Lucía García Córdoba (; born 14 July 1998) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

or winger for

Liga MX Femenil Liga MX Femenil, also known as Liga BBVA MX Femenil for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in Mexico. Supervised by the Mexican Football Federation, Federación Mexicana d ...

side

C.F. Monterrey Club de Fútbol Monterrey Rayados, A.C., simply known as Monterrey or by its nickname Rayados, is a Mexican professional association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León, that plays in Liga MX, the top d ...

and the Spain national team. Starting with Spain U17, she has represented Spain internationally since 2015.

Early life

García was the only female in a set of

quadruplets A multiple birth is the culmination of a multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such births ...

. She was born at Cruces University Hospital in

Barakaldo Barakaldo (; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country in Spain. Located on the Left Bank (Biscay), Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is pa ...

, Basque Country, 180 miles from her hometown of

Aller, Asturias Aller ( Asturian: ''Ayer'') is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is bordered on the north by Mieres, on the south by the province of León, on the east by Laviana, Caso, and Sobrescobio, a ...

, after her mother decided on a specialist hospital due to the increased risk of a multiple birth. They were born prematurely after seven months and initially placed into incubators. Growing up she has stated that none of her brothers were particularly interested in football, and she played on the street as the village of 200 inhabitants had no football field. She played one year of

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

in nearby

Cabañaquinta Cabanaquinta (Spanish name: Cabañaquinta, and officially Cabanaquinta / Cabañaquinta) is one of 18 parish (administrative division) in Aller, a municipality within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northern Spain.< ...

before taking up

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

for two years. When she was 13 years old, a

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

teacher suggested García try out for the youth team at

Oviedo Moderno Real Oviedo Femenino, officially named as Oviedo Moderno Club de Fútbol, is a Spanish women's football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. It acts as the women's section of Real Oviedo. History Founded in 1980 as México-La Corredoria CF to play a ...

Club career

Oviedo Moderno

On 8 September 2013, García made her senior debut for newly-promoted

first division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

team

at the age of 15. She appeared as a 67th-minute substitute for

Irene del Río Irene del Río Peláez (born 6 October 1991) is a Spanish former footballer who played club football for Real Oviedo and Barcelona, and also represented Spain at under-17 and under-19 youth international levels. Club career Del Río played fo ...

on the opening day of the 2013–14 Primera División as Oviedo lost 2–1 to

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. In her debut season she scored eight goals in 26 league appearances as Oviedo finished 13th of 16 teams. She scored another eight goals in 18 appearances the following season as the team finished 10th, their best finish since 2003. In her third season, García scored three times in 19 games as Oviedo finished 15th and were relegated.

Athletic Bilbao

Following Oviedo's relegation at the end of the 2015–16 season, García remained in the Primera División and signed for reigning champions

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

in June 2016 – under their self-imposed player restrictions, the circumstances of her birth made her eligible to play for the all-Basque club. She made her debut on 3 September 2016, starting in the opening game of the season and scored in the 2–0 win over

Fundación Albacete Fundación Albacete is the women's football section of Albacete Balompié. Founded in 2004 they reached the Spanish league's top division in 2014. History Fundación Albacete was founded in 1997 with the aim to promote sport, education and c ...

. She made her Champions League debut during the season, starting in a 2–1 win over reigning

Danish Women's League The Danish Women's League () is a professional top-flight league for women's football in Denmark. It is organised by the Danish Football Association (DBU) as part of the nation-wide Danmarksturneringen i kvindefodbold (Kvinde-DM) and is placed a ...

champions

Fortuna Hjørring Fortuna Hjørring is a women's association football team from Hjørring, Denmark. The club was formed in 1966 and play in green and white. Their biggest achievement in European football was reaching the 2002–03 UEFA Women's Cup final where the ...

in the round of 32 first leg. After scoring five and seven goals in her first two seasons respectively, García had a breakout season during 2018–19 season, scoring 13 goals in 22 matches, the most on the team and joint-8th best in the league. She scored her first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

on 13 March 2019 in a 4–3 league win over

Logroño Logroño ( , , ) is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja, Spain. Located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, primarily in the right (South) bank of the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of pa ...

