Celia Jiménez Delgado (born 20 June 1995), is a former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. She made her senior national team debut on September 17, 2014 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cups. Celia won the 2024

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

and

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

with the Pride and was a nominee for the Lauren Holiday Impact Award, honoring her contributions to the community promoting

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

education for young students. She holds a Bachelor of Science in

Aerospace Engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

(MBA) from

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

Early life

Born in

Alcaudete Alcaudete is a city located in the province of Jaén, Andalusia, Spain. As of 2018, it has a population of 10,558. It is home to a 12th-14th century Moorish castle, located on the top of the hill commanding the town. Other sights include the ''Ig ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, Celia grew up playing football at school during recess, leading her mother to encourage her to join hometown club ADV Alcaudete. At the age of 12, Celia was no longer allowed to play on boys' teams and left to join the girls' academy at

Real Jaén Real Jaén Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Jaén, Spain, Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1929 it plays in , holding home matches at ''Nuevo Estadio de La Vict ...

. She debuted for the senior team of FCF Atlético Jiennense, Jaén's female affiliate, during the

2009–10 Superliga Femenina The 2009–10 Superliga season was the 22nd since its establishment. Rayo Vallecano were the defending champions, having won their title in the previous season. League expansion and format changes On 26 May 2009, the Royal Spanish Football Feder ...

season, becoming the youngest Spanish first division player at the age of 14. Ahead of the

2010–11 Superliga Femenina The 2010–11 Superliga season will be the 23rd since its establishment. Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de ...

season, Celia joined

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

but the team was relegated to the Segunda División at the end of the campaign before winning promotion back to the Primera División the following season. After three seasons, Celia left Sevilla.

College career

Celia grew up fascinated by engineering and watched her older sister, Laura, pursue a career in

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

. Celia wanted to follow in her sister's footsteps but did not want to give up playing football so, despite fielding offers from clubs in Spain, decided moved to the United States on a scholarship to play collegiately while studying aerospace engineering. She spent two years at

Iowa Western Community College Iowa Western Community College is a public community college in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was founded in 1966 and offers 84 programs in both vocational and technical areas as well as in liberal arts. It is also home to a flight school. Campus A ...

, helping the Reivers to win the

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

National Championship title as a freshman while being named to the NJCAA 2013 All-Tournament Team and as the Most Valuable Forward in the tournament. She earned first-team All-American honours at the junior college level in both seasons. In 2015, Celia transferred to the

to join

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

program

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

. In her first season with the team, Celia made 19 appearances and was selected to the

All-SEC The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: * ...

second-team. She suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2016 preseason and considered retiring but, having spent a redshirt year focusing on her studies, returned in 2017 to make 20 appearances and earned All-SEC first-team honours.

Club career

Seattle Sounders

On 18 January 2018, Celia was selected in the fourth round (36th overall) of the 2018 NWSL College Draft by

Seattle Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

. In doing so she became the first Spanish player and the first Alabama Crimson Tide player to be drafted into the NWSL. She did not initially sign with the team, instead opting to remain in college to finish her degree. After graduating in June 2018, Celia trained full-time with Reign FC while playing for

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States. History The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer league as it enters its 25th season in 2023. The WPSL is also the largest women ...

side Seattle Sounders during the remainder of the

2018 WPSL season The 2018 WPSL season is the 22nd season of the Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States. History The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer ...

, scoring the winning goal in the Championship final.

FC Rosengård

On 13 August 2018, Celia joined Swedish

Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988. The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...

club

FC Rosengård FC Rosengård (), known as Malmö FF Dam () until 2007 and later LdB FC Malmö until 2013, is a professional football club based in Malmö, Scania, Sweden. The team was established as Malmö FF Dam in 1970. It started out with playing 7 seasons ...

for the remainder of the

2018 Damallsvenskan The 2018 Damallsvenskan was the 30th season of the Swedish Women's association football top division, Damallsvenskan. It began on 14 April 2018 and ended on 27 October the same year. Linköpings FC were the defending champions, having won the compe ...

season. She made her debut five days later, starting in a 10–0 win over

IFK Kalmar IFK Kalmar is a association football, football club based in Kalmar, Sweden. The team plays in Sweden's top-division women's league, Damallsvenskan. IFK Kalmar play their home games at Gröndals IP in Kalmar. Current squad . ...

. She made a total of 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal in a 3–0 win over

Kristianstads DFF Kristianstads DFF () is a women's association football club from Kristianstad, Sweden. The club is affiliated to the Scania Football Association. History Wä IF was founded in 1935 and their women team played from 1990 to 1994 and again in 199 ...

on 23 September.

Reign FC

Ahead of the

2019 NWSL season The 2019 National Women's Soccer League season was the seventh season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer ...

