Laia Aleixandri López (; born 25 August 2000) is a Spanish 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

defensive 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

Liga F The Primera División de la Liga de Fútbol Femenino, currently known as the Liga F (finetwork Liga F for sponsorship reasons), is the highest level of Sports league, league competition for women's football in Spain. It is the women's equivalent ...

club

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

and the Spain national team. In January 2020, she was named by

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

as one of the 10 most promising young players in Europe.

Club career

Youth

Laia started playing football when she was 4 years old. Between 2006 and 2008 she played for CE Arrabal Calaf in the youngest category. In 2008 she started playing at CE Sant Gabriel where she stayed for four years. She entered the youth ranks of FC Barcelona at the age of 11 and played for three seasons.

FC Barcelona "B"

In the 2015–16 season, Laia joined

Barcelona B Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within cit ...

, making her debut in the Second Division at the age of 14 on the U17 team. They were proclaimed champion of their group with 72 points in 26 games. In the 2016–17 season, she was once again part of the club's B squad. That season they once again became champions of their category with 60 points.

Atlético Madrid

Laia signed for

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

and made her debut on 2 September 2017 in the First Division in an away match against

Fundación Albacete Fundación Albacete is the women's football section of Albacete Balompié. Founded in 2004 they reached the Spanish league's top division in 2014. History Fundación Albacete was founded in 1997 with the aim to promote sport, education and c ...

, earning a 3–1 victory. On 25 April 2018, she suffered a fracture of the ulna and radius of her right arm while playing with the

U20 national team U, or u, is the twenty-first letter and the fifth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''u'' (pronounced ), ...

. Laia played seven league games in the 2017–18 season and ended up becoming champion of the League and runner-up in the national cup with Atlético Madrid. Laia played in the

U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

with an outstanding performance, establishing herself as a starter in the 2018–19 season. On 4 November 2018, she scored her first goal with Atlético against Levante and was chosen Player of the Match. She continued to be a starter throughout the league season, missing only one game due to injury and another due to suspension. In May 2019, she achieved her second League title. In the

Copa de la Reina Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Association * Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association * Parlia ...

, she had a prominent role in the semi-finals and played in the final where Atlético were runners-up to

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

. During the 2019–20 season, she established herself as a starter. She played 20 league games before it was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and finished runner-up in the league. In the 2020–21 season, she debuted as captain in November, and was named fourth captain in December. In December, she was included in the Football Draft Golden Eleven for her performances during the season. In January 2021, she won the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

and was named best player of the championship. Then she was chosen best player of the month for February and March by the fans. In March 2021, the

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

included her in its UEFA Under-20 Team of the Year 2020. In the 2021–22 season, she scored a double in the 5–0 victory over

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

. In October 2021, she was chosen in the Golden Eleven of Football Draft. A regular starter in the team, in January 2022 her commemorative plaque was installed on the club's legends walk, which certifies having played more than 100 games for Atlético Madrid.

Manchester City

After another year being a key pillar at Atlético Madrid, on 9 June 2022, both Laia and

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

announced she would join the club at the beginning of the 2022–23 season. Laia scored in the 74th minute in the 1–0 win over

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the fifth round of the

2023–24 FA Cup The 2023–24 FA Cup was the 143rd season of the Football Association Challenge Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. The final was played on 25 M ...

, advancing Manchester City to the quarterfinals. Her departure from the club was announced following the last game of the 2024–25 season on 10 May 2025.

International career

Youth

With the U-16 national team, Laia was called up to play in the UEFA Development Tournament on 9 February 2015. She was proclaimed champion of the tournament along with her teammates after beating Scotland, Germany, and Netherlands. Laia debuted with the Spain U-17 team on 11 March 2015 at the age of 14 in Spain's 1–0 victory over

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 ...

in a friendly match, in which she scored the winning goal. On 22 March, she debuted in an official match against

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 ...

with a three-zero victory, scoring one of the goals. That summer, she was called up for the U-17 European Championship where she became champion by defeating

