Deyna Cristina Castellanos Naujenis (born 18 April 1999) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Venezuela national team.
Deyna Cristina Castellanos Naujenis was born on 18 April 1999 in Maracay, on the Caribbean coast of Venezuela.[2]
Castellanos was awarded a scholarship to study journalism and play football at Florida State University, an experience she has described as life-changing.[2] She spent three college years with the Florida State Seminoles, scoring 48 goals in 82 total appearances.[3]
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After leaving Florida State, Castellanos elected not to enter her name into the 2020 NWSL College Draft due to the lack of player autonomy afforded to her by the Draft system.[4] Instead, she signed her first professional contract with Spanish club Atlético Madrid on 2 January 2020, inking a two-year deal.[5]
At the end of this contract, Castellanos moved to English club Manchester City, in the Women's Super League (WSL), where she signed a three-year contract on 3 June 2022;[6] she was described as the marquee signing during a high-turnover summer for the club.[2] She made her Manchester City debut on 18 August 2022, in a 6–0 Champions League win against Kazakhstani side Tomaris-Turan, scoring a penalty in the 89th minute.[7] On 18 September 2022, she made her WSL debut, coming on in the 70th minute during a 4–3 defeat by Aston Villa.
On 26 January 2024, Castellanos was acquired by new NWSL expansion franchise Bay FC for a transfer fee.[8] In the 2024 season, Castellanos appeared in 20 matches, starting 12, and scored 2 goals.
On 23 January 2025, Bay FC announced that they had bought out the remainder of her contract, making her a free agent.[9] The next day, Castellanos was acquired by NWSL team Portland Thorns FC and signed to a two-year contract with a club option.[10] She made her Thorns debut in the league's season-opener, starting and playing 87 minutes in a defeat to the Kansas City Current.[11] Castellanos scored her first goal with her new club on 22 April, helping the Thorns beat NJ/NY Gotham FC, 4–1.[12]
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In 2014, she was a member of the Venezuela national under-17 team who finished fourth in the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup[13] and runners-up in the 2014 Women's Youth Olympic football. She won the Golden Boot of the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup with six goals, equalling her teammate Gabriela García and was also a goalscorer of the 2014 Women's Youth Olympic football with seven. She was also as a top scorer of the 2016 South American Under-17 Women's Football Championship with 12. Castellanos is the top goalscorer of the Venezuela U-17 women's team with 35. Castellanos is currently the all-time leading goalscorer of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup with 11.
Castellanos was called up to the Venezuela U-20 women's team in January 2018 for the 2018 South American Under-20 Women's Football Championship. She was the only player to score in the Group B matches with three, once against Uruguay, Bolivia and Chile.[14] She was also the only player to score in the final stage, scoring once in a 3–1 defeat against Paraguay U-20 women's team.[15]
In April 2018, Castellanos was part of the senior team in the 2018 Copa América Femenina. She scored on her debut against Ecuador on 5 April,[16] and netted four times in an 8–0 win over Bolivia four days later.[17] In 2021, at the age of 21, she was named captain of the team for the first time.[2]
Castellanos started a foundation that encourages gender equality and helps provide football scholarship for South American girls.[2]
She has worked as a studio analyst for NBC and Telemundo at the 2018 (men's) and 2019 (women's) FIFA World Cups,[18] and in Spain.[2] She is a fan of tattoos and as of 2022 has over 30.[19] In Venezuela, she is known as Reina Deyna ("Queen Deyna").[2] She learned English while at Florida State University, becoming quickly bilingual.[2]
In The Best FIFA Football Awards 2017, Castellanos was named to the three-woman shortlist for The Best FIFA Women's Player while still playing in college. Her nomination created some controversy. Megan Rapinoe was outspoken about this nomination, complaining that Castellanos was an unknown player and had not played professionally, nor in a major senior national team tournament at the time of her nomination.[20]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental[c] | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Atlético Madrid | 2019–20 | Primera División | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | Primera División | 27 | 13 | 2 | 0 | — | 4 | 1 | 2[d] | 1 | 35 | 15 | ||
| 2021–22 | Primera División | 26 | 10 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2[d] | 1 | 29 | 11 | ||
| Total | 58 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 71 | 26 | ||
| Manchester City | 2022–23 | Women's Super League | 19 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 28 | 4 | |
| 2023–24 | Women's Super League | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 8 | 1 | |||
| Total | 24 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 5 | ||
| Bay FC | 2024 | NWSL | 20 | 2 | — | — | — | 1[e] | 0 | 21 | 2 | |||
| Portland Thorns FC | 2025 | NWSL | 10 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 10 | 1 | ||||
| Career total | 112 | 27 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 138 | 34 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venezuela | 2014 | 4 | 0 |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 9 | 6 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 5 | 4 | |
| 2022 | 11 | 6 | |
| 2023 | 7 | 6 | |
| Total | 38 | 22 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 April 2018 | Estadio Municipal Francisco Sánchez Rumoroso, Coquimbo, Chile |  Ecuador
|
1–0 | 1–0 | 2018 Copa América Femenina |
| 2 | 9 April 2018 |  Bolivia
|
1–0 | 8–0 | ||
| 3 | 2–0 | |||||
| 4 | 3–0 | |||||
| 5 | 8–0 | |||||
| 6 | 19 July 2018 | Estadio Moderno Julio Torres, Barranquilla, Colombia |  Jamaica
|
2–1 | 2–1 | 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games |
| 7 | 23 October 2021 | Estadio Monumental Banco Pichincha, Guayaquil, Ecuador | Ecuador
|
3–1 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 8 | 4–1 | |||||
| 9 | 26 October 2021 | Ecuador
|
2–0 | 4–1 | ||
| 10 | 3–1 | |||||
| 11 | 9 April 2022 | Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero, Cali, Colombia |  Colombia
|
1–0 | 2–2 | |
| 12 | 2–0 | |||||
| 13 | 9 July 2022 | Estadio Centenario, Armenia, Colombia |  Uruguay
|
1–0 | 1–0 | 2022 Copa América Femenina |
| 14 | 15 July 2022 |  Peru
|
1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 15 | 24 July 2022 |  Chile
|
1–1 | 1–1 (2–4 p) | ||
| 16 | 14 November 2022 | Estadio Municipal Los Arcos, Orihuela, Spain |  Scotland
|
1–2 | 1–2 | Friendly |
| 17 | 29 June 2023 | Estadio Las Delicias, Santa Tecla, El Salvador |  Costa Rica
|
3–0 | 4–0 | 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games |
| 18 | 1 July 2023 |  Haiti
|
1–1 | 4–1 | ||
| 19 | 4–1 | |||||
| 20 | 3 July 2023 |  Guatemala
|
2–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 21 | 5 July 2023 |  El Salvador
|
2–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 22 | 26 September 2023 | Estadio Olímpico de la UCV, Caracas, Venezuela | Uruguay
|
1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
Florida State Seminoles
Atlético Madrid
Venezuela squads | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||
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