Alexandra Popp-Höppe (; ; born 6 April 1991) is a German professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker for

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German language, German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. I ...

club

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

. Popp was named German Footballer of the Year three times, in 2014, 2016 and 2023, captained the German national team between 2019 and 2024, and is her country's third all-time top scorer. She is widely considered to be one of the most legendary and successful German footballers of all time.

Early life

Popp attended

Gesamtschule Berger Feld Gesamtschule Berger Feld is a ''gesamtschule'' in Gelsenkirchen. It is located in the Erle region and has 1325 pupils and 118 teachers. It is known for the fact that a great number of its former students have become professional association footba ...

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 25th-most populous city of Germany and the 11th-most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher, Emscher River (a tribu ...

, one of four facilities certified as "elite schools of football" by the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

. She was the school's sole female pupil and could only attend courtesy of a special permit. She studied and trained with junior players of the German men's

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...

. Popp left school after the 12th grade with a '' Fachabitur'' diploma.

Club career

Popp started her career at FC Silschede, playing there in mixed-gender teams until she reached the age limit of 14. Later she changed to 1. FFC Recklinghausen and played three years before joining the

side

FCR 2001 Duisburg FCR 2001 Duisburg (full name: ''Fußballclub Rumeln 2001 Duisburg'') was a German women's football club from Duisburg. The first team played in the Bundesliga (women), Bundesliga. They originate from a women's team formed in 1977 under the umbrel ...

in 2008. She had also been approached by French champions

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

at the time, but chose Duisburg. Popp made her Bundesliga debut in September 2008 against Herforder SV and scored her first two goals three weeks later in an 8–0 win over

TSV Crailsheim TSV Crailsheim is a German association football club from the town of Crailsheim, Baden-Württemberg. History Founded as the gymnastics club ''Turnverein Crailsheim'' in 1846, the association today has over 3,000 members in 20 departments, inc ...

. In her first year at Duisburg, Popp won the

Double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

: the 2009 UEFA Women's Cup and the 2009 German Cup. She was awarded the 2009

Fritz Walter Friedrich "Fritz" Walter (; 31 October 1920 – 17 June 2002) was a German footballer who spent his entire senior career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or inside forward. In his time with the Germany an ...

medal in silver as the year's second best female junior player. One year later, she again claimed the DFB-Pokal trophy with Duisburg and finished as

2009–10 Bundesliga The 2009–10 Bundesliga was the 47th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season commenced on 7 August 2009 with the traditional season-opening match involving the defending champions VfL Wolfsburg and VfB Stuttgart ...

runners-up. Due to Duisburg's major injury problems during the 2010–11 season, Popp played the majority of matches at

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. In 2012, Popp transferred to

, moving with her club teammate Luisa Wensing ahead of the 2012-13 campaign. In her first season at Wolfsburg, she scored 16 goals and won the treble:

championship, the

DFB-Pokal Frauen The DFB-Pokal Frauen is the main national Women's association football, women's football cup competition in Germany, held annually by the German Football Association in knockout format. It was created in 1980, and since 1991 includes Eastern teams ...

and the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

. A year later, Wolfsburg successfully defended their

title. The 2013-14 Bundesliga title came down to a top of the table clash on the final matchday of the season, where Wolfsburg played against the unbeaten 1. FFC Frankfurt, who only needed a draw to win the championship. Popp scored an 89th-minute winning goal to secure a dramatic title for Die Wölfinnen, and the game set a new Bundesliga record with 12,464 spectators in attendance. Popp helped Wolfsburg win four consecutive Bundesliga titles between from 2016-17 to the 2019-20 season. In August 2019, following the departure of

Nilla Fischer Åsa Nilla Maria Fischer (born 2 August 1984) is a Swedish former Association football, footballer. Her last club was Linköpings FC. She played in the Sweden women's national football team, Swedish national team between 2001 and 2022. She was pr ...

