Mariel Margaret "Mia" Hamm is an American former professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Hailed as a soccer icon, she played as a forward for the United States national team from 1987 to 2004. Hamm was the face of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the first professional women's soccer league in the United States, where she played for the Washington Freedom from 2001 to 2003. She played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels and helped the team win four NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship titles.
Tiffeny Carleen Milbrett is an American former professional soccer forward who was a longtime member of the United States women's national team. In May 2018 the National Soccer Hall of Fame announced Milbrett will be enshrined in the Hall. A native of Oregon, she starred at the University of Portland where she scored a then school record 103 goals during her career. She won an Olympic gold medal in 1996 in Atlanta and a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. She also played in three World Cups, winning in 1999. She is in the top five all-time in the United States national soccer team in three offensive categories.
Kristine Marie Lilly Heavey is an American retired soccer player. She was a member of the United States women's national team for 23 years and is the most-capped football player in the history of the sport, gaining her 354th and final cap against Mexico in a World Cup qualifier in November 2010. Lilly scored 130 goals for the US national team, behind Mia Hamm's 158 goals, and Abby Wambach's 184.
Sun Wen is a Chinese former professional footballer who played as a forward. She previously captained the China national team and the Atlanta Beat of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA).
Birgit Prinz is a German former footballer, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year. In addition to the German national team, Prinz played for 1. FFC Frankfurt in the Frauen-Bundesliga as well as the Carolina Courage in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the first professional women's league in the United States. Prinz remains one of the game's most prolific strikers and is the second FIFA Women's World Cup all-time leading scorer with 14 goals. In 2011, she announced the end of her active career. She currently works as a sport psychologist for the men's and women's teams of Bundesliga club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
Hanna Carolina Ljungberg is a Swedish former football player, who played the position of forward. She played for the club side Umeå IK and for the Swedish national football team. She debuted for Sweden, at age 17, on 6 February 1996, when Sweden won 8-0 against Spain.
The Germany women's national football team represents Germany in international women's football. The team is governed by the German Football Association (DFB).
Hanna Gunilla Marklund is a Swedish former football player. She played as a defender and wore shirt number 4.
Pia Mariane Sundhage is a Swedish football manager and former professional player. Most recently she was the head coach of the Brazil women's national team. As a player, Sundhage played most of her career as a forward and retired as the top scorer for the Sweden national team, but she also had stints playing as a midfielder and a sweeper.
The Norway women's national football team is controlled by the Football Association of Norway. The team is former European, World and Olympic champions and thus one of the most successful national teams. The team has had less success since the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Malin Sofi Moström is a Swedish former football midfielder, from 2001 to 2006 she was the captain of the Sweden women's national football team. Nicknamed "Mosan", she retired in December 2006 in order to focus on her family and new career as a property agent.
Inka Grings is a German former international footballer who played as a striker. She played sixteen years for FCR 2001 Duisburg before joining FC Zürich Frauen. She also played for the Germany national team. Grings is the second all-time leading goalscorer in Germany's top division, the Frauen-Bundesliga, with 195 goals and claimed the league's top-scorer award for a record six seasons. Playing for Germany, she was the top-scorer at two UEFA European Championships. Grings was named Women's Footballer of the Year (Germany) in 1999, 2009 and 2010.
Gärd Kristin "Kicki" Bengtsson is a Swedish former footballer who played as a defender. She represented the Sweden national team from 1991 to 2005.
Malin Elisabeth Andersson is a Swedish women's football player.
Kerstin Stegemann is a German former footballer who played as a defender or midfielder.
Homare Sawa is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward or a midfielder. Regarded by many as one of the greatest female footballers of all time and the greatest Asian female footballer of all time, Sawa had a professional club career spanning 24 seasons, mostly with Nippon TV Beleza and INAC Kobe Leonessa. She also spent 22 years with the Japan national team, most notably captaining them to a FIFA Women's World Cup win in 2011 and an Olympic silver medal finish in 2012.
Jane Törnqvist is a former footballer who most recently played for Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC. A tough tackling central defender, she wore number 3 for her club. She played 109 games for the Sweden women's national team before retiring from international football in 2005. She also served as the Strength and Conditioning coach of India women's football team for the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup.
The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup final was an association football match which determined the winner of the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was played on October 12, 2003, and won by Germany, who defeated Sweden 2–1 in extra time.
The football tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics was the second edition of the women's Olympic football tournament and was held from 13 to 28 September 2000. It was hosted at three venues along the Eastern side of Australia with matches being held in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.
The Germany women's national football team has represented Germany at the FIFA Women's World Cup on nine occasions in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023. They have won the title twice and were runners-up once. They also reached the fourth place in 1991 and in 2015.
