Ada Hegerberg

Ada Hegerberg is one of the greatest strikers in women's football history, renowned as the first winner of the Women's Ballon d'Or in 2018. From Molde, Norway, she stood out from a young age for her physical power and goal-scoring instinct, moving to major Scandinavian clubs while still a teenager before transferring to France. At Olympique Lyonnais, she became the club's all-time top scorer, playing a central role in the French team's series of European and domestic triumphs throughout the 2010s and early 2020s, reaching the historic milestone of 300 goals for the club in 2023. In 2017, Hegerberg decided to step away from the Norwegian national team in protest against the federation's treatment of women's football, missing the 2019 World Cup. She returned to the national team in 2022, in time to compete in the Euros that year and the 2023 World Cup. Her trajectory is frequently cited as a landmark in the fight for equal conditions in women's football, combining her talent on the pitch with a prominent role off it.