International soccer player and skilled goal-scorer Nadia Nadim won the French league title with French professional football club Paris Saint-Germain in the 2020-21 season. She also plays for Denmark’s national team. She recently signed for with United States National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) as a striker for the Racing Louisville Football Club.
UNESCO recognized Nadim for her advocacy in gender equality in sports. The organization named her a Champion for Girls and Women’s Education in 2019. She was also featured on Forbes’ 2018 list of “Most Powerful Women in International Sports.”
Nadim, a native Afghan and naturalized Dane, speaks nine languages fluently. In her spare time, she attends medical school and plans to become a reconstructive surgeon upon retirement from professional soccer.
Nadia Nadim, international soccer star
Nadim began her soccer career in Denmark, playing for football clubs B52 Aalborg, IK Skovbakken, and later Fortuna Hjørring. She debuted on the Danish National Team in 2009 in Algarve Cup. In 2012, she scored both winning goals in a Champions League competition against the Scottish champions Glasgow City Football Club.
The pro athlete has represented Denmark upwards of ninety times and has scored nearly 200 goals throughout her career. She has won one bronze and one silver medal from the Union of European Football Associations for her achievements.
Nadim first started playing for a United States team when she joined the New Jersey NWSL team Sky Blue FC in in 2014. She soon earned the titles of player of the week and player of the month. In 2016, Nadim was traded to Oregon’s NWSL team Portland Thorns FC. There, she became the team’s top scorer, leading them to victory in the 2017 NWSL Championship game.
After an impressive performance with the Football Association Women’s Super League team Manchester City, Nadim transferred to Paris Saint-Germain in 2019. She received the captain’s armband and became vice captain following a successful season. She returned to the NWSL in 2021, having signed with Racing Louisville FC.
Nadia Nadim discovers soccer in Danish refugee camp
Nadim was born in Herat, Afghanistan in January 1988. Soon, her mother and four sisters fled to Denmark after her father, an Afghan National Army general, was executed by the Taliban in 2000.
“We planned to escape to London…and with forged passports we came to Italy thru Pakistan,” Nadim writes on her website. “We asked a passer-by and found out that the bus had dropped us in Denmark…that I these days refer to as home.”
Nadim uses her story to advocate for humanitarian causes as an Ambassador for the United Nations. Having lived in a Danish refugee camp, she collaborates with Paris Saint-Germain and KLABU. Specifically, the Amsterdam and Kenya-based charity organization builds sports clubs in refugee camps around the globe.
“I came from a really war-torn country and hadn’t had a childhood. Suddenly I came to a refugee camp where there was access to sports … and I felt like I could be a child again,” Nadim said about transitioning to Denmark.
Nadim published her memoir, My Story, in French in the summer of 2020 with Danish publisher Politikens Forlag.
Nadia Nadim pursues reconstructive surgery in med school
Nadim has represented commercial brands such as Nike, Air Jordan, and Visa through collaboration with her management company Neverland MGMT.
The influential soccer star’s personal goals extend beyond being an award-winning and internationally recognized athlete. Nadim also attended Aarhus University in Denmark, participating in online schooling during the soccer season. With plans to become a medical doctor and surgeon, she assisted in reconstructive surgery in 2020.
Nadim compares the intensity of competing on the field to assisting in the operating room. “I had this rush of adrenaline,” she tells The Guardian. “This is so cool. I’m literally looking inside someone’s stomach.”
“I know the value of helping a person when they have no hope. I’m a walking reminder of that. All the help I was given in my life made me the person I am today. So I really want to offer this help,” she says.
