Taking place every four years, the Women’s World Cup is the greatest showcase for women’s football.
All the top players around the globe will be targeting the 2023 tournament in Australia and New Zealand as perhaps the most visible and prestigious competition they will play at throughout their careers.
From Ballon d’Or winners to FIFA video game cover athletes to international icons, there will be some sensational players in Australia and New Zealand this summer, ready to lead their teams to glory and lift the iconic trophy.
The Sporting News ranks the 10 best players at the Women’s World Cup, plus a mention for those left off, and a nod to the many great players who may have made the list had they not been ruled out due to injury.
MORE: This USWNT rising star is primed for big things at the World Cup
Ranking Top 10 players at the 2023 Women’s World Cup
10. Ada Hegerberg — FW, Norway
Once one of the most fearsome strikers in the world, Ada Hegerberg has been robbed of some of her prime years by injuries. A torn ACL in 2020 left her sidelined for 21 months, a layoff lengthened by surgery on a stress fracture in September of 2021. She returned to the field to become an integral part of Lyon’s Champions League title run in 2022 and ended a five-year exile from the Norway national team.
Another injury in September of 2022 saw Hegerberg sidelined for another six months, with her club and country. She’s only just come back this past March, scoring four goals in six games for club and country.
Hegerberg is one of the world’s best goalscorers when healthy and, still just 27 years old, she has plenty of time to recapture her former glory. There’s no better place to do that than the Women’s World Cup.
9. Magdalena Eriksson — CB, Sweden
There are many potential nominees as the best centre-back at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, but Magdalena Eriksson gets the nod and makes the list. Nearly at the 30-year-old mark, Eriksson is departing Chelsea this summer at the expiry of her contract, but has still been an enormous part of their domestic title charge and Champions League semifinal run.
8. Lucy Bronze — RB, England
There were questions around Bronze’s ability to bounce back from knee surgery in late 2021, but she has proven she still belongs among the world’s best players. If it needed proving, her hard-fought “assist” (not officially credited with one) to Chloe Kelly in extra time to win the European Championship last summer showed she was back.
With England now beset by injuries, Bronze will have to take a leading role at the World Cup, both on the field and in the locker room.
Bronze has won an NCAA title with North Carolina, three domestic league titles with two different clubs, three Champions League titles, five domestic Cup titles with two different clubs, English league Player of the Year twice, England Player of the Year twice, and a European Championship with England. All that’s left for her to win is a World Cup, and this may be her best — and last — shot. No pressure!
7. Sophia Smith — FW, United States
Mallory Pugh’s rise to prominence through the early part of 2023 while Sophia Smith was sidelined with an injury left Smith an afterthought in the World Cup conversation. Now, Pugh is injured and it’s Smith who will be relied on up front alongside Alex Morgan.
The loss of Pugh is massive, but the U.S. are still in very good hands. After winning the 2022 NWSL MVP award, Smith has an insane four goals and five assists through just seven league games this season for the Portland Thorns, proving she’s back to her best, which is world class.
With Pugh out for the tournament, a heavy attacking load will be placed on Sophia Smith’s shoulders, and if the U.S. is to complete an unprecedented three-peat, she will have to be in form.
6. Caroline Graham Hansen — CM, Norway
One of the unsung heroes of the absolutely stacked Barcelona club side, Caroline Graham Hansen plays largely on the right-wing, cutting inside to devastating effect. She’s an assist queen, with 20 combined feeds across the last two Spanish league seasons.
This year, however, she has become involved in the goalscoring action herself a little more, scoring 11 times for Barcelona in the league, up from eight the previous campaign. She bagged both of Barca’s goals in the two Champions League semifinal legs against Chelsea that sent the Spanish side through to the title game, part of a stretch where she scored seven goals across six club games through April and May.
As the sensational winger continues to enjoy fine form, she and Alexia Putellas will create a devastating combination that will see Spain marked as World Cup title contenders.
5. Aitana Bonmati — CM, Spain
One of a host of Barcelona players on this list, Aitana Bonmati is a classic technical midfielder who has incredible passing and skill on the ball.
The 25-year-old has been considered one of the world’s best midfielders for a while now, but after adding goalscoring and final-third creativity to her already stuffed tool box, she’s one of the most well-rounded weapons in the game. She scored 14 goals and assisted 17 more for Barcelona this season across the Spanish league and European outings, and while she plays a slightly deeper role for Spain, she’s still a huge threat up top.
Just look at this statistical output, courtesy of FBRef. Who else in the world dominates in every statistical category like that? Bonmati is an incredible player continuing to get better, and she could be a Ballon d’Or candidate in the future.
I’m putting together a list of the Top 10 women’s players in the world ahead of the Women’s World Cup.
