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.
González left Real Madrid as its all-time top scorer with 39 goals in 77 games.[1]
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.[2] She made her club debut on 2 September, coming on for Sinead Farrelly in a 3–3 draw away to the North Carolina Courage.[3] On her first start, she scored her first and second NWSL goals in a 2–0 home win over the Washington Spirit.[4] 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.[5]
On 24 March 2024, Esther scored in Gotham's first game of the season, a 1–0 victory over the Portland Thorns.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]
After starting the season with seven goals in nine games, Esther signed a new contract with Gotham through 2027.[10] 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.[11]
Esther González played for the Spain U17 team at the 2009 U-17 European Championship, where Spain was the runner-up to Germany.[12]
Esther made her senior international debut in March 2016, as a substitute in a 0–0 friendly draw with Romania in Mogoșoaia.[13]
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.[14]
On 10 June 2025, González was called up to the Spain squad for the UEFA Women's Euro 2025.[15] 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.[16]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup[a] | Continental[b] | 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[c] | 0 | 21 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | Primera División | 34 | 29 | 3 | 0 | – | 2[c] | 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[c] | 0 | 39 | 17 |
| 2022–23 | Liga F | 27 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 1[c] | 0 | 38 | 22 | |
| Total | 54 | 30 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 77 | 39 | ||
| Gotham FC | 2023 | NWSL | 5 | 2 | – | – | 3[d] | 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 | ||
| 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 | |
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 23 October 2020 | Estadio La Cartuja, Seville, Spain |  Czech Republic |
1–0 | 4–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying |
| 2. | 18 February 2021 | ASK Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan |  Azerbaijan |
1–0 | 13–0 | |
| 3. | 2–0 | |||||
| 4. | 3–0 | |||||
| 5. | 4–0 | |||||
| 6. | 12–0 | |||||
| 7. | 23 February 2021 | La Ciudad del Fútbol, Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain |  Poland |
1–0 | 3–0 | |
| 8. | 2–0 | |||||
| 9. | 21 September 2021 | Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion, Budapest, Hungary |  Hungary |
1–0 | 7–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 10. | 2–0 | |||||
| 11. | 25 November 2021 | Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville, Spain |  Faroe Islands |
1–0 | 12–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 12. | 5–0 | |||||
| 13. | 7–0 | |||||
| 14. | 10–0 | |||||
| 15. | 25 June 2022 | Nuevo Colombino, Huelva, Spain |  Australia |
3–0 | 7–0 | Friendly |
| 16. | 20 July 2022 | Falmer Stadium, Brighton and Hove, England |  England |
1–0 | 1–2 | UEFA Women's Euro 2022 |
| 17. | 2 September 2022 | La Ciudad del Fútbol, Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain | Hungary |
1–0 | 3–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 18. | 6 September 2022 |  Ukraine |
1–0 | 5–0 | ||
| 19. | 4–0 | |||||
| 20. | 11 October 2022 | El Sadar Stadium, Pamplona, Spain |  United States |
2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 21. | 16 February 2023 | Industree Group Stadium, Gosford, Australia |  Jamaica |
2–0 | 3–0 | 2023 Cup of Nations |
| 22. | 22 February 2023 | McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, Australia | Czech Republic |
1–0 | 3–0 | |
| 23. | 2–0 | |||||
| 24. | 29 June 2023 | Estadio Román Suárez Puerta, Avilés, Spain |  Panama |
1–0 | 7–0 | Friendly |
| 25. | 6–0 | |||||
| 26. | 21 July 2023 | Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand |  Costa Rica |
3–0 | 3–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup |
| 27. | 1 December 2023 | Estadio Municipal de Pasarón, Pontevedra, Spain |  Italy |
2–3 | 2–3 | 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League |
| 28. | 5 April 2024 | Den Dreef, Leuven, Belgium |  Belgium |
5–0 | 7–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying |
| 29. | 7–0 | |||||
| 30. | 4 April 2025 | Estádio Capital do Móvel, Paços de Ferreira, Portugal |  Portugal |
4–2 | 4–2 | 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League |
| 31. | 8 April 2025 | Balaídos, Vigo, Spain | Portugal |
7–0 | 7–1 | |
| 32. | 30 May 2025 | Den Dreef, Leuven, Belgium | Belgium |
1–0 | 5–1 | |
| 33. | 2–0 | |||||
| 34. | 3 July 2025 | Stadion Wankdorf, Bern, Switzerland | Portugal |
1–0 | 5–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2025 |
| 35. | 4–0 | |||||
| 36. | 7 July 2025 | Arena Thun, Thun, Switzerland | Belgium |
3–2 | 6–2 | |
| 37. | 11 July 2025 | Stadion Wankdorf, Bern, Switzerland | Italy |
3–1 | 3–1 |
Atlético Madrid
Gotham FC
Spain U17
Spain
Individual
Awards | |
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Spain squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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