, Celia returned to sign with Reign FC. In her first season with the team, Celia made 13 appearances including 10 starts and scored once, the only goal in a 1–0 win over derby rivals

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

. During the NWSL offseason, Celia joined Australian W-League club

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

in November 2019 on loan for the

2019–20 W-League The 2019–20 W-League season was the twelfth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Nine teams competed in the league, with most of the players from Australia but 33 of them from 11 other cou ...

season. She made nine appearances and scored three goals. With the 2020 NWSL season disrupted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Celia played for the newly rebranded OL Reign during the

2020 NWSL Challenge Cup The 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup was a tournament during the 2020 National Women's Soccer League season to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first professional team sports event to return to play in United States ...

before missing the four-game friendly Fall Series to join

Division 1 Féminine Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 to ...

side and sister club of the OL Reign,

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

, on loan until June 2021. She ultimately didn't make an appearance for the team and was recalled from loan in February to prepare for Reign preseason. Despite not playing, Celia stated: "Being at OL pushed me to keep growing and developing as a player. I am very grateful for the opportunity both clubs gave to me." Ahead of the 2021 season, Celia also received a permanent resident

green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...

meaning she no longer occupied an NWSL international roster spot.

Orlando Pride

On 18 December 2021, Celia was traded during the

2022 NWSL Draft The 2022 NWSL Draft was the 10th annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on December 18, 2021, and hosted remotely by CBS Sports. Format * All 12 teams of the National ...

along with Leah Pruitt, the 10th overall pick, and a second-round pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft to

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

in exchange for Phoebe McClernon. On 7 November 2024, Celia announced that she would retire from professional football at the conclusion of the

2024 NWSL season The 2024 National Women's Soccer League season was the twelfth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer ...

Spanish National Team Career

Youth Spanish National Team

Celia has represented Spain at multiple youth levels, captaining both the under-17 and under-19 teams. She was part of the team that won the

2011 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The 2011 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship was the fourth edition of the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship. Spain women's national under-17 football team, Spain was the title holder. Like the previous tournaments, there were two qualifying rounds ...

, and also finished as runner-up at the

2014 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship 2014 Final Tournament was held in Norway from 15 to 27 July 2014. The first qualification matches were played on 21 September 2013. A competition record of 48 participating nations was set. For the first time ...

Spanish National Team

Celia made her

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

international debut aged 19 on 17 September 2014, starting against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

during

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification The qualification for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup determined which 23 teams joined Canada, the hosts of the 2015 tournament, to play for the Women's World Cup. The field was expanded from 16 teams in the 2011 edition to 24 in the 2015 edi ...

but had to be substituted after 25 minutes with an injury. With only three caps for Spain, Celia was included in the squad for the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

, the youngest player in the squad. She started in all three of Spain's

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

games in the country's first appearance at a

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

. Spain were eliminated as bottom of the group having lost to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, and drew with

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. In 2017, Celia was named to her second successive major tournament squad as Spain contested the

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship organised by UEFA for the ...

. She was an unused substitute behind

Marta Torrejón Marta Torrejón Moya (; born 27 February 1990) is a Spanish association football, footballer who plays as a defender (association football), defender for FC Barcelona (women), FC Barcelona and the Catalonia women's national football team, Catal ...

in all four games as Spain were eliminated on penalties by

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in the quarter-finals. In 2018, Celia was part of the squad that won the

2018 Cyprus Women's Cup The 2018 Cyprus Cup was the eleventh edition of the Cyprus Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Cyprus. It took place from 28 February to 7 March 2018. Spain won the title for the first time after defeating Italy 2–0 ...

. In 2019, Celia was called up for the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

. She made one appearance, as an 86th-minute substitute in a goalless draw with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in the group. Spain were eliminated in the round of 16 by eventual winners

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Career statistics

College summary

Club summary

International summary

Honours

Iowa Western Reivers *

National Championship: 2013 Seattle Sounders *

Championship:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Orlando Pride *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Spain U17 *

UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, is an annual European championship football tournament, organized by UEFA, for national teams of women under age seventeen. The tournament was first play ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Spain *

Cyprus Women's Cup The Cyprus Women's Cup is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's football. It has been held annually in Cyprus since 2008. Although the competition takes place in Cyprus, the hosts have yet to take part in the competitio ...

References

External links

* * * *
Alabama Crimson Tide bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jiménez, Celia 1995 births Living people Spanish women's footballers Women's association football fullbacks Footballers from Jaén, Spain Spain women's international footballers 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Iowa Western Reivers women's soccer players Alabama Crimson Tide women's soccer players Sevilla FC (women) players Seattle Sounders Women players FC Rosengård players Seattle Reign FC draft picks Seattle Reign FC players Perth Glory FC (women) players Liga F players Women's Premier Soccer League players Damallsvenskan players National Women's Soccer League players Spanish expatriate women's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players Spain women's youth international footballers Orlando Pride players 21st-century Spanish sportswomen