FIFA’s #Sheroes series has been highlighting amazing women in football
Inspiring players and amazing mothers have featured
We look back at all seven of the Sheroes showcased this year
It's been a series that has moved and inspired supporters around the world. ‘Sheroes’ began as a way of marking 2019, dubbed ‘The Year of Women’s Football’, by showcasing remarkable women who make the world – and the beautiful game – a better place.
The result was seven video stories that illustrate how football and love can come together in the most spectacular ways.
The mother who sees the game for her son
Silvia Grecco was the very first of our Sheroes, and it’s fair to say the series started with a bang. In fact, so moving was the story of this devoted mother narrating Palmeiras matches for her blind son, Nickollas, that she was recognised at the The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony in Milan – picking up a richly-deserved FIFA Fan Award. "There's been a radical change in our lives since FIFA told our story,” Silvia said at the time. "Today, Nickollas is known to the whole world. And there’s now a realisation that people with disabilities exist and that sport has the ability to change their lives."
Groundbreaking mum coaching a pop star
Our second subject, Natasha Orchard-Smith, is the mother of a pop star. But it is in the world of football, not music, that she is breaking down barriers, having held the post of head coach with a semi-professional men’s side in England. Her son, George – guitarist in the band New Hope Club – is one of many to have been helped and inspired by her passion.
Inspirational A-Rod a mother and a champion
As a world champion, two-time Olympic gold medallist and USA legend, Amy Rodriguez is perhaps the best-known of our Sheroes. This video told the tale of the effort it took to juggle pregnancy and motherhood with a career at the very top, and why she feels “more powerful” and plays with “extra fire” since combining the two.
Mrs Pogba lights the way for three footballing sons
Every football fan will know the name of Paul Pogba, and many will also know that the FIFA World Cup™-winning France star has two football-playing brothers. But the story of the driving force behind their careers – mother Yeo Moriba – was less well known until this remarkable woman became the fourth Shero to come under the spotlight.
The footballing mother who never gives up
Hwang Boram played at her second FIFA Women’s World Cup™ this year, having overcome three separate knee operations to make it back to the global finals. But the biggest challenge in her life arrived with an unexpected pregnancy that led to a huge personal dilemma and, ultimately, Hwang “living a bigger dream”.
Globetrotting Riley’s unwavering support
As captain of the New Zealand national team and an influential full-back for Bayern Munich, Ali Riley covers thousands of miles pursuing her dreams with club and country. But wherever she plays in the world, from qualifiers in Papua New Guinea to league matches across Europe and North America, she knows that her mother will be there to cheer her on. Enjoy the story of how Bev Riley went from sceptic to Ali’s number one fan.
The football friendship that moved the world
The final Sheroes video of 2019 threw the spotlight on the “instant bond” formed between a very special player and supporter. Carson Pickett and Joseph Tidd’s friendship provided one of the most life-affirming football stories of recent years, with the Orlando Pride left-back an inspirational role model to her biggest fan.