The Womens World Cup kicks off Friday in Paris. Twenty-four teams will traverse France for the next month in pursuit of soccers most prestigious trophy. Here are five players to watch during the tournament:
ALEX MORGAN, United States: Morgan was named the U.S. national teams Player of the Year after she closed out 2018 with 18 goals in 19 games. She had seven goals during the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tournament alone.
Morgan is a proven scorer: She also earned Player of the Year honors in 2012 when she had 28 goals and 21 assists, and helped the national team win an Olympic gold medal. Mia Hamm is the only other player to have 20-plus goals and assists during a single season.
The 29-year-old forward, who will have a birthday during the tournament in France, is playing in her third World Cup. She was the youngest player on the 2011 World Cup team, scoring a goal in the final match against Japan.
She scored her 100th goal with the national team in April not bad for a late-bloomer who didnt play club soccer until age 14.
Morgan, who also plays with the National Womens Soccer Leagues Orlando Pride, was named this year to Time Magazines 100 most influential people list.
CHRISTINE SINCLAIR, Canada: Sinclair is the most prolific scorer ever in Canadian soccer, and with 181 career goals shes edging closer to former U.S. star Abby Wambach, who holds the international record among men or women with 184.
Sinclair has been the face of the Canadian womens team for 19 years. Now 35, this tournament will be the soft-spoken captains fifth,
and likely final, World Cup. Canada has won bronze medals at the past two Olympics. But the closest the Canadians have come to a podium finish at the World Cup was in 2003, when they finished fourth.
From Burnaby, British Columbia, Sinclair won two NCAA championships at the University of Portland. Shes stayed in the Pacific Northwest, and plays with the NWSLs Portland Thorns.
MARTA, Brazil: Known by just her first name, Marta Vieira da Silva is a six-time FIFA World Player of the Year.
Marta is playing in her fifth World Cup, She has also played in four Olympics for Brazil, but so far, a championship has eluded her in both tournaments. The 33-year-old has the most World Cup goals with 15, one better than both Wambach and Germanys Birgit Prinz.
Growing up in a small town in Brazil, Marta played soccer with the boys. But her talent was recognized quickly and she left home to play soccer when she was just 14.
At the 2016 Olympics in her native country, she played with so much passion that fans crossed out Neymars name on their No. 10 jerseys and wrote in Martas.
