Malta’s Haley Bugeja has been named in UEFA’s list of women players to watch in 2021.
Malta’s 4-0 Women’s EURO 2022 qualifying win in Georgia on 26 November was not just their first competitive women’s away victory – at 16 years and 205 days old, Bugeja became the youngest player to hit a hat-trick in a UEFA qualifier, beating Julie Fleeting’s record from 1997.
In fact, Bugeja scored in all three of Malta’s qualifying wins this year, their best-ever campaign. And the attacker has been equally prolific at club level since moving to Serie A club Sassuolo from Mġarr United (where she had a similarly lethal record), scoring twice on her Serie A debut against Napoli in September and continuing to find the net as the season progressed.
- Vicki Becho (FRA – 17, Lyon)
- Julie Blakstad (NOR – 19, Rosenborg)
- Haley Bugeja (MLT – 16, Sassuolo)
- Lene Christensen (DEN – 20, KoldingQ)
- Svenja Fölmli (SUI – 18, Luzerne)
- Paulina Krumbiegel (GER – 20, Hoffenheim)
- Lauren James (ENG, 19 – Manchester United)
Report and image by UEFA
