Marta
Six times the best woman footballer in the world, from a town where girls were told not to play
Marta Vieira da Silva was born in Dois Riachos, a small town in the dry interior of Alagoas, one of the poorest states in Brazil. Her father left when she was a baby and her mother worked long hours to feed four children. Marta played football in the street with boys, who often refused to let her join in, and adults told her repeatedly that it was not a game for girls.
At 14 she took a three-day bus journey to Rio de Janeiro to try out for Vasco da Gama. Within a couple of years the club had shut its women's team, and at 17 she moved to Sweden, to Umeå, where she barely spoke the language but was soon the best player in Europe.
She was named the world's best woman player by FIFA five years running from 2006 to 2010, and a sixth time in 2018, a record for any player. She has scored at five World Cups and won Olympic silver medals with Brazil in 2004, 2008 and, at 38, in 2024.
Her impact at home has been slow but real. Women's football was illegal in Brazil for almost 40 years until 1979, and she has spent her career arguing for investment and respect. After Brazil lost at the 2019 World Cup she spoke straight to camera, telling young girls that the sport would need them to carry it on.