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

by 5–2 in the final. Laia was chosen as part of the Best Team of the tournament. In 2016, she played again in the U-17 European Championship where Spain lost the final on penalties against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and Laia was again chosen in the team of the tournament. That same year, she played in the 2016 FIFA U-17 World Cup, where Laia started in all the matches. She scored against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the group stage and was chosen Player of the Match. She was nominated for the Golden Ball of the tournament, and made the Best Team of the tournament. Spain finished as runners-up. In 2017. she played her third U-17 European Championship, captaining the team and losing on penalties in the final. Laia was once again part of the tournament's best team. Laia played a total of 34 games with the U-17 national team and scored 7 goals, being the player who has played the most games in this category. On 5 September 2017, Laia was called up to the U-19 national team. Laia debuted in this category on 12 September 2017 in Florence against

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 ...

in a match that ended with a 2–2 draw. Laia was called up with the U-20 national team to compete in the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

in France. She started as a substitute but an injury to

Ona Batlle Ona Batlle Pascual ( ; born 10 June 1999) is a Spanish professional women's association football, footballer from Catalonia who plays as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, full-back for Liga F club FC Barcelona Femení, Barcelona and ...

in the first match allowed her to play the rest of the games as a starter. Spain were runners-up in the world after losing 3–1 in the final against

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 ...

. She participated as a starter in the qualification for the 2019 U-19 European Championship. She played all four matches in the finals in Scotland as a starter, making her debut against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

as captain of the team and scoring the team's second goal by heading in a corner kick in a 2–1 victory. In the second match they beat

1–0, with which they qualified for the semi-final and for the 2020 U-20 World Cup. In the third match, they tied 0–0 against

, being second group by goal difference. In the semifinal 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 ...

, they tied the game and lost 3–1 in extra time. At the end of the tournament, she was chosen as part of the championship's ideal eleven.

Senior

She debuted with the senior national team on 17 May 2019 in a friendly against

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

in preparation for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

in France, in which she scored a goal. On 27 November 2020, she played her second match and her first in official competition in the 10–0 victory over

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

. Since then she was regularly called up as a replacement for the starting centre-backs,

Mapi León María Pilar León Cebrián (; born 13 June 1995), known as Mapi León, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Liga F club Barcelona and the Spain national team. León began her career with her hometown club of Pra ...

and

Irene Paredes Irene Paredes Hernández (; born 4 July 1991) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Liga F club FC Barcelona Femení, Barcelona and captains the Spain women's national football team, Spain na ...

. She started the first

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

match for the 2023 World Cup against the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

in which she scored the last goal of the match, concluding with a result of 10–0. She was called up to the first list of those selected for the Euro 2022. On 27 June, she was part of the final call to compete in the Euro. In 2023, she was part of '' Las 15'', a group of 15 players that withdrew themselves from the national team in a rift with the national team coach

Jorge Vilda Jorge Vilda Rodríguez (born 7 July 1981) is a Spanish football coach and UEFA Pro Licence holder, who is currently the head coach of the Morocco women's national team, since 12 October 2023. Previously, he was the head coach of the Spain wome ...

. On 10 June 2025, Aleixandri was called up to the Spain 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

International

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

Honours

Atletico de Madrid * Primera División: 2016–2017, 2017–2018, 2018–2019 *

runner-up:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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 ...

Barcelona B *

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

: 2015-16, 2016–17 Spain *

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:

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

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 ...

: 2023–24 Spain 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. ...

runner-up:

Spain U19 *

UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, is an annual competition in women's football for European national teams of players under 19 years of age. National under-19 teams whose countries belon ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

; runner-up:

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 ...

Spain U17 *

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 ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Individual * PFA WSL Team of the Year: 2023–24

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aleixandri, Laia 2000 births Living people Footballers from Santa Coloma de Gramenet Sportswomen from Catalonia Spanish women's footballers Women's association football defenders FC Barcelona Femení B players Atlético Madrid Femenino players Liga F players Spain women's youth international footballers Spain women's international footballers UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players Spanish expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's footballers in England 21st-century Spanish sportswomen Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Women's Super League players Catalonia women's international footballers Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Spain UEFA Women's Euro 2025 players