Merete Pedersen (born 30 June 1973) is a Danish former international footballer who played as a striker in Denmark, Germany, Italy, and for the Danish national team.
Pedersen started playing football with clubs Jerlev and Ammitsbøl in her youth, before starting her professional career with Elitedivisionen club Vejle BK in the '90s. In 1995 Pedersen moved to another Elitedivisionen club, OB, where she played until 1999. Pedersen made her first move abroad to German Bundesliga club TSV Siegen in 1999 where she played for one season before returning to OB in 2000 for another three seasons. Pedersen moved abroad once more in 2003 to sign with Italian Serie A club Torres CF, whom she would represent until 2006. Following this, Pedersen concluded her playing career with a final return to OB in 2006 where she played until 2009.[2] Pedersen participated in the UEFA Women's Cup while with both Odense and Torres.[3][4]
Pedersen represented the Danish national team for fifteen years, taking part in the 1999 and 2007 World Cups, the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 1997, 2001 and 2005 European Championships.[5][6] She temporarily quit the national team following the disappointment of the missed qualification for the 2007 World Cup in China.[7] She won 136 caps with and scored 65 for the Danish national team.
In 2024 Pedersen was inducted into the Danish Football Hall of Fame, the first OB player to receive the hounour.[8][9]
In September 2008 Pedersen scored the only goal in Denmark's 1–0 win over Ukraine to secure her country's place at UEFA Women's Euro 2009. It was her tenth goal of the qualifying series.[10] Ahead of the final tournament she retired from international football, stating that she did not wish to sit on the substitute's bench as a 36–year–old and would prefer to concentrate on her career as a teacher. With 65 goals in 136 senior internationals she was the team's all–time top goalscorer,[11] before her record was broken by Pernille Harder on 16 September 2021 with Harder's 66th goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | ||||||
| 2. | 3 July 1997 | Lillestrøm, Norway |  Italy |
2–1 | 2–2 | UEFA Women's Euro 1997 |
| 3. | 18 March 1999 | Albufeira, Portugal |  Portugal |
2–0 | 5–0 | 1999 Algarve Cup |
| 4. | 20 March 1999 | Loulé, Portugal |  Norway |
2–2 | 2–2 (1–4 p) | |
| 5. | 29 September 1999 | Odense, Denmark |  Russia |
1–0 | 2–4 | UEFA Women's Euro 2001 qualifying |
| 6. | 10 November 1999 |  Serbia |
1–0 | 6–0 | ||
| 7. | 4–0 | |||||
| 8. | 16 March 2000 | lagos, Portugal | Portugal |
?–0 | 2–0 | 2000 Algarve Cup |
| 9. | 18 March 2000 | Lagoa, Portugal |  Canada |
1–1 | 2–3 | |
| 10. | 24 May 2000 | Novi Sad, Serbia | Serbia |
3–0 | 8–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2001 qualifying |
| 11. | 13 March 2001 | Olhão, Portugal |  Finland |
3–0 | 6–0 | 2001 Algarve Cup |
| 12. | 30 September 2001 | Malmö, Sweden |  Sweden |
1–1 | 1–4 | 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 13. | 13 October 2001 | Vantaa, Finland | Finland |
3–0 | 6–0 | |
| 14. | 6–0 | |||||
| 15. | 20 April 2002 | Gossau, Switzerland |  Switzerland |
3–1 | 4–1 | |
| 16. | 18 April 2004 | Lucena, Spain |  Spain |
1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2005 qualifying |
| 17. | 26 September 2004 | Aalborg, Denmark |  Belgium |
1–0 | 6–0 | |
| 18. | 2–0 | |||||
| 19. | 3–0 | |||||
| 20. | 6–0 | |||||
| 21. | 29 September 2004 | Katwijk, Netherlands |  Netherlands |
1–0 | 5–1 | |
| 22. | 15 March 2005 | Algarve, Portugal | Norway |
1–0 | 1–2 | 2005 Algarve Cup |
| 23. | 27 August 2005 | Słupsk, Poland |  Poland |
1–0 | 5–1 | 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 24. | 2–0 | |||||
| 25. | 4–0 | |||||
| 26. | 5–0 | |||||
| 27. | 25 September 2005 | Farum, Denmark | Belgium |
1–0 | 3–0 | |
| 28. | 2–0 | |||||
| 29. | 26 March 2006 | Ath, Belgium | Belgium |
1–0 | 2–0 | |
| 30. | 2–0 | |||||
| 31. | 27 April 2006 | Viborg, Denmark | Spain |
1–0 | 5–0 | |
| 32. | 7 May 2006 | Brøndbyvester, Denmark | Poland |
1–0 | 3–1 | |
| 33. | 7 March 2007 | Silves, Portugal |  France |
4–0 | 4–0 | 2007 Algarve Cup |
| 34. | 27 October 2007 | Viborg, Denmark | Portugal |
1–0 | 5–1 | UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying |
| 35. | 5–1 | |||||
| 36. | 31 October 2007 | Perth, Scotland |  Scotland |
1–0 | 1–0 | |
| 37. | 5 March 2008 | Faro, Portugal |  Germany |
1–0 | 1–0 | 2008 Algarve Cup |
| 38. | 27 April 2008 | Viborg, Denmark | Scotland |
2–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying |
| 39. | 8 May 2008 | Fão, Portugal | Portugal |
3–0 | 4–0 | |
| 40. | 4–0 | |||||
| 41. | 28 May 2008 | Viborg, Denmark |  Slovakia |
2–0 | 6–1 | |
| 42. | 4–1 | |||||
| 43. | 6–1 | |||||
| 44. | 1 October 2008 |  Ukraine |
1–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 45. | 6 March 2009 | Lagos, Portugal | Norway |
2–0 | 2–0 | 2009 Algarve Cup |
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