, Popp was named as the new Wolfsburg captain alongside teammates Pernille Harder and Almuth Schult, a further sign of her strong mentality. During her over decade-long spell at Wolfsburg, Popp firmly established herself as one of Germany's greatest-ever players and one of world football's most feared attackers. She has scored 147 goals in over 300 games for the club, winning seven league titles, two UEFA Women's Champions Leagues and 11 German Cup trophies. Despite tough injury setbacks in her career, Popp has scored at least ten league goals in six different seasons for Wolfsburg and she helped the club to win a remarkable ten DFB-Pokal Frauen Cups in a row between 2014–15 and 2023-24. Wolfsburg's captain finished the 2022-23 season as both the Bundesliga top goalscorer (16 goals) and the Pokal's leading scorer (5 goals). In November 2024, Popp extended her contract at Wolfsburg up to June 2026. Popp is the sixth-highest goalscorer in Frauen-Bundesliga history.

International career

At the 2008 UEFA U-17 Women's Championship, Popp won her first international title with Germany, scoring the team's second goal in the final. The same year, she reached third-place at the

2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was the first women's football edition of the U-17 World Cup. It was held in New Zealand from 28 October to 16 November 2008. North Korea won the first edition, extending their grip of women's youth footbal ...

. In February 2010, Popp made her debut for Germany's senior national team in a friendly match against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. Less than two weeks later she scored her first two international goals at the

2010 Algarve Cup The 2010 Algarve Cup was the seventeenth edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place between 24 February and 3 March 2010. It was won by the United States who defeated World and ...

in a 7–0 win over

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Popp returned to junior competition for the

2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 5th edition of the tournament. It was held in Germany, who also hosted the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup a year later, from 13 July to 1 August 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all si ...

on home soil. She won the title and became the tournament's best player and top goalscorer. She scored in every game that Germany played and with ten goals, she holds the scoring record for that tournament (together with Sydney Leroux and

Christine Sinclair Christine Margaret Sinclair (born June 12, 1983) is a retired Canadian professional Association football, soccer player who most recently played as a Forward (association football), forward for the Portland Thorns FC, Portland Thorns of the ...

). Popp was then called up for the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, football teams. It was held from 26 June to ...

. She played in all four games as a substitute, but the Germans were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual champions

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Later that year, she played in a European Championship qualifying match against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, where she and teammate

Célia Šašić Célia Šašić (; ; born 27 June 1988) is a German former Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker for SC 07 Bad Neuenahr, 1. FFC Frankfurt and the Germany women's national football team, Germany n ...

each contributed four goals to a record 17–0 victory. With this achievement, she became the seventh German woman to score four goals in an international game. Having chosen to play in the 2013 Champions League final with a torn ligament, Popp missed

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for List of women's national association football teams#UEFA, women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament ...

through injury. Germany ended up winning the tournament in Sweden, beating

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

1-0 in the final. On 24 May 2015,

Silvia Neid Silvia Edith Maria Neid (born 2 May 1964) is a German former professional football player and manager. She is one of the most successful players in German women's football, having won seven national championships and six DFB-Pokal trophies. Betwe ...

called Popp up for the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

. In Canada, Germany finished fourth, defeating fellow European powerhouses Sweden and France but were eventually defeated by eventual champions the United States. Popp started in four of the team's seven games, scoring once. Popp was called up again for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, where Germany won the gold medal. She played in all six games, contributing a goal and two assists, with Germany beating

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

2-1 at the Maracanã in the final. Popp received the

Silbernes Lorbeerblatt Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (, ), the highest sports award in Germany, was endowed on 23 June 1950 by the German President Theodor Heuss. It is awarded to athletes and teams of exemplary character that have won medals at Olympic and Paralympic Games ...

, Germany's highest sports honour, for her performance, along with the rest of the German team. Alexandra missed the

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship organised by UEFA for the ...

tournament due to a meniscus and lateral ligament injury. The loss of such a key player like her reasonably impacted Germany's performance, as they lost in the quarter-finals to Denmark. In February 2019, Popp was named the new captain of the German women's national team. She captained the German squad at the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

. Popp played every minute of the group stage and scored a header against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. She made her 100th appearance for Germany on 22 June 2019, against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

in the Round of 16, where she also scored the opening goal. Popp had an unbelievable impact at Euro 2022, scoring six goals in five matches and leading her side to the final. She scored both of Germany's goals in their semi-final win against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and became only the second player to score in four consecutive matches at a Women's Euros. A muscle injury in the pre-match warm-up forced Popp to miss the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, which hosts

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

won 2-1 after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. The Germany captain finished as the competition's joint-top scorer, alongside

Beth Mead Bethany Jane Mead (born 9 May 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for the Women's Super League (WSL) club Arsenal W.F.C., Arsenal and the England women's national football team, En ...

