French captain Wendy Renard has continued her impressive run by being voted into the IFFHS Women’s World Team of the Year every time since.
Since the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) created its first men’s and women’s World Team of the Year in 2017, it has been included in all seven teams, with Leonard’s rival being only Argentine great Lionel Messi. The consistency is amazing. The central defender, like Messi, became one of the most decorated players in the history of the game.
Currently recovering from surgery last month, no player in history has won the UEFA Champions League more than Leonard. She has appeared in a record 10 finals, won eight and captained six, the last in 2022. She also became the first, and still only, woman to compete 100 times.
In 2023, Renard led Lyon to their 16th French league title and 10th Coupe de France title. As for the national team, he withdrew from the French national team in February due to inappropriate working conditions within the federation, making headlines with the caption, “A sad but necessary day for sanity.”
When head coach Corinne Diacre was replaced by namesake Hervé Renard, the Lyon captain returned and led France to the World Cup quarter-finals, where they lost on penalties to hosts Australia. The only thing Renard can’t get is international honors. Renard will be captaining the host nation’s team this summer as they aim to win the Olympic gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
After Renard, the woman with the most nominations for World Team of the Year is former Lyon teammate Lucie Bronze, who has been voted in the last five years but missed out on 2023. .
Voting for the IFFHS Women’s World Team of the Year is conducted by an international jury of journalists and soccer experts from more than 120 countries representing every continent of the world. But Renard is equally respected by her fellow professionals.
World players’ association FIFPro is also asking its members to vote for the team of the year. Since she was first named to the Women’s World Eleven in 2015, Leonard is also the only woman to be nominated for all seven teams (she was not selected for any team in 2018).
This week, Leonard was again selected as one of the 23 finalists for the FIFPro World Eleven, which will be selected at the Best FIFA Awards on January 15th in London.
Elsewhere in the IFFHS Women’s Team of the Year category, Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bommati and Chelsea’s Sam Kerr, who also made the team for the first time in 2017, have been nominated for the third consecutive year.
England goalkeeper Mary Earps was voted IFFHS World Player of the Year in her position earlier this week and becomes the second woman from her country to be nominated for the bronze medal.
In addition to defender Renard, candidates include Amanda Illestedt, who won the Bronze Ball at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and Olga Carmona, the winner of the World Cup final.
VfL Wolfsburg’s versatile central midfielder Lena Oberdorf, 22, was voted in for the second year in a row. Real Madrid’s Linda Caicedo, who won last year’s U20 Player of the Year award, became the youngest woman ever to be nominated for the World Team of the Year at the age of 18.
Completing the midfield is Hinata Miyazawa of Manchester United, the Women’s World Cup top scorer. He will be joined in the front car by Spanish World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso and current U20 World Player of the Year Salma Palaruello.
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