Shivani Toppo (born 17 October 2007) [1] is an Indian football player from Jharkhand. She plays for the India women's national football team as a defender. She is registered with the West Bengal state unit, the Indian Football Association, and plays for Jharkhand state team in the domestic tournaments, and for Sreebhumi Football Club in the Indian Women's League.
Toppo was born in Hatup village, Ranchi district, Jharkhand. She is born in a poor family but her mother Jhari Devi and grandfather Dukhan Pathan encouraged her to play football. She was trained under Franz Gastler who runs Yuwa India, a non-government organisation which trains rural girls in football with an aim to bring social development through football. [2]
Toppo began football as a 13-year old and played her first international tour was to Spain with her NGO team. [3] Later, she went to Sri Lanka in June 2016. Two girls from Yuwa were selected for the India under-14 team's Lanka tour and she was one of them. [2]
She was selected in the 23-player Indian squad by Indian coach Joakim Alexandersson and she played the two FIFA international friendlies against Maldives on December 30 and January 2 at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru. [4] [5] [6] She also represented the SAAF Under-17 Women's Football Championship games at Dhaka in March 2023. [7] She also played the women Asia Cup qualifiers in April 2023 at Indonesia. [8]