Just found this. LMAO pic.twitter.com/doYGcE8D6X
— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) May 18, 2023
4. Alex Morgan — FW, United States
Alex Morgan will turn 34 just prior to the start of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and while she’s not the devastating goal-getter she once was, she remains an integral part of the top-ranked nation in the world.
As one of the world’s most recognizable players, Morgan has four goals in six NWSL appearances this season for the San Diego Wave, who are challenging for a playoff spot early in the season. She has transitioned her game to match the needs of the national team, getting better at non-scoring skills like hold-up play and off-ball movement to open up spaces for teammates in front of goal.
Underpinning Morgan’s consistent danger even as she reaches the twilight of her career, she became the USWNT’s all-time leading goalscorer as a mother when she bagged a goal against Brazil at the SheBelieves Cup in February. Label her as “declining” at your own risk.
3. Pernille Harder — FW, Denmark
Like Alexia Putellas, Pernille Harder is just now coming off a long-term injury, but remains one of the world’s best despite just getting her legs back under her. Set to leave Chelsea at the end of the club season, Harder picked up right where she left off before her hamstring tear.
She leads 15th-ranked Denmark into the World Cup, set for a tough group-stage fight alongside England, China, and Haiti. They will need her at her best, which saw her win UEFA Women’s Player of the Year twice. Harder is a year older than the two women ranked above her, but only injuries have slowed Harder down in recent years, and she will be ready to light up the FIFA tournament.
2. Sam Kerr — FW, Australia
One of the genuine superstars of the women’s game, Sam Kerr is a natural goalscorer. She had a down year this season for Chelsea, but it will take a lot more than that to dethrone her from this mantle.
Kerr graced the cover of FIFA 23, the first female cover athlete of the video game franchise. Now, as Kerr will turn 30 just after the World Cup ends, she will lead the host nation at a FIFA Women’s World Cup, hoping to prove that Australia belong among the upper tier of national sides.
1. Alexia Putellas — CM, Spain
The 29-year-old may only have just returned from her ACL tear, but there’s no doubt that when Alexia Putellas is on the field, she’s the best in the world.
A two-time Ballon d’Or recipient, Putellas has won two Champions League titles and seven La Liga crowns as the unquestioned leader of a loaded Barcelona squad. Now, she turns to the international stage where she hopes to lead a talented Spain side to similar glory.
Spain were a shell of themselves at the Euros after Putellas was lost due to injury, underlining her importance to an already world-class roster. If Putellas can conjure up her pre-injury form, Spain are unquestionably World Cup contenders.
Other top players at 2023 Women’s World Cup
While the best 10 players at the 2023 tournament are listed above, there are plenty of others just outside that top echelon who still deserve to be mentioned.
The top-ranked United States have a surprising lack of players among the top 10, filling the squad instead by high-quality role players, but crucial midfielders Rose Lavelle and Lindsey Horan were unlucky not to make the list.
Spain are loaded with top players, and striker Jennifer Hermoso can feel hard done by to see many of her international teammates make the list but herself be left off.
England saw a number of top players from their European title winning squad go down with injury, but they still have Ella Toone and Lauren Hemp who are now ready to lead the attack, in the hunt for another title.
Dutch forward Lieke Martens has twice been nominated for Ballon d’Or awards, and while injuries have sapped her career to the point where she’s no longer among the top 10, she is now healthy and ready to prove she can still play.
Canada, ranked sixth in the world, didn’t see any players crack the top 10, but defenders Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence weren’t far off. Young midfielder Julie Grosso could one day see her name on that list if she continues to see her star rise rapidly, and Kailen Sheridan is quickly becoming one of the top goalkeepers in the world.
Top injured players out of 2023 Women’s World Cup
A number of top players across the world over the last two years have seen significant knee injuries, with several ruled out of this year’s World Cup.
The top-ranked United States suffered a devastating blow, losing rising star Mallory Pugh in the run-up to the World Cup to a torn patella tendon. The U.S. were also sweating the fitness of brilliant young attacking midfielder Catarina Macario as the World Cup neared, as she recovered from a torn ACL.
Similarly, England lost Chelsea duo Millie Bright and Fran Kirby to knee injuries, a major blow to one of the title favorites. However, the biggest loss for The Three Lions is that of Beth Mead, who suffered a torn ACL in November.
Dutch forward Vivianne Miedema went down with a torn ACL while on club duty with Arsenal, ruling one of the best strikers in the game out of the competition.
While not due to injury, France will be missing young star Marie-Antoinette Katoto and captain Wendie Renard, who likely would have made this list but ruled themselves out of the competition. Their withdrawal came as a result of a dispute with the conditions of national team camp and treatment by management. Katoto is also recovering from a torn ACL of her own, and her fitness for the tournament was in doubt.