Aurora Watten Mikalsen (born 21 March 1996) is a Norwegian 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

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

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

. She has represented the Norway national team at multiple youth levels and received her first senior call-up in February 2018. She previously played in England with

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

clubs

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Club career

Norway

Having started her youth career with her hometown team

Clausenengen Clausenengen Fotballklubb (CFK) is a football club located in Kristiansund, Norway. Many famous players have played at this club, including Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Øyvind Leonhardsen, Trond Andersen, Jan Erlend Kruse, Andre Flem, Arild Stavrum ...

, Mikalsen moved to

Arna-Bjørnar Arna-Bjørnar Fotball is a Norwegian football club from Arna, Bergen. It was founded in late 2000 as a merger between the football branches from ''IL Bjørnar'' and ''Arna T&IL'', and replaced Bjørnar IL in the league system from 2001. The ...

in August 2012. On 2 November 2013, Mikalsen made her senior debut, starting for Arna-Bjørnar in a 2–1

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in ...

defeat to

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for i ...

. In 2015, Mikalsen returned to

. She split playing time between the under-19s and senior 2. divisjon team. Mikalsen was also a regular starter for Clausenengen FK boys U19, which won the regional championship in the 2015 season. On 16 December 2015, Mikalsen signed with

Kolbotn Kolbotn is an Urban areas in the Nordic countries#Urban areas in Norway, urban area in Norway's Nordre Follo municipality in Akershus county. Kolbotn is in the centre of the traditional district, Oppegård. The population is about 6,000. Kolbotn ...

ahead of the

2016 Toppserien The 2016 Toppserien was the 33rd season of the women's football top level league in Norway. LSK Kvinner FK were the defending champions and defended their title. League table Relegation play-offs Medkila won the relegation play-offs 4–3 and 2� ...

season. On 28 March 2016, Mikalsen made her debut for the team in a 1–1 draw with LSK Kvinner.

Manchester United

In July 2019, Mikalsen trained with

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

club

while the team was on tour in Oslo. On 6 September 2019, Manchester United made the permanent signing of Mikalsen, in need of a backup after injuries to

Emily Ramsey Emily Jo Ramsey (born 16 November 2000) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Women's Super League club Everton F.C. (women), Everton and has represented Engla ...

and

Fran Bentley Francesca Bentley (born 26 June 2001) is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bristol City of the Women's Super League. She has previously played in the youth ranks at Manchester City, Manchester United on loan at Sheffield United ...

coupled with the pregnancy of

Siobhan Chamberlain Siobhan Rebecca Chamberlain (born 15 August 1983) is an English sports pundit, commentator, and former professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Manchester United. She joined Manchester United in 2018 after playing for Liverpo ...

left the team with only

Mary Earps Mary Alexandra Earps (born 7 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Première Ligue club Paris Saint-Germain. At the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, she served as the vice captain for England, and received ...

to start the season. She made her debut on 21 November 2019, starting in an 11–1 League Cup Group Stage victory over

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

team

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. She left at the end of the season following the expiration of her contract having made one appearance.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 27 July 2020, it was announced Mikalsen had signed a one-year contract with WSL team

. With Spurs in good form having won their last three matches and only conceded twice, Mikalsen was forced into a debut on 31 January 2021 with regular starter Rebecca Spencer injured. She started in a 4–0 loss Chelsesa. Mikalsen remained starter for the duration of Spencer's injury absence, playing a total of five games, all in the WSL. Spurs lost 1–0 to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, 3–2 to Everton, and 2–0 to

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

before Mikalsen earned her first and only clean sheet for Spurs as part of a goalless draw with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. She left at the end of the season upon the expiry of her contract.

Sandviken

On 28 July 2021, Mikalsen returned to Norway to sign with

side

Sandviken Sandviken is a locality and the seat of Sandviken Municipality in Gävleborg County, Sweden with 26,438 inhabitants in 2023. It is situated about 25 km west of Gävle and lies approximately 190 km north of Stockholm. The rail journey t ...

1.FC Köln

On 15 January 2025, it was announced that Mikalsen had signed for

club

until June 2026.

International career

Mikalsen has represented the Norway national team at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-23 level. In 2018, Mikalsen received her first senior call-up as part of the

2018 Algarve Cup The 2018 Algarve Cup was the 25th edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place from 28 February to 7 March 2018. The final was cancelled after torrential rain flooded the pitch: t ...

squad. A year later, Mikalsen was part of the senior squad that won the

2019 Algarve Cup The 2019 Algarve Cup was the 26th edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place from 27 February to 6 March. Norway defeated Poland 3–0 in the final to win their fifth title, an ...

. She made her debut in the

2022 Algarve Cup The 2022 Algarve Cup was the 28th edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational Women's association football, women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place from 16 to 23 February 2022. Teams Five teams were participating. ...

against Portugal. In the same year, she was selected for the Norwegian squad for the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in England 2022. On 19 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player Norwegian squad for the

FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's football championship contested by women's national teams and organised by FIFA. The tournament, which took place from 2 ...

. On 16 June 2025, Mikalsen was called up to the Norway squad for the

UEFA Women's Euro 2025 The 2025 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2025 or simply Euro 2025, will be the 14th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the wome ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

International

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 ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikalsen, Aurora 1996 births Living people Footballers from Kristiansund Norwegian women's footballers 21st-century Norwegian sportswomen Women's association football goalkeepers Arna-Bjørnar players Clausenengen FK players Kolbotn Fotball players SK Brann (women) players Toppserien players Norway women's youth international footballers Norway women's international footballers Norwegian expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's footballers in England Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in England Women's Super League players Manchester United W.F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Women players UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players Expatriate women's footballers in Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany UEFA Women's Euro 2025 players