, and she was named in UEFA's Team of the Tournament. At Germany's opening match of the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

, Popp scored Germany's first two goals against

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in what was a 6-0 win. Despite Germany's failure to advance to the knockout stages, Popp scored in all three of their group games and finished as the tournament's joint-second top scorer with four goals. On 3 July 2024, Popp was called up to the Germany squad for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. On 30 September 2024, Popp announced her retirement from international football, with her last game being played on 28 October. With 67 goals in 145 international appearances, Popp is Germany's third top scorer and ninth most capped player of all time (as of November 2024). She played at four World Cups and one European Championship, and won two Olympic medals and three Algarve Cups with Germany. Individually, Popp's performances saw her chosen as Women's National Team Player of the Year in 2012 and 2022, and she is a three-time Germany Women's Footballer of the Year, winning the award in 2014, 2016 and 2023.

Personal life

Following a one-year internship as a physiotherapist, Popp successfully completed a three-year

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

to become a

zookeeper A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Gr ...

at Tierpark Essehof in Lehre. Popp married her partner Patrick Höppe in 2021. On her Instagram channel she regularly posts pictures of her dog Patch.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Popp goal.''

Honours

FCR 2001 Duisburg *

: 2008–09 *

: 2008–09, 2009–10 VfL Wolfsburg * UEFA Women's Champions League: 2012–13, 2013–14 *

: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22 * DFB-Pokal Frauen: 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24 Germany U17 *

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is an annual (biennial until 2024) international women's association football tournament for female players under the age of 17. It is organized by ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA) ...

third place:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

* UEFA U-17 Women's Championship:

Germany U20 *

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held biennially. ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Germany *

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

bronze medal:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men's UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between nationa ...

runner-up:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

UEFA Women's Nations League The UEFA Women's Nations League is a biennial international Women's association football, women's football competition contested by the senior List of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the member association ...

third place: 2023–24 *

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Individual *

UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, is an annual European championship football tournament, organized by UEFA, for national teams of women under age seventeen. The tournament was first play ...

: Golden Player 2008 *

Fritz Walter Medal The Fritz Walter Medal is a series of annual awards given by the German Football Association to youth footballers in Germany. First awarded in 2005, it is named in honour of Fritz Walter, captain of West Germany's 1954 FIFA World Cup-winning team ...

: Silver 2009 *

Golden Ball:

* FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Golden Shoe:

Footballer of the Year in Germany The title Footballer of the Year (German: ''Fußballer des Jahres'') has been awarded in West Germany from 1960 to 1990 and Germany since 1991. Eligible are German players as well as non-German players playing in Germany. In 1996, the title W ...

: 2014, 2016, 2023 *

: 2016, 2024 * IFFHS Women's World Team: 2020, 2022 *

Silver Boot:

Team of the Tournament:

* Frauen-Bundesliga Top scorer: 2022–23 * DFB-Pokal Frauen Top scorer: 2022–23 * FIFA Women's World Cup Bronze Boot:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* Germany women's national Player of the Year: 2022

References

External links

* * * *
National team profile
at DFB
Player German domestic football stats
at DFB * *
Alexandra Popp – A star in the making
Feature by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Popp, Alexandra 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Witten Footballers from Arnsberg (region) German women's footballers Germany women's international footballers Germany women's youth international footballers FCR 2001 Duisburg players VfL Wolfsburg (women) players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Women's association football forwards Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Olympic gold medalists for Germany Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Germany People educated at the Gesamtschule Berger Feld 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Women's Century Club UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players Frauen-Bundesliga players 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Germany Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics UEFA Women's Champions League–winning players Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf 21st-century German sportswomen