal scorer and equally good playmaker, Harder has been one of the icons of modern women’s soccer. She was the world’s most expensive female soccer player at that time, following her transfer from Wolfsburg to Chelsea.  Harder has won a league title every season since 2013 with four different clubs in four different countries. Apart from her incredible club soccer career, she played a pivotal role in UEFA Women’s Euro 2017, leading her country to the final and also took her team to the knockouts of 2023 Women’s FIFA World Cup.

She has also married her teammate Magda Eriksson, with whom she shared moments on the pitch at both club and country level.

Country	Denmark
Matches	138
Goals	76

8. Ada Hegerberg

The first-ever Women’s Ballon d’Or winner in 2018, Hegerberg is an inspiration to many. A sensational forward, who was one of the biggest reasons for Lyon’s women team dominating the sport, Hegerberg won the Women’s Champions League a record six times and the league title a record nine times. Her international career statistics took a dent as she made herself unavailable for five years after a dispute with the soccer federation of Norway.

Country	Norway
Matches	86
Goals	49

7. Megan Rapinoe

One of the most recognised names in world soccer, Rapinoe spent the majority of her club career in the USA. She is known for her crafty style of play and has been part of the American footballing dynasty, captaining her side, winning the Olympic Gold in 2012, two World Cup medals and a Ballon d’or in 2019.

She is also known for her activism off the pitch, an advocate for numerous LGBTQIA+ organizations and speaking out against gender inequality in sports.

Country	USA
Matches	203
Goals	63

6. Kim Little

A Scottish international, Little started her career in Scotland and spent the majority of her time at Arsenal, even captaining the side. Regarded as one of the best midfielders in the history of WSL, her experience and leadership have been vital to the club’s success. She has represented both Great Britain and Scotland at the national level, representing the former at the Olympics. She has retired from her international career but is still continuing at the club level.

Country	Scotland
Matches	148
Goals	59

5. Alexandra Popp

A menacing striker, Popp is one of the most lethal forwards in the history of the sport. She has been at Wolfsburg since 2012, scoring some iconic goals and winning a whopping 19 trophies (2 Champions League, 7 Frauen Bundesliga, 10 DFB Pokal Frauen) in her tenure so far. She has also seen tremendous success at the national team, winning Olympic Gold in 2016 and a Bronze in 2024.

Country	Germany
Matches	144
Goals	67

4. Mia Hamm

Revered for her all-around skill, competitive spirit, and knack for goal scoring, Hamm is regarded as a legend in Women’s soccer. Playing forward, she starred on the U.S. national team that won World Cup championships in 1991 and 1999, Olympic gold medals in 1996, 2004 and an Olympic Silver in 2000. She retired from the national team in 2004 with 158 goals in international competition, the most by any player, male or female at that time.

Country	USA
Matches	276
Goals	158

3. Alexia Putellas

There is nothing that Putellas has literally not achieved, and it happened in 2022, when she completed the sport, winning every possible major trophy, both club and individual. The captain for her club and Spanish National team, Putellas is regarded as one of the best female soccer player in the world. With Barcelona, she has won eight league titles, eight Copas de la Reina and three UEFA Women’s Champions League trophies and a UEFA Nations League trophy with Spain. She was also the recipient of the Ballon d’or award in 2021 and 2022. She became the first player to make over 100 appearances for the Spain women’s team, a record she achieved in 2022.

Country	Spain
Matches	124
Goals	33

2. Aitana Bonmati

Bonmati is another player, who like Putellas, has won all major club and individual awards available to a European player by 2023. Her trophy cabinet is glittering with five league titles, six Copas de la Reina, four Supercopas, four Copas Catalunyas, and three UEFA Women’s Champions League titles, including three trebles and a continental quadruple. She then had a starring role in the 2023 World Cup, where Spain won the title. She has also won the Ballon d’Or twice, the joint highest with Putellas, winning it the last two years.

Country	Spain
Matches	65
Goals	26

1. Marta

Marta is regarded by many as the greatest female footballer of all time. A testament to that is her individual awards, becoming the FIFA World Player of the Year six times, five of them being consecutive (from 2006 through 2010) and the latest award coming in 2018. She was the first footballer of any gender to score at five different World Cups and also the first footballer, female or male, to score at five consecutive Olympic Games. She is currently FIFA Women’s World Cup all-time record goalscorer with 17 goals.

Country	Brazil
Matches	204
Goals	119

Emerging Young Female Soccer Players

Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid & Colombia)

Caicedo was one of the most hyped players before the start of the World Cup. Having been the skipper of Colombia in both the U20 and U17 World Cups that were played recently, all eyes were on the young age of 18. She performed brilliantly; she scored as soon as Colombia played South Korea and also performed a sensational goal against Germany in the group stage.

Her ingenuity helped Colombia attain its highest-ever performance in the Women’s World Cup reaching the quarter-finals. One of the young talents, Caicedo is quite famous for her captivating dribbling skills. Her story is even more motivating given she faced ovarian cancer and also fought the Colombian federation for better treatment of the women’s team.

Salma Paralluelo (FC Barcelona & Spain)

From Villarreal, Paralluelo signed for Barcelona in October 2022 and did not take time to draw the eye of fans with her dazzling skill. Only two weeks later she celebrated her debut in Spain with a hat trick, which was a promising beginning for her successful career.

The versatile player who can operate both out wide and as a centre-forward, finished her first season at Barcelona with a tally of 14 goals, a Liga F winners medal, and a starting place in the Champions League final, in which Barcelona beat Wolfsburg. Her World Cup campaign with Spain’s side was also equally successful; she emerged as one of the tourney’s brightest stars. Paralluelo was the extra-time match-winner against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals and also netted the opener in the semifinal against Sweden. Great form persisted with her and she even scored four goals in the second half against Sevilla.

Lauren James (Chelsea FC & England)

Despite being only 20 years of age, James had a sensational 2022-23 season at Chelsea where she won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award and was expected to be among the stars in the World Cup. She did not let her fans down by scoring a stunning hat trick against China in the group stage. But her tournament was cut short when she was given a red card during a match against Nigeria. However, she returned to England in time to be part of their 1- 0 loss to Spain in the finals.

James, 22, is still a powerful figure for Chelsea and the England national football team. Especially noted for her exceptional killing instinct in attack she has become one of the most dangerous forwards in the world. Her teammates in England have been heard to say that she has the cheat code for her capacity to break any defense. After scoring a hattrick against Liverpool, Chelsea’s manager Emma Hayes described her as the most naturally talented player in the country.

Also Read: Top 10 Best American Soccer Players Currently- Ranked