The best women soccer players to never win the World Cup

Generations before what was known as the first Women's World Championship for the M&M's Cup took place in 1991, England's Lily Parr built the game for her gender in her nation unlike anyone before her. According to the BBC, the pioneer netted an astonishing 986 goals spanning from the days of World War I through three decades of active play. The first woman inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame, Parr continued to grow the women's game even after the Football Association banned females from playing on member grounds in 1921. She played through 1951. 

Norway and Lyon superstar Ada Hegerberg turns only 24 years old this summer, so one would assume she'll have at least a couple of future opportunities to win a World Cup. The 2018 Women's Ballon d'Or winner currently has other interests. Hegerberg quit the national team in 2017 due to her feelings on how women's football is treated in her country. "Football is the biggest sport in Norway for girls and has been for years, but at the same time girls don’t have the same opportunities as the boys," she told The Guardian's Suzanne Wrack in July 2018. The four-time Champions League winner further explained her stance to ESPN's Bonnie D. Ford earlier this year: "It's the amount of respect and the fact that we're equal in terms of conditions, the pitches we have, eating in the same canteen and really taking a part in the club together with the men's team."

Long before she managed both the United States and, later, Sweden, Pia Sundhage established herself as an all-time great footballer for The Blue and Yellow. As Philip O'Connor of Reuters pointed out, Sundhage notched 71 tallies in 146 international appearances for Sweden during her career, she won the Golden Boot, awarded to the top scorer, and she was named the top player at the Women's Euro 1984. She featured for the Sweden side that earned third-place honors at the inaugural World Cup in 1991. 

While Marta is Brazil's greatest-ever women's footballing export, Cristiane is probably Marta's best partner up front. The forward is second in international appearances (135) for Brazil behind only Formiga (167), per Marca's David Menayo, and Cristiane became her country's all-time leading Olympic scorer among both men and women in 2016, as Alex Baker of Yahoo Sports wrote. The 34-year-old likely playing in her last World Cup finished third for the FIFA World Player of the Year Award for 2007 and 2008. 

The talented England squad that entered the 2019 World Cup third in the FIFA rankings are looking to accomplish what Kelly Smith never could despite her greatness. Smith tallied 46 goals, a record among female footballers from the country, according to ESPN's Tom Hamilton, in 117 appearances from the mid-1990s through the halfway point of the current decade. Per Sky Sports news, she won 20 trophies at the club level with Arsenal. 

One doesn't think of Denmark when contemplating world footballing powers, but retired midfielder Katrine Pedersen nevertheless receives a shout here. Pedersen retired from the national team while pregnant in 2013, having won 210 caps during an international career that began in 1994, according to UEFA. In May 2014, former FIFA president Sepp Blatter referred to Pedersen as "an inspiration in the women’s game." She currently serves as a coach for Denmark.

Had Germany forward Heidi Mohr come along a decade later, she'd have won the World Cup at least twice. Part of the squad that finished second to Norway at the 1995 tournament, Mohr won the Silver Shoe at the '91 World Cup and the Golden Boot at the Women's Euro 1991. The three-time European champion scored 83 goals for Germany, a record that stood until Birgit Prinz eclipsed the mark in 2005, according to FIFA.

Sisleide Lima do Amor, better known as "Sissi," produced one of the greatest goals in World Cup history during the 1999 tournament, but the attacking midfielder was hardly a one-off. Along with sharing the Golden Boot with China's Sun Wen (more on her later) that year, Sissi won the Silver Ball, and Brazil defeated Norway on penalties in the third-place playoff. Well before the Canarinhas were capable of qualifying for a World Cup Final, Sissi was her generation's Marta and, as FIFA.com described her in 2016, a "trailblazer" and "the queen of Brazilian football."

Brazilian midfielder Formiga has played in every World Cup since the summer of 1995. Her country's most-capped player (167), the 41-year-old is making history, as David Stubbings of the Guinness World Records wrote, by appearing in the tournament a seventh time. Jamie Spencer of 90min.com added this interesting side note: "There are 150 players going to this World Cup in 2019 that weren't even born when Formiga, who still stars for Paris Saint-Germain at club level, went to her first in 1995." 

Decades before Mia Hamm became a household name among American girls and boys hoping to one day duplicate her on-the-pitch feats, Italian striker Elisabetta Vignotto set the mark for most goals scored in international matches. According to Soccer America, Vignotto played the majority of her national team matches in the 1970s, but some of her numbers have come into question. The Italian Football Federation claims she accumulated 97 goals in 95 international appearances. Nevertheless, Hamm broke Vignotto's recognized record of 107 tallies on May 22, 1999, as Donald Wine II of Stars and Stripes FC wrote. 

FIFA and ESPN's Ben Gladwell credit Italian "Scorpion" Patrizia Panico with 110 goals and 204 international appearances, both records for her country. The lethal striker inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame in 2015 continued to make history off the pitch after retiring from the national team. In March 2017, she became the first woman to coach an Italian men's side when she took over as manager of the U16 squad. 

Nigeria began the 2019 World Cup 38th in the FIFA rankings. As Samuel Ahmadu of Goal.com wrote, that didn't stop Barcelona forward Asisat Oshoala from fantasizing about winning the ultimate prize. "My biggest dream in France is to help the team win the [Women's World Cup] trophy," Oshoala said ahead of the tournament, per Ahmadu. The 24-year-old may never get there, but she's already proved she belongs among the world's elite competitions. In May 2015, Oshoala was named BBC Women's Footballer of the Year as a 20-year-old, and she's a three-time African Women's Footballer of the Year. Recently, she scored for Barca in a loss to Lyon in the 2019 Champions League Final, and, according to ESPN's Sam Marsden, became the first African to play in a Women's Final. 

