Marta

Forward • Age 40 • #9

Marta Vieira da Silva, known as Marta, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Orlando Pride in the National Women's Soccer League and formerly, the Brazil national team.

699 Appearances

448 Goals

22 Trophies

41 Awards

Fun Facts about Marta

Quirky facts. Inspired by her game.

Her nickname in Brazil is “A Rainha,” which means “The Queen.”

She became vegan in 2018.

She always wears lipstick during games. After wearing bright red color during a World Cup game, she said: "I tried it and I think it was good. The colour is of blood, because we had to leave blood on the pitch. Now I'm going to use it in every game."

As of 2025, FIFA will introduce a new award to honour her legendary achievements - the best goal scored in women’s football will receive the ‘Marta Award’.

She is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and English.

In 2016, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.

She holds the record for being Brazil's top goalscorer with 119 goals.

Marta is the only woman on the Maracanã sidewalk of fame in Rio de Janeiro.

At 21, Marta's performance in the Pan American Games, where she led Brazil to a victory over the U.S. U20s in front of 68,000 spectators, earned her the nickname "Pele in skirts," and she was personally congratulated by the late Pele himself.

She holds the record for the most goals scored in FIFA World Cup tournaments by any player, male or female, with 17 goals.

She has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

In August 2024, she got engaged to Carrie Lawrence, who also plays for Orlando Pride.

She was previously engaged to another Orlando player, Toni Pressley.

Her inspirational message for younger generations, “Cry at the beginning so you can smile at the end,” became famous.

She wants to end her football career as a mother. "I’ve got a dream and a desire to have a child and to grab a chair and be sat pitch-side watching them play, train and take them to training. That’s a dream of mine – I hope it can come true.”

She is an advocate for gender equality and has spoken out about the need for more investment in women’s football.

She is UN-Women Goodwill Ambassador for women and girls in sport and UN Secretary-General SDG Advocate.

She has two brothers and one sister. They were raised by a single mother.

She began playing football barefoot on the streets as the only girl in her town.

At 14, Marta was discovered by a scout while playing on a boys’ junior team.

She faced many challenges growing up, including skepticism about women playing football. At one point, she almost gave up the sport but was encouraged by her mother to keep pursuing her passion.