Esther González
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Esther González Rodríguez (born 8 December 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for National Women's Soccer League club Gotham FC and the Spain national team. She previously played for Atlético Málaga, Sporting de Huelva, Atlético de Madrid, and Real Madrid.
Club career
Real Madrid
González left Real Madrid as its all-time top women's scorer with 39 goals in 77 games.
Gotham FC
On 23 August 2023, National Women's Soccer League club NJ/NY Gotham FC signed Esther to a three-year contract with an option to extend for an additional year. She made her club debut on 2 September, coming on for Sinead Farrelly in a 3–3 draw away to the North Carolina Courage. On her first start, she scored her first and second NWSL goals in a 2–0 home win over the Washington Spirit. On 11 November, she headed in Midge Purce's corner to score the second goal for Gotham in the NWSL Championship Game. It stood as the game winner in a 2–1 victory over OL Reign, giving Gotham its first league championship.
On 24 March 2024, Esther scored in Gotham's first game of the season, a 1–0 victory over the Portland Thorns. On 5 October, she assisted Rose Lavelle and scored two goals of her own against Bay FC within 4 minutes and 20 seconds, marking the fastest three-goal contribution in NWSL history. She finished the regular season with a team-high 9 goals, tied for fourth-most in the league,as Gotham placed third in the standings. In the NWSL semifinals, Esther scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw against the Washington Spirit; Gotham lost as Esther was one of three players whose penalty attempts were saved by Aubrey Kingsbury.
After starting the season with seven goals in nine games, Esther signed a new contract with Gotham through 2027. On May 25, 2025, she scored in the 82nd minute of the 2025 CONCACAF W Champions Cup final against Tigres, burying the rebound after Itzel González stopped her penalty kick. Gotham won 1–0 to become the inaugural winners of the competition.
On 14 March 2026, Esther scored in Gotham's opening game of the 2026 season, a 1–0 win over Boston Legacy, coming on as a substitute to earn her 25th career NWSL league goal, the 35th player in the league to reach the milestone.
International career
Esther González played for the Spain U17 team at the 2009 U-17 European Championship, where Spain was the runner-up to Germany.
Esther made her senior international debut in March 2016, as a substitute in a 0–0 friendly draw with Romania in Mogoșoaia.
She scored five goals in Spain's 13–0 win over Azerbaijan in qualifying for the Euro 2022. She and her team reached the quarter-finals, where Spain lost 2–1 to eventual European champions England in overtime.
In Spain's opening match of the 2023 FIFA World Cup, she scored Spain's third goal in a 3–0 win over Costa Rica. This was the third goal in six minutes for the Spanish and was just their second group stage win at the World Cup.
On 10 June 2025, González was called up to the Spain squad for the UEFA Women's Euro 2025. On July 27, 2025, she started in the tournament's final as Spain finished runners up, losing 1-1 (3-1 on penalties) to England.
Career statistics
Club
As of match played 24 March 2024
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Levante | 2009–10 | Superliga Femenina | 24 | 4 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 27 | 5 | ||
| 2010–11 | Superliga Femenina | 23 | 8 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 25 | 9 | |||
| Total | 47 | 12 | 5 | 2 | – | – | 52 | 14 | ||||
| Atlético Málaga | 2011–12 | Primera División | 34 | 12 | – | – | – | 34 | 12 | |||
| Sporting de Huelva | 2012–13 | Primera División | 27 | 15 | – | – | – | 27 | 15 | |||
| Atlético Madrid | 2013–14 | Primera División | 25 | 14 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 14 | ||
| 2014–15 | Primera División | 28 | 12 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 30 | 14 | |||
| 2015–16 | Primera División | 29 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | – | 36 | 21 | ||
| 2016–17 | Primera División | 30 | 15 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 33 | 15 | |||
| 2017–18 | Primera División | 26 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 30 | 8 | ||
| 2018–19 | Primera División | 21 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | 27 | 14 | ||
| Total | 220 | 107 | 16 | 5 | 8 | 1 | – | 225 | 113 | |||
| Levante | 2019–20 | Primera División | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | Primera División | 34 | 29 | 3 | 0 | – | 2 | 1 | 39 | 30 | ||
| Total | 53 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 60 | 30 | ||
| Real Madrid | 2021–22 | Primera División | 27 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 17 |
| 2022–23 | Liga F | 27 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 22 | |
| Total | 54 | 30 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 77 | 39 | ||
| Gotham FC | 2023 | NWSL | 5 | 2 | – | – | 3 | 1 | 8 | 3 | ||
| 2024 | NWSL | 23 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 12 | |
| 2025 | NWSL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 28 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 36 | 15 | ||
| Career total | 402 | 190 | 30 | 10 | 29 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 469 | 211 |
International
As of match played 3 July 2025
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 2016 | 2 | 0 |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 8 | 13 | |
| 2022 | 14 | 6 | |
| 2023 | 14 | 7 | |
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2025 | 8 | 7 | |
| Total | 53 | 36 |
Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each González goal.
Honours
Atlético Madrid
Gotham FC
Spain U17
- UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship runner-up: 2009
Spain
- FIFA Women's World Cup: 2023
- UEFA Women's Championship runner-up: 2025
- UEFA Women's Nations League: 2025
Individual
External links
- at theNational Women's Soccer League
- –UEFAcompetition record ()
- at BDFutbol
- at La Liga (in Spanish)