| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sofia Sakalis | ||
| Date of birth | 11 July 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | East Melbourne, Australia | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Melbourne Victory | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2021 | Melbourne City | 5 | (0) |
| 2021–2024 | Perth Glory | 49 | (3) |
| 2024– | Melbourne Victory | 3 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2016–2017 | Australia U-17 | 8 | (12) |
| 2018– | Australia U-20 | 2 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 January 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 31 October 2018 | |||
Sofia Sakalis (born 11 July 2002) is an Australian soccer player who plays for Melbourne Victory in the A-League Women. She has represented Australia in the Australia U-17 and Australia U-20. Sakalis plays in the attacking midfielder position.
Sakalis, who is of Greek-Australian background, showed interest in soccer at the age of three and began playing two years later. [1] [2] When she first started playing, coaches assigned her to teams with boys her age but advanced her to play with older boys. [1] At age 13, her performance at the National Championships earned her call-ups to three training camps with the Junior Matildas, Australia's under-17 national team. [1]
After training with Melbourne City in 2015–16, Sakalis signed with the team for the 2017–18 season at the age of 15. [3] She made her debut for the club during the team's 5–2 win over the Newcastle Jets on 12 November. [4] [5]
Sofia signed a 2-year deal with Perth Glory ahead of the 2021–22 A-League Women season. [6] In August 2024, Sakalis announced that she had left the club. [7]
In August 2024, Sakalis joined Melbourne Victory. [8]
Sakalis was awarded Football Victoria's Gold Medal Award for the best player of 2022.
Sakalis competed with the Junior Matildas [9] [10] at the 2017 AFC U-16 Women's Championship qualification tournament in Vietnam where they finished first in their group with an undefeated record. [11] During the team's first group match against Palestine, Sakalis scored five goals, [12] and scored a total of 11 goals over 5 games. [13] She was the top scorer at the qualifying tournament, helping Australia secure a place at the 2017 AFC U-16 Women's Championship in Thailand. [11] [14]
Sakalis was named 2016 Sport Stars of the Year with Olympic boxer Jason Whateley by the Whitehorse Leader. [15]