Before they became stars: Germany's Alexandra Popp

The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™ and its senior counterpart, the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, have always shared close ties. Over the years, the youth tournament has seen some of the biggest stars in women’s football emerge, with many making their mark on the global stage before going on to shine at senior level.

In this series, FIFA looks back at the journeys of these players, from their first exploits at U-20 level to their emergence as senior stars.

Alexandra Popp | Germany

One of the most recognisable figures in the history of German women's football, Alexandra Popp built a career defined by goals, leadership and longevity. A one-club stalwart for much of her career at VfL Wolfsburg, she won seven Bundesliga titles, 13 German cup trophies and two UEFA Women's Champions League crowns, becoming one of the most decorated players of her generation.

At senior international level, she made her Germany debut in February 2010 and went on to earn 145 caps, scoring 67 goals, with only Birgit Prinz and Heidi Mohr scoring more for the national team. She served as Germany captain from 2019 and was voted Germany's Footballer of the Year on three occasions (2014, 2016, 2023).

Why does her FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup campaign live in memory?

In 2010, Germany hosted the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup on home soil, and it was the tournament at which Popp, then still a teenager, first announced herself to the football world. At club level with FCR 2001 Duisburg, she was mostly deployed at full-back, with the forward positions occupied by the likes of Inka Grings and Simone Laudehr. "In the end, it doesn't matter to me where I play, that was never a discussion in Duisburg either," Popp said at the time. "But it's fun to play up front for the national team, because scoring goals is what I really enjoy."

Given licence to lead the line for Maren Meinert's side, Popp made the most of it. Germany swept through the competition unbeaten, winning all six of their matches, and Popp scored in every single one of them.

After Germany's opening 4-2 victory over Costa Rica in front of a sold-out crowd in Bochum, Popp continued to find the net through the knockout rounds, netting in a 2-0 quarter-final win over Korea DPR before adding to her tally in a commanding 5-1 semi-final victory over Korea Republic. In the final at the Bielefelder Alm, in front of a crowd of 24,633, Popp opened the scoring as Germany saw off Nigeria 2-0 to be crowned champions on home soil – the second of what would eventually be three German titles at the tournament.

By the end of the tournament, Popp had scored ten goals, matching the tournament record held by Canada's Christine Sinclair and USA's Sydney Leroux, to win the adidas Golden Boot. She was also named the adidas Golden Ball winner as the tournament's outstanding player. She shared the pitch with future Germany stalwarts Dzsenifer Marozsán, Marina Hegering, Svenja Huth, Almuth Schult, Tabea Kemme and Kim Kulig, but it was the then-teenage striker from Witten who left Germany 2010 as the undisputed star of the show.

What happened next?

Popp had already made her senior Germany debut a few months before the U-20 tournament, coming on as a substitute against Korea DPR in Duisburg. Her rise continued steadily thereafter, and by 2016 she was a key part of the Germany squad that won gold at the Women's Olympic Football Tournament in Rio de Janeiro, scoring in the 2-1 final victory over Sweden at the Maracanã.

Injury denied her appearances at the 2013 and 2017 European Championships, but Popp returned to lead her country as captain from 2019 onwards, guiding Germany to the FIFA Women's World Cup™ that same year. At the UEFA Women's EURO 2022, she inspired an unbeaten run to the final, only to be forced off with injury in the warm-up before the decisive match against England – a heartbreaking end to an otherwise outstanding tournament. Two years later, at the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™, Popp finished as the tournament's third-highest scorer with four goals despite Germany's group-stage exit.

Popp brought her international career to an emotional close in 2024, retiring with an Olympic bronze medal from Paris 2024 as her final achievement in the national team shirt.