As the final match of the 2022 Euro gets closer, all eyes are on the race for the Golden Boot award. The award is given to the player who scored the most goals in the tournament. Germany’s Alexandra Popp and England’s Beth Mead lead the tournament scoring with six goals each. Germany and England will meet at Wembley Stadium on Sunday and both players have the chance to secure the award. Popp, who captains the German team, has scored in all 5 of her Euro matches this tournament—a record for women.
Popp’s Lengthy Road to the Euro Tournament
The 31-year-old striker has an impressive resume—Olympic gold medalist, 2x Champions League winner and 5x Frauen-Bundesliga title winner—but she hadn’t made it to a European Championship tournament until this year. Popp missed the 2013 and 2017 tournaments due to injuries and would have missed this tournament if it hadn’t been moved due to COVID. Luckily for Germany, Popp fully recovered from her recent knee injury in time to make her Euro debut this year. Her brace in the semifinal match against France pushed her side to Germany’s ninth Euro final.
Alexandra Popp scores her fifth goal of the tournament v. France.
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) July 27, 2022
The game is level at 1-1 at the half. #WEURO2022
(via @ESPNFC)pic.twitter.com/3pmZBLQwJc
Earning Her Stripes On and Off the Pitch
You can find Popp at the zoo when she isn’t honing her skills on the pitch. When she was first working towards becoming a professional footballer, Popp decided to pursue a career in zookeeping as a backup plan. She completed an apprenticeship in 2015 and is now a licensed zookeeper. She regularly visits the zoo in Wolfsburg, where her club team is located and even took a trip to the London Zoo earlier in the tournament.
Alexandra Popp looking delighted to meeting a giraffe pic.twitter.com/qtlCLqGrJH
— Footballers with animals (@ftbllrswanimals) June 16, 2019
Tune into ESPN on Sunday at 12:00 EST to watch the Euro final between Germany and England. Do you think Alexandra Popp or Beth Mead will win the Golden Boot? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Follow me on Twitter and check out Beyond Women’s Sports for more women’s sports coverage.
