Who are the best female footballers on the planet? It is a question that has perhaps never been harder to answer, such is the breadth of talent now on show in the women’s game.
With attendance records regularly being broken, interest is surging and so are standards, making this a very difficult task – but one we have nevertheless embraced.
It says everything about the strength of our top 10 that the likes of Beth Mead, Patri Guijarro, Millie Bright, Mapi Leon, Lauren Hemp, and Kadeisha Buchanan all missed out.
RadioTimes.com brings you our definitive list of the 10 best female football players in the world in 2022.
Best female footballers 2022
10. Debinha
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The undisputed star of Brazil’s national side for many years has been Marta, but as she advances in years the significant influence of Debinha on the Selecao is there for all to see.
A North Carolina Courage player since their move from New York in 2017, she has wowed NWSL crowds with her balance, control and dribbling – an absolute joy to watch.
A key figure in Brazil’s pursuit of the 2022 Copa America Femenina – ahead of that she’d been named MVP in the NWSL Challenge Cup.
9. Lena Oberdorf
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A star of Germany’s Euro 2022 squad, Oberdorf was a key figure in the Wolfsburg side that won a league and cup double in the 2021/22 season.
A combative, energetic, and intelligent defensive midfielder who senses and snuffs out danger with a level of nous and assuredness that belies her age.
She won Germany’s most prestigious youth award in 2020, The Fritz Walter Gold Medal.
8. Wendie Renard
Joris Verwijst/Orange Pictures/BSR Agency/Getty Images
The most decorated defender of her generation, Wendie Renard is an institution at Lyon, the most successful women’s club in France.
The French captain grew up on the Caribbean island of Martinique, and went for a trial at France’s Clairefontaine academy at the age of 16 – she’s since won eight UEFA Women’s Champions League finals, nine French Cups, 14 league titles, and been named in the FIFPro World XI six-times.
Possessing a keen sense of positional awareness, Renard is also, at a height of 6’2 (187cm), a physically imposing figure – in May 2022 she put an end to speculation about her future by signing a four-year contract extension with Lyon.
7. Marie-Antoinette Katoto
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A lethal and consistent finisher, blessed with blistering pace, Katoto won both the Golden Boot and Player of the Year in France’s 21/22 Division 1 Feminine.
She has been with Paris Saint-Germain more than a decade, signing for the club as a youngster in 2011, making her first-team debut in November 2018.
France’s chances of Euro 2022 success were dealt a huge blow when Katoto suffered an ACL injury during the tournament.
6. Caroline Graham-Hansen
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Widely regarded as one of the game’s most gifted wide players, the Norwegian international is also one of the most decorated – a winner of more than 20 major honours, she has reached four UEFA Women’s Champions League finals, lifting the trophy once, with Barcelona in 20/21.
Incredibly difficult to stop, Graham-Hansen is a fusion of intelligence and athleticism on the pitch – off-it she enjoys the music of Andrea Bocelli, writes poetry, plays chess and is a big reader.
It was a mystery to some that she missed out on a Ballon d’Or nomination in 2021, despite scoring 13 goals and registering 25 assists in all competitions.
5. Vivianne Miedema
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Miedema is arguably one of the most natural finishers in the women’s game, but she doesn’t see herself as a natural No.9, “I like to think I’m a mix of a No.9 and 10.”
She signed her first professional contract, with SC Heerenveen, at the age of 14 and made her debut at 15 – Miedema has since gone on to become the WSL’s all-time top-scorer and won the European Championship with Netherlands in 2017.
A published children’s author, she has studied for the UEFA ‘B’ coaching license and was awarded a master’s degree in Football Business from the Johan Cruyff Institute in 2021 – the Arsenal forward’s hero as a youngster was the former Gunner, Robin van Persie.
4. Aitana Bonmati
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Bonmati has been with Spanish champions Barcelona since she was 14 and epitomises the style of football preached and honed within the club’s famous La Masia academy.
Player of the Match in Barcelona’s 20/21 UEFA Women’s Champions League final victory over Chelsea, the following season she registered 16 goals and seven assists across the Primera Division and European competition.
Bonmati and her teammate Alexia Putellas have made such an impression on the Catalan press that one newspaper suggested it was “inevitable to feel echoes of Xavi and Iniesta” when watching them play together – high praise indeed.
3. Catarina Macario
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Born in Brazil, Macario moved to the USA at the age of 12 with her Dad and brother to pursue her dream of playing professional football – her Mum, a doctor, stayed in South America in order to support the family financially.
It’s a collective sacrifice that has paid off for the American international who joined Lyon in January 2021, winning the UEFA Women’s Champions League in her first full season, scoring 8 goals in the process.
In a cruel blow she suffered an ACL injury in June 2022, which is expected to keep her out of action for a prolonged period.
2. Sam Kerr
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The 21/22 PFA Player of the Year, Sam Kerr scored 20 league goals in that same season, helping to fire Chelsea to the WSL title.
The Australian captain has now won Golden Boot awards in three different leagues on three different continents – the only female player to achieve that feat.
She made further history in the summer of 2022 by becoming the first woman to feature on the cover of the global edition of the FIFA video game, appearing alongside Kylian Mbappe.
1. Alexia Putellas
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Winner of the Ballon d’Or Feminin, The Best FIFA Women’s Player, and UEFA Women’s Player of the Year awards in 2021 – Putellas is, for many, the stand-out player in a Barcelona side littered with star quality.
Arguably the ultimate difference maker in the women’s game right now – intelligent, influential, technically exceptional, creative, and decisive – she was the leading assist provider in Spain’s Primera Division in the 21/22 season and the top-scorer in the 21/22 UEFA Women’s Champions League.
It’s a huge loss to Barcelona, Spain and the entire women’s game that she suffered a serious knee injury on the eve of Euro 2022 and is expected to miss the entire 22/23 season.
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