Janice Cayman (; born 12 October 1988) is a Belgian 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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

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 ...

club

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 ...

, which she captains, and the Belgium national team. She is the Belgium's most-capped female player of all-time, and is second in the absolute list of Belgian senior appearances behind

Jan Vertonghen Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen (; born 24 April 1987) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Mainly a centre-back, he also played as a left-back. Vertonghen began his senior career at Dutch club Ajax in 2006, and total ...

Early life

Cayman grew up a fan of Brazilian international

Romário Romário de Souza Faria (born 29 January 1966), known simply as Romário (), is a Brazilian politician and former professional association football, footballer who is currently a Senator for Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro and the presi ...

, citing him as the inspiration for why she wore the number 11 during her time at Leicester City.

Club career

Cayman previously played for

Montpellier HSC Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (; ), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC, is a French professional association football, football club based in the city of Montpellier in Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie. The original club was ...

and

FCF Juvisy Paris FC is a French women's football club based in Viry-Châtillon, a suburb of Paris. The club is the female section of Ligue 1 men's club Paris FC. The club was founded in 1971 and currently play in the Première Ligue, the first division ...

in the French First Division,

OH Leuven Oh, OH, or Oh! is an interjection, often proclaiming surprise (emotion), surprise. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * Oh! (Girls' Generation album), ''Oh!'' (Girls' Generation album), 2010 * Oh! (ScoLoHoFo album), ''Oh!'' (S ...

and DVC Eva's Tienen in the

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

and

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

, also playing the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

with Tienen. Cayman made three appearances for the NWSL's

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...

in 2016, a season which culminated with the team's first ever

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

. This was also the first trophy of Cayman's professional career. On 11 July 2023, it was announced that Cayman was joining Leicester City following a successful four year spell with

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

where she won eight trophies, including two Champions League tournaments. She scored the winner in the 1–0 victory against Everton on 28 January 2024. Cayman extended her Leicester contract on 20 June 2024 through the end of the 2024/25 season.

International

She is a member of the Belgium national team, making her first appearance in 2007 at 18 years old in a match against Germany. A highlight of her international career is when she scored four goals during their appearance at the

2016 Algarve Cup The 2016 Algarve Cup was the 23rd edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place from 2 to 9 March. Teams Referees On 19 February 2016, FIFA announced the referees and the assis ...

, making her top scorer of that tournament. She helped Belgium qualify for their first major tournament,

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 ...

as well as to quality for the next tournament in

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 ...

. On 12 November 2019, Cayman played her 100th match for Belgium against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. Nearly five years later on 12 July 2024 in a match against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, Cayman became the first women's national team player to appear in 150 matches for Belgium. She is only the second Belgian player to receive 150 caps with

the first, who received 157 caps over his career. At the start of 2022, Cayman helped Belgium win the

Pinatar Cup The Pinatar Cup, by full name Pinatar Cup by IAST SPORTS, is an invitational women's association football tournament held in March in San Pedro del Pinatar, Region of Murcia, Spain. In the first edition (in 2020), it was contested by Iceland, Nor ...

in Spain for the first time, beating

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

on penalties in the final after a 0-0 draw, with Cayman scoring in the shoot-out. She was named in the Belgium squad for

UEFA Women's Euro 2022 The 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2022 or simply Euro 2022, was the 13th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champio ...

in England, in their second appearance at the continental finals. The Red Flames finished second in

Group D Group D may refer to: * FIA Group D - International Formula racing cars: ** Formula Two ** Formula Three ** Formula 3000 * One of six or eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup ** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group D ** 2018 FIFA Worl ...

behind group favourites

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 ...

, against whom they conceded a narrow defeat (1–2), but ahead of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

with a 1-1 draw and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, who they edged out 1-0. Belgium lost 1-0 to

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 ...

in the quarter-finals. Cayman went on to contribute to Belgium's successful qualification for

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 ...

via the play-offs, starting both legs of the play-off final against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Career statistics

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

Honours

Pali Blues *

USL W-League USL W-League may refer to: * USL W League * USL W-League (1995–2015) The USL W-League was a North American amateur women's soccer developmental organization. The league was a semi-professional, open league, giving college players the oppor ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Western New York Flash *

NWSL The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

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 ...

Olympique Lyonnais *

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. ...

: 2019–20, 2021–22 *

Division 1 Féminine Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 to ...

: 2021–22,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Coupe de France féminine The Coupe de France Féminine (, ''Women's French Cup'') is the top annual cup tournament for French women's football clubs. The competition is open to all professional and non-professional women's teams in France. Founded in 2001 as Challenge ...

: 2019–20, 2022–23 *

Trophée des Championnes The Trophée des Championnes is a French women's association football trophy contested as an annual match between the champions of Division 1 Féminine and the winners of the Coupe de France Féminine from previous season. It is the female equi ...

: 2019,

Belgium *

References

External links

* *
Player French football stats
at footofeminin.fr *
Janice Cayman Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cayman, Janice 1988 births Living people Belgian women's footballers Belgium women's youth international footballers Belgium women's international footballers Belgian expatriate women's footballers Paris FC (women) players Expatriate women's footballers in France Belgian expatriate sportspeople in France Pali Blues players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Women's association football midfielders Women's association football forwards Florida State Seminoles women's soccer players Footballers from Brasschaat Western New York Flash players National Women's Soccer League players Olympique Lyonnais Féminin players Montpellier HSC (women) players Première Ligue players Oud-Heverlee Leuven (women) players FIFA Women's Century Club UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players Expatriate women's footballers in England Leicester City W.F.C. players Women's Super League players Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England UEFA Women's Champions League–winning players 21st-century Belgian sportswomen