Sam Kerr is a once-in-a-generation talent, reaching the heights of soccer in Australia and abroad. At 28 years old, Kerr is already considered to be one of the best strikers to play the sport, shattering records for both club and country.

Here’s everything you need to know about one of the game’s greatest players.

Early life in Perth

It all started for Kerr in Fremantle, Australia, a port city in the Perth metropolitan area. She was born to a family of athletes on September 10, 1993: Kerr’s brother and father both were Australia rules footballers, and her uncle was a horse jokey. Introduced to AFL at an early age, Kerr immediately fell in love with the sport. There were no girls league when she was growing up in Australia, so Kerr played with the boys. Kerr considered footy her first love, with soccer taking a backseat.

Eventually, playing Australian football with boys got too rough, and Kerr was forced into soccer by her family at 12 years old. Despite her limited interest in the sport, the Kerr would debut for the Australian women’s national soccer team only three years later.

“I am very fortunate to have a lot of athleticism,” Kerr old Kelly O’Hara on the Just Women’s Sports podcast, explaining her prodigious rise in the sport.

Her first cap with the Matildas came when Kerr was just 15 years old, and was a bit of a surprise for the Australian star. Thinking she would be on the bench for the game, Kerr told her family not to come to the match, something she says she now regrets.

“I never realized how big the moment was and I always say if I could redo one part of my career, it would be my first cap,” Kerr told Sandra Sully in a 2021 10 News First interview.

Luckily for Kerr, she would have plenty more opportunities to take the pitch for her country, celebrating 100 caps and 48 goals with the Matildas in 2021.

Australian National Team Career

Kerr’s international career got off to a dream start, participating in her first major tournament at 16, a year after her debut. The 2010 Asian Cup served as the young star’s introduction to the world stage, and she scored in the team’s final match to help Australia clinch the Cup.

At 17-years old, Kerr went to her first World Cup, joining seven other players under 20-years-old on the 2011 Australian roster. The Matildas advanced out of the competition’s group stage but fell to Sweden in the knockout round, ending the team’s World Cup run.

Kerr’s career hit a snag leading up to the 2015 World Cup, suffering a knee injury that required surgery just before the tournament. On top of coming off an injury, Kerr was also transitioning from the wing to the No. 9 position, a role she has since mastered. The Matildas managed to survive what was deemed the “group of death,” which included the United States, Sweden, and Nigeria, and they even downed Brazil in their first knockout game. Kerr and the Matildas, however, were sent packing by Japan in the quarterfinals.

The Australian striker’s first World Cup goal wouldn’t come until the 2019 World Cup, in the team’s group-stage match against Italy. The trend continued when Kerr scored four goals against Jamaica, becoming the first Australian player, male or female, to record a hat trick at the World Cup. Norway ultimately knocked the Matildas out in the first round of elimination. Still, Kerr came in second among goals scored during the tournament with five, behind Ellen White, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, who all notched six.

Kerr’s 2020 Olympics marked another prolific international tournament, leading Australia to the bronze-medal match against the United States. With six goals, the Australian striker tied Great Britain’s Ellen White and Zambia’s Barbra Banda for second on the scorers’ list. Kerr’s most-exciting finish came in the Matildas’ quarterfinal against Great Britain when the 28-year-scored a late-game brace to send her team to the semifinals.

Notching her 48^th international goal in the bronze-medal loss against the USWNT, Kerr dethroned Lisa De Vanna as Australia’s all-time top scorer.

SAM KERR! ⚽️🇦🇺

Australia's superstar has her penalty saved but she puts in the rebound for her first career #FIFAWWC goal. pic.twitter.com/0JjrTqlR33

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 9, 2019

Club Career

Kerr’s club career is just as, if arguably not more, successful than her international career with the Australian national team. One of the most cited and impressive Kerr-stats is that she has won the Golden Boot award in three different leagues. The star striker first captured the top honor in the W-League (which has since re-branded as the A-League) in 2017. She repeated the feat in 2018. In the NWSL, she was the league’s stop scorer three years running: 2017, 2018 and 2019, and last season she led the FA WSL in goals scored while playing for Chelsea.

Kerr first entered the NWSL at just 18 years old in 2013, joining the Western New York Flash alongside American superstars Carli Lloyd and Abby Wambach. The Australian’s breakout season, however, came in 2017 with Sky Blue FC after two years with the club. During the 2017 campaign, Kerr scored a record-breaking 17 goals, earning her the Golden Boot and MVP awards. The year also included an instant-classic match, with Kerr notching four goals in one half to overcome a 3-0 deficit to defeat Seattle Reign 5-4. Kerr attributes her success that year to being moved to the No. 9 role on the pitch.

“I felt like I found my position,” Kerr told O’Hara. “I found where I was playing.”

Her success continued when she moved to the Chicago Red Stars in 2018, topping her previous mark when she scored a NWSL-record 18 goals on the season to clinch her second MVP award.

At 26 years old, Kerr left the NWSL, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract with Chelsea in 2019, reportedly totaling over $1 million. Critics were quick to question whether Kerr’s talent would translate to the Women’s Super League, but she quickly shut those questions down. After a shortened season due to COVID, Kerr led the Blues with 21 goals in 22 games during the 2020-2021 campaign. Her productive year earned her another Golden Boot award and helped Chelsea to the league title. The team also appeared in the Champions League final, falling to Barcelona in the title match.

In the 2021-2022 season, Kerr signed a two-year contract extension, keeping her with the Blues until 2024. Adding to her growing trophy case, Kerr also captured an FA Cup title with Chelsea in December, scoring a brace against Arsenal for the 3-0 victory.

