The stars of German women’s football

Germany’s women have won two World Cups and eight European Championships, and finished as runners-up in the 2022 European Championship, putting them among the favourites again for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. While Germany are not the number 1 favourites, the 23 players in the German squad can of course still dream of the title. Let’s meet two stars on and off the pitch: captain Alexandra Popp and coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg.

Alexandra Popp 

It’s her passion and will to win which allows captain Alexandra Popp to carry her teammates along with her. She scored six goals at the 2022 European Championships but missed the final in which Germany were narrowly beaten 2:1 by England. It wasn’t the first defeat for the 32-year-old, who plays for VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, Germany’s top division. In the run-up to the European Championships a serious knee injury caused her months of worry about even being able to be a part of it. 

However, at the end of 2022 she was named as Sports Personality of the Year by the german sports news service “kicker”. Kicker praised the centre-forward for her excellence in many different ways and how she has demonstrated “exceptional sporting spirit” thanks to her “personal resilience against injuries and the example she sets as a team player.”

Martina Voss-Tecklenburg 

The former German international has coached the national team since late 2018, celebrating her greatest success in the role at the 2022 European Championships. “We’ve pushed forwards a bit, turned the wheel a little further,” she said of how her team’s performance had kindled enthusiasm for women’s football in Germany.  

As a player, she won four European Championships with the women’s team between 1989 and 1997, finishing as a runner-up in the 1995 World Cup and winning a total of 125 caps. She hopes to go on coaching the German team until 2027, especially if the joint application by Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands to host the next World Cup proves successful. “That could be a lovely way to sign off on my personal career,” says Voss-Tecklenburg.

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