Tessa Wullaert (born 19 March 1993) 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 a forward for

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

and the Belgium national team, where she has amassed the second-highest number of caps for her country ever. She is her country's highest goalscorer of all-time in women's international football with 87 goals, and also holds the absolute goalscoring national record having scored two more than

Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. Lukaku began h ...

. Wullaert has won league titles in Belgium and Germany, plus the English FA Cup.

Club career

Belgium

Wullaert's first team was SV Zulte Waregem 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– ...

, where she played from 2008 to 2012. For the 2012–13 season, when the

BeNe League The BeNe League was the highest women's football league in Belgium and the Netherlands. To increase competitiveness in their national leagues, the BeNe League was a joint cooperation between the Royal Belgian Football Association and the Royal D ...

, a new joint league between Belgium and the Netherlands, was created, she moved to RSC Anderlecht, with which she won the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

. She left after one year and signed for

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

, scoring 16 league goals during the 2013–14 season and winning the Belgian Cup again. In 2014–15, her second season playing for Standard, she won the BeNe League top scorer award with 18 goals, helping the club win the title.

Wolfsburg

In May 2015, Wullaert moved to VfL Wolfsburg. She spent three seasons with the club, winning two

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 ...

and three

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

titles. She also appeared in two Champions League finals, both as a substitute.

Manchester City

In June 2018, Wullaert signed for English

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

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 ...

. In her first season with the club, Wullaert won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and League Cup double, finishing runner-up in the league. Following two seasons with the club, Wullaert announced she had declined a new contract and would be leaving.

Anderlecht

In 2020, Wullaert moved back to Belgium to be closer to her family and boyfriend. She signed a contract with Anderlecht that made her the only fully professional female footballer in Belgium at the time. She scored more than 30 goals in each of her two seasons with Anderlecht, leading the Women's Super League in scoring and helping Anderlecht win two league titles and the Belgian Cup in 2022.

Fortuna Sittard

After two years in her native Belgium, Wullaert agreed terms with newcomers to the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

Fortuna Sittard, situated just across the border from Belgium. In March 2024, she scored a league record of 7 goals in an 8–0 win over Telstar. With 26 goals, Wullaert became top scorer of the 2023–24 Eredivisie. She also won the league's .

Inter Milan Women

On 7 June 2024, it was announced that Wullaert would join the Inter Milan women's team.

International career

Wullaert represented Belgium at the 2011 UEFA Women's U-19 Championship and in the same year made her debut for the senior national team. Within four years she achieved the record for highest number of international goals by a Belgian female football player, going level up with team captain Aline Zeler in October 2015, overtaking her in March 2016. Wullaert played in Belgium's only two appearances at the Women's European Championships, their group stage exit at Euro 2017 where she netted in a 2–1 loss to

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and the Red Flames' subsequent run to quarter-finals at Euro 2022, where she did not score but did help Belgium out of their group for the first time ever. 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. At the start of 2022, Wullaert was named in the Belgium squad for the Pinatar Cup friendly tournament in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

but had to pull out through injury. Belgium went on to win the tournament for the first time, beating

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on penalties after a 0–0 draw. Wullaert's two goals against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying play-off semi-final second leg on 29 October 2024 saw her reach 85 goals for her country, matching

's men's record to become the joint-highlest goalscorer ever for any Belgiam senior national football team. This record came in her 137th appearance for the Red Flames, with only

Janice Cayman Janice Cayman (; born 12 October 1988) is a Belgian professional soccer, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Women's Super League club Leicester City W.F.C., Leicester City, which she captains, and the Belgium women's national fo ...

amassing more caps (153). Wullaert took custody of the Belgian outscoring senior reconrd again when she netted her 86th goal for the Red Flames in their 2–0 Euro 2025 play-off final first-leg win away to Ukraine on 29 November 2024, scoring the clincher in the second-leg for a 2–1 win on the night, qualifying 4–1 on aggregate. Among Wullaert's record national haul of 92 goals, Wullaert has scored eight hat-tricks in her international career, including a five-goal haul in a 19–0 Women's World Cup qualifier against

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

in 2021 and four against

in another qualifier in 2015.

Career statistics

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

Honours

Zulte Waregem * Belgian Women's Second Division: 2008–09 Anderlecht * Belgian Women's Super League: 2021, 2022 * Belgian Women's Cup: 2013, 2022 Standard Liège *

: 2014–15 * Belgian Women's Cup: 2014 VfL Wolfsburg *

: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 *

: 2016–17, 2017–18 * UEFA Women's Champions League runner-up: 2015–16, 2017–18 Manchester City * FA Women's League Cup: 2018–19 *

: 2018–19 Belgium * Pinatar Cup:

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 ...

Individual *

topscorer: 2014–15 *

player of the season: 2014–15 * The Sparkle: 2015 * Belgian Golden Shoe: 2016, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024 *

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

topscorer: 2020–21, 2021–22 * Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year: 2021–22 * Record of most goals in 1

-game (7): 2024 *

top scorer: 2023–24 * Eredivisie Player of the Year: 2023–24 * Honorary Citizen of Harelbeke, Belgium: 2024 * Belgium women's record goalscorer: 75 goals

References

External links

* *
Player German domestic football stats
at DFB * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wullaert, Tessa 1993 births Living people Women's association football forwards Belgian women's footballers Belgium women's international footballers Belgian expatriate women's footballers Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in Germany RSC Anderlecht (women) players Standard Liège (women) players VfL Wolfsburg (women) players Manchester City W.F.C. players Fortuna Sittard (women) players Inter Milan (women) players Women's Super League players Super League Vrouwenvoetbal players People from Tielt Frauen-Bundesliga players BeNe League players FIFA Women's Century Club Footballers from West Flanders UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players Eredivisie (women) players Serie A (women's football) players 21st-century Belgian sportswomen