Sam Kerr with an outrageous chip to seal the FA Cup for Chelsea 🥶

(via @VitalityWFACup)pic.twitter.com/Nmrpbjsn0n

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 5, 2021

What’s Next

Kerr is on pace to capture yet another Golden Boot award with Chelsea in the hunt for the WSL title. Internationally, Kerr is expected to captain the Australian National Team as they gear up to host the 2023 World Cup being jointly hosted by Australia and England.

The Orlando Pride have taken a turn, with the reigning NWSL champs skidding to No. 4 in the NWSL standings after losing decorated forward Barbra Banda to a season-ending hip adductor injury last week.

According to a Saturday release, the 2025 Ballon d'Or nominee suffered a "full thickness avulsion of her right adductor longus tendon" in the 14th minute of the team's August 16th draw with the No. 1 Kansas City Current.

The Zambian international's absence loomed large over the Pride's loss to No. 10 Angel City on Thursday, when Orlando fell 1-0 to LA behind an 86th-minute Alyssa Thompson dagger — raising their NWSL winless streak to five straight matches.

"Barbra has been instrumental to our success and losing a player of her caliber is heartbreaking for the entire organization," said Orlando Pride sporting director Haley Carter.

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After joining Orlando in 2024, Banda made an immediate impact for the Pride, scoring 25 times in her 41 total appearances across all league competitions and earning 2024 NWSL Championship MVP honors behind her title-clinching game-winning goal.

The reigning Shield-winners saw another departure on Monday, as 32-year-old two-time World Cup winner Morgan Gautrat announced that she was retiring from the NWSL with plans to play out the rest of the 2025 season on loan to WSL2 side Newcastle United.

The Pride's downturn could be temporary, however, with Orlando officially signing Tigres UANL star Lizbeth Ovalle on a world record $1.5 million transfer fee late last week.

The NWSL lit up the baseball diamond on Saturday, claiming a new attendance record as the No. 2 Washington Spirit defeated No. 12 Bay FC 3-2 in MLB's Oracle Park in San Francisco.

The 40,091-strong crowd not only shattered the prior NWSL record, when 35,038 fans watched Bay beat Chicago inside Wrigley Field in June 2024, Saturday also set a new attendance mark across all US professional women's sports leagues.

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"The players deserve it. They've worked so hard and this league has come such a long way," Bay FC head coach Albertin Montoya said following the historic loss. "When you get football like that, I think every single person that watched that game can leave and say 'Hey, I'd do this again,' because it was entertaining. It was good quality football all around."

The victory marked the Spirit's sixth road win this season, as Washington climbs the table behind midfielder Croix Bethune's first goal of 2025 — and forward Trinity Rodman's first start since April.

"The atmosphere was fantastic," Spirit manager Adrián González said. "The setup, the fans, and having the opportunity to have an experience like this, I think, is just something unique."

Washington now sits 12 points behind league-leaders Kansas City, while just six points separate the Spirit from No. 7 Racing Louisville in an increasingly congested top of the NWSL standings.

The No. 7 Golden State Valkyries refuse to give away their shot, as the first-year expansion side split their weekend results to maintain positioning above the WNBA postseason cutoff line on a 19-18 overall 2025 record.

With seven regular-season games left, the Valkyries are courting history, vying to become the first-ever expansion team to reach the playoffs in their debut year.

Golden State guard Veronica Burton is leading the Valks' charge, registering 25 points and 13 assists against the already-eliminated No. 13 Dallas Wings in Sunday's 91-80 victory to further her squad's postseason dreams.

Despite losing players to injury, the Valkyries remain on track for playoff contention, performing just well enough to fend off fellow mid-table strivers like the No. 9 Los Angeles Sparks and No. 8 Indiana Fever from ascending the WNBA standings.

"This is nothing new for us," Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase said of her team's consistency. "What I like about our players is we are always continuing to try to help each other."

How to watch the next Golden State Valkyries games

Golden State have earned a rest, with the Valkyries currently sitting out the week before hosting the No. 10 Washington Mystics at 8:30 PM ET on Saturday and the No. 8 Indiana Fever at the same time on Sunday.

Saturday's clash will air live on WNBA League Pass, while NBA TV will carry the Valkyries' Sunday matchup.

The NWSL has reportedly threatened to fine the No. 1 Kansas City Current for delaying their August 16th kick-off against the No. 2 Orlando Pride due to unsafe field-level heat ahead of the planned CBS broadcast.

The Athletic wrote late last week that the NWSL could fine Kansas City for "breaking protocols by asking for a heat check after the league decided to go forward with the game."

"Internally, we flagged that a 3 PM kickoff in Kansas City in August was probably going to have a problem with the extreme heat issues that we're seeing this summer," NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) executive director Meghann Burke said.

"While forecasts guide planning, we primarily rely on real-time, on-site weather data to make informed decisions in accordance with our inclement weather policies and protocols," the NWSL responded in a statement.

The league signed a four-year, $240 million US media rights deal with CBS, ESPN, Prime Video, and ION in 2023, with this month's Kansas City vs. Orlando showdown marking the seventh of 11 regular-season CBS matches on deck for 2025.

The heat delay caused the network to shift game-time coverage to its streaming app while CBS switched back to regional programming.

While both teams' medical and technical staffs cited dangerous playing conditions, the NWSL prioritized broadcast commitments, adding to rising concerns about player safety amid the league's rapid growth.