. Despite an injury impacted 2019–20 season, García made 18 league appearances, scoring nine goals. The following season she made 29 league appearances and scored a career-high 16 goals but, despite her own personal success, Athletic finished 11th in the 2020–21 Primera División, lower than the club's previous worst finishing position of 5th since joining the Primera División in 2002. In her final season, García scored a team-leading 12 league goals as the team improved to 7th. In six seasons, she scored 63 goals in 161 appearances in all competitions to help the club achieve a highest league finish of third in 2017–18, also reaching the

Copa de la Reina Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Association * Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association * Parlia ...

semi-finals twice. In 2022, she elected not to renew her contract at Athletic (as did teammate and fellow Spanish international Ainhoa Moraza).

Manchester United

On 25 July 2022, García signed a two-year contract with English

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

club

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. She made her debut on 17 September 2022 in a 4–0 win against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

before scoring her first goal for the club the following week in a 2–0 away win against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

on 25 September. On 21 May 2023, García came off the bench to score the winning goal in the 90+1st minute of the

Manchester derby The Manchester derby refers to association football, football matches between Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, first contested in 1881. City play at the City of Manchester Stadium in Bradford, ...

, securing United's first ever league win over

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. In February 2024, during the 2023–24 season, García scored United's only goal in a 3–1 defeat to Arsenal in front of a record-breaking WSL crowd of 60,160 at a sold out

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a association football, football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. ...

. In the 2024 Women's FA Cup final on 12 May 2024, García scored twice and was named player of the match, as Manchester United won the Women's FA Cup for the first time, beating

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

4–0 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. On 26 June 2024, it was announced that García would leave the club upon the expiry of her contract.

Monterrey

On 26 June 2024, it was announced that García had signed for

club

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

. She made her debut for the club during a 4–0 defeat to Tigres in the

CONCACAF W Champions Cup The CONCACAF W Champions Cup is an annual continental women's football club competition organized by CONCACAF that determines the club champion for the region encompassing North America, Central America and the Caribbean. It is comparable to ...

on 22 August 2024. Four days later, on 26 August, she scored her first goal for the club during her league debut in a 5–0 victory against

Deportivo Toluca Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V. is a Mexican professional football club based in Toluca, State of Mexico. The club plays in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football, from which they have never been relegated. The club was f ...

International career

Youth

As a youth, García represented Spain at under-17, under-19 and under-20 level including at four major youth tournaments:

2015 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The 2015 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship was the eighth edition of the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, the annual European youth association football, football competition contested by the women's under-17 national teams of the member assoc ...

, two editions of the

UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, is an annual competition in women's football for European national teams of players under 19 years of age. National under-19 teams whose countries belon ...

(

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

), and two

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held biennially. ...

tournaments (

and

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 ...

). Spain won the

, beating Switzerland 5–2 in the final. García started all five games in the tournament and finished second in the golden boot race with five goals, one behind

Stefanie Sanders Stefanie Antonia Sanders (born 12 June 1998) is a German association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for Danish Women's League club Odense Boldklub Q. She previously played for SV Werder Bremen (women), ...

of Germany. The following year she represented Spain at the

2016 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The 2016 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship was the 15th edition of the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship (19th edition if the Under-18 era is included), the annual European international youth football championship contested by the women's under- ...

in Slovakia as they finished as runners-up, losing to France 2–1 in the final. She scored four goals in five appearances, third behind golden boot winner

Marie-Antoinette Katoto Marie-Antoinette Oda Katoto (born 1 November 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Première Ligue club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Widely considered as one of the best strikers in the worl ...

and runner-up

Jill Roord Jill Jamie Roord (born 22 April 1997) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Vrouwen Eredivisie club FC Twente and the Netherlands national team. She previously played for Arsenal and Manchester City in the English Wo ...

