Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz are on the five-player shortlist for the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year award, adding to the accolades the pair have picked up since winning the World Cup last summer.
Ertz and Rapinoe are joined by England’s Lucy Bronze, who plays for Olympique Lyonnais in France; Australia’s Sam Kerr, who recently joined English side Chelsea; and the Netherlands’ Vivianne Miedema, a standout with England’s reigning champion, Arsenal. All are players who participated at the World Cup and have also enjoyed strong shows with their club teams in the last year.
Both Ertz, who competes for the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL, and Reign FC standout Rapinoe took the honor as representative of not just their on-field accomplishments, but their off-field impact as well.