Media outlets and fans labeled Louisa Cadamuro, maiden name Necib, "The Female Zidane" because, like Zinedine, she comes from Algerian ancestry and also possessed a special flair and style while on the ball. The France midfielder was a three-time Champions League winner and a nine-time French Division 1 Feminine champion, according to FIFA, but she was never able to guide Les Bleues to similar success at major tournaments. She retired after the 2016 Summer Olympics with 38 international goals and 148 caps. 

At just 28 years old, Kim Little is already one of the best attacking players ever produced by Scotland. Along with guiding clubs to titles in England, Australia and the United States, Little was named the first Professional Footballers' Association Women's Player of the Year in May 2013 and BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2016. One of the most entertaining midfielders in the sport deserves to play in at least one World Cup knockout match. 

When Sweden midfielder Therese Sjogran retired in June 2015 with 214 international appearances, the most in the country's history, per FIFA, she had plenty of hardware in her personal trophy case. Sjogran won runners-up medals at the Women's Euro 2001 and 2003 World Cup and bronze at the 2011 World Cup. According to Fusion, she became only the third European woman to reach 200 caps in October 2014. 

According to FIFA, South Africa's Portia Modise made history in October 2014 when she became the first player from the continent to reach 100 international goals. The following May, she retired from Banyana Banyana with 124 appearances and 101 tallies, and Haji Mohamed Dawjee of the Mail & Guardian hailed her as "South Africa’s most successful soccer player." Her goal at the 2012 Summer Olympics is one of the best you'll see buried during any major tournament. 

It appears Canadian midfielder Diana Matheson will never ascend to the World Cup mountaintop. As Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press explained (h/t CTV News ), the 35-year-old was ruled out of this year's competition because of a toe injury. A veteran of four prior tournaments, Matheson is currently on 203 international appearances. Only Christine Sinclair has more for Canada. 

Looking at the numbers, it's easy to understand why Italian striker Carolina Morace became the first woman inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame, in 2014. From 1978 through 1997, she hit the back of the net 105 times in 153 international appearances, per FIFA. According to CONCACAF, she notched the first Women's World Cup hat trick on November 17, 1991. She was named the Golden Player for the Women's Euro 1997. Domestically she won 12 league titles. 

Pernille Harder isn't playing in the 2019 World Cup since Denmark failed to qualify, but the 26-year-old still has time to help her country write its next footballing chapter. Harder has little to prove as it pertains to personal accomplishments. In August 2018, the Wolfsburg striker won the 2017/18 UEFA Women's Player of the Year award, and The Guardian named her the best female footballer in the world in December 2018. Harder ended the 2018-19 Champions League campaign as that competition's top scorer with eight goals. 

As explained by FIFA.com, an injury delayed Sweden forward Lotta Schelin's call-up to the national team, so she missed out on featuring for the side that lost to Germany in the 2003 World Cup Final. Schelin made up for it and then some through the summer of 2018. She won 185 caps and netted 88 goals, making her Sweden's all-time leading scorer, per Jeff Kassouf of Equalizer Soccer, and she thrice lifted the Champions League trophy with Lyon. Only the previously mentioned Therese Sjogran has more appearances for The Blue and Yellow. 

Scotland striker Julie Fleeting nearly hit the back of the net each time she stepped onto the pitch for her national team. According to FIFA, she scored an unfathomable 116 goals in 121 international appearances, and she won 17 major club trophies with Arsenal. The Scottish Football Hall of Fame, which inducted her in 2018, lists many of her numerous accomplishments, but one event missing is the World Cup. Scotland is playing in its first-ever tournament this June.

Here's another instance where the phrase "to never win the World Cup" must include "yet." The 25-year-old Kerr is the all-time leading goal-scorer in both the NWSL and the Australian W-League, per the Chicago Red Stars, and the Matildas' back-flipping star is a three-time PFA Women’s Footballer of the Year who finished third in BBC Women's Footballer of the Year voting in May 2019, according to Guardian Sport. If Australia can build a competent defense in the foreseeable future, Kerr can guide the country all the way to the top of the FIFA world rankings. 

As Sportsnet's Chris Black wrote, U.S. soccer legend Abby Wambach referred to Canadian forward Christine Sinclair as "the best all-around player in the world" back in 2012. Sinclair earned such praise throughout her exemplary career. Per the Canadian Press (h/t Sportsnet), Sinclair began the 2019 World Cup on 181 goals, only three behind the international record held by none other than the aforementioned Wambach. Sinclair, who celebrated her 36th birthday during the group stages of the tournament, is eyeing more than just a personal accomplishment during what may be her last appearance on the game's biggest stage. 

Considering China never finished first at an Olympics or World Cup during her career, forward Sun Wen may be the greatest player to never win a major international tournament. Wen buried 106 goals over 152 appearances, per FIFA, and she participated in the first three World Cup tournaments and also the 2003 competition. She was unplayable for much of the 1999 World Cup , where she won both the Golden Boot (tied with Brazil's Sissi) and Golden Ball. Along with American Michelle Akers, Wen was voted FIFA Women Player of the Century in 2000. 

In a fair and just sports simulation, Brazilian magician Marta, who earned the Golden Ball and Golden Boot for the 2007 World Cup, would already have hoisted her sport's most significant trophy ahead of this summer. The only woman, to date, to be named FIFA Women's World Player of the Year on six occasions, per the official Orlando City website, is the greatest player in history, let alone the best to never win the World Cup. She's currently 33 years old, meaning Father Time could be the last hurdle between her and the game's ultimate glory.