. She was recalled to the squad later in the year for the

2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 8th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international Women's association football, women's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-20 national te ...

in Papua New Guinea, playing in all four games and scoring three goals: two in a group stage victory over Canada and another in a 3–2 defeat after extra-time to North Korea in the quarter-finals. She retained her place with the under-19s in 2017 and was selected by Pedro López to go the

2017 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The 2017 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Women's Under-19 Euro 2017) was the 16th edition of the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship (20th edition if the Under-18 era is included), the annual international youth football cham ...

. Spain won the tournament with a stoppage time goal from

Patricia Guijarro Patricia "Patri" Guijarro Gutiérrez (; born 17 May 1998) is a Spanish professional Women's association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga F club FC Barcelona Femení, Barcelona and the Spain women's national football team, ...

against France. García started every game in the tournament and scored twice, second on the team behind Guijarro's five goals although she was not one of the seven Spanish players selected to the team of the tournament. The result also qualified Spain for the

2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its i ...

. She made two appearances, both in the group stage, and scored once in a 2–2 draw with United States. Spain finished as runners-up, losing 3–1 to Japan in the final.

Senior

García earned her first senior international call-up for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

for 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 ...

. She was given her debut during the tournament by

Jorge Vilda Jorge Vilda Rodríguez (born 7 July 1981) is a Spanish football coach and UEFA Pro Licence holder, who is currently the head coach of the Morocco women's national team, since 12 October 2023. Previously, he was the head coach of the Spain wome ...

on 2 March 2018, as a 58th-minute substitute for

Jennifer Hermoso Jennifer Hermoso Fuentes (born 9 May 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX Femenil club Tigres UANL and the Spain national team. She is the all-time top scorer for Spain, and was part of her country's c ...

in a 0–0 draw with

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. She made a further two appearances 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 ...

and then in the final against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

as Spain won the tournament. In 2019, she was the youngest player named in the Spain squad 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 ...

aged 20. García scored her first senior international goal on 8 June 2019, the third in Spain's 3–1 comeback win against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in their opening group game to secure Spain's first ever win at a FIFA Women's World Cup. In 2020, García scored four goals in four appearances for Spain. She scored a brace against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in a 3–1 victory at the

2020 SheBelieves Cup The 2020 SheBelieves Cup was the fifth edition of the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational women's soccer tournament held in the United States. Featuring national teams from Spain, England, Japan, and hosts United States, it began on March 5 and ende ...

and another brace against

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

during

UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying The UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying competition was a women's football competition that determined the 15 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts England in the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 final tournament. Apart from England, 47 of the rem ...

as Spain won 9–0. In 2022, García was named to the squad for

UEFA Women's Euro 2022 The 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2022 or simply Euro 2022, was the 13th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champio ...

, her second successive major tournament. With

ruled out of the tournament through injury, García scored twice in a warm-up game against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

before starting all three group games, scoring in a 4–1 win over

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. She was an unused substitute for the quarter-final match against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

as Spain lost 2–1 in extra-time. She was one of '' Las 15'', a group of players who made themselves unavailable for international selection in September 2022 due to their dissatisfaction with head coach

, and among the dozen who were not involved 11 months later as Spain won the World Cup.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each García goal.''

Honours

Manchester United *

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

: 2023–24; runner-up:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

;Spain Youth *

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 ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

runner-up:

;Spain *

UEFA Women's Nations League The UEFA Women's Nations League is a biennial international Women's association football, women's football competition contested by the senior List of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the member association ...

: 2023–24 *

Cyprus 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

*
Lucia Garcia
at

Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. They compete in the Premier League, t ...

()
Lucía García
at Athletic Club () {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Lucia 1998 births Living people Women's association football forwards Spanish women's footballers Footballers from Barakaldo Footballers from Asturias People from Aller, Asturias Quadruplets Spanish twins Spain women's international footballers Real Oviedo (women) players Athletic Club (women) players 21st-century Spanish sportswomen Manchester United W.F.C. players C.F. Monterrey (women) players Liga F players Liga MX Femenil players Spanish expatriate women's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in England Expatriate women's footballers in Mexico 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players Spain women's youth international footballers Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Spain