Inside the love lives of the FIFA Women’s World Cup stars
The Women’s World Cup has shone a spotlight on the love lives of some of the globe’s most talented sportswomen.
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With all eyes on the Women’s World Cup, it’s almost impossible to ignore the love stories between some of the world’s best athletes taking part in the tournament.
Eagle eyed fans reacted promptly when Ireland’s Ruesha Littlejohn appeared to snub the handshake of Matilda’s star Caitlin Foord, opening up a wild can of speculative worms.
The opening night scandal became one of the tournament’s biggest controversies, and left fans desperate for an insight on the icy moment.
The best theory to emerge was that Littlejohn was unhappy about Foord and her ex –
Ireland captain Katie McCabe, who she was with for seven years – being on the same European holiday.
McCabe had featured in photos posted online by the Aussie from a trip to Ibiza.
McCabe and Foord are Arsenal teammates in the Women’s Super League and reported to be good friends.
Foord appeared to already have her hands full with her love life, having recently split from fellow Arsenal star and Swiss midfielder Lia Walti.
She was with Walti while quarantining together during the peak of the Covid pandemic.
Katrina Gorry (Australia) and Clara Markstedt (Switzerland)
Another Aussie-Swiss union was that of Matildas star Katrina Gorry and Swedish footballer Clara Markstedt, with the pair having recently announced their engagement.
The romance blossomed in late 2021 when Gorry joined Swedish club Vittsjo GIK where her fiancee is a striker.
Markstedt reportedly helped the Aussie and her one-year-old daughter, Harper, find somewhere to live and the pair struck up a friendship before going on their first date in May, 2022.
Chloe Logarzo (Australia) and McKenzie Berryhill
Matildas midfielder Chloe Logarzo got engaged to former Washington Spirit teammate, McKenzie Berryhill, in 2021 during a romantic European holiday following the Olympics.
The couple had played together for Washington Spirit in 2019.
Sam Kerr (Australia) and Kristie Mewis (United States)
Matildas captain Sam Kerr has been dating US midfielder Kristie Mewis for about two years, with the pair going public after a viral on-pitch embrace at the Tokyo Olympics.
Kerr confirmed their romance by sharing a photo of the pair kissing to Instagram.
Earlier, she ended things with her long-time girlfriend Nikki Stanton, who she met in 2014 while playing soccer in the US.
She reportedly told friends she had “fallen out of love” with Stanton, who lived in the US while Kerr was predominantly based in the UK.
Ellie Carpenter (Australia) and Danielle van de Donk (Netherlands)
The romance between Matildas star Ellie Carpenter and girlfriend Danielle van de Donk reportedly sparked while the pair were both playing for French professional football club, Lyon.
Van de Donk signed for Lyon in 2021, a year after Carpenter joined after she moved from Arsenal, with a video emerging in February the following year of the duo having dinner together on Valentine’s Day.
Later that year, each of the women appeared on their partner’s social media pages, all but confirming their blooming relationship.
While they’re playing in different groups for the World Cup, Australia and the Netherlands could potentially go head-to-head later in the competition.
Pernille Harder (Denmark) and Magdelena Eriksson (Sweden)
European duo Pernille Harder and Magdelena Eriksson are another couple that may be forced to face off against each other in the World Cup.
The teammates with Bayern Munich and Chelsea have one of the longest running relationships, having first started dating in 2014.
Their iconic kiss at the 2019 France World Cup became a symbolic moment for the LGBT football community.
Eriksson’s Sweden team have won their first two games in the World Cup, while Denmark has won its first match of the group stage and lost its second.
Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany) and Jess Carter (England)
Germany’s Ann Katrin Berger and England’s Jess Carter met when they were playing for Birmingham in 2016 and were originally good friends before moving to London to play for Chelsea.
If they play each other at the Women’s World Cup, it won’t be the first time they have gone head-to-head, having also done so in the 2022 Euro final.
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Originally published as Inside the love lives of the FIFA Women’s World Cup stars
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