# Esther González

Esther González Rodríguez (born 8 December 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for National Women's Soccer League club NJ/NY Gotham FC and the Spain national team. She previously played for Atlético Málaga, Sporting de Huelva, Atlético de Madrid, and Real Madrid.

## Club career
### Real Madrid

González left Real Madrid as its all-time top scorer with 39 goals in 77 games.

### Gotham FC

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. She made her club debut on 2 September, coming on for Sinead Farrelly in a 3–3 draw away to the North Carolina Courage. On her first start, she scored her first and second NWSL goals in a 2–0 home win over the Washington Spirit. 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.
On 24 March 2024, Esther scored in Gotham's first game of the season, a 1–0 victory over the Portland Thorns. On 5 October, she assisted Rose Lavelle and scored two goals of her own against Bay FC in the span of 4 minutes and 20 seconds, which marked the fastest three goal contributions in NWSL history. 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. 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.

## International career

Esther González played for the Spain U17 team at the 2009 U-17 European Championship, where Spain was the runner-up to Germany.
Esther made her senior international debut in March 2016, as a substitute in a 0–0 friendly draw with Romania in Mogoșoaia.
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.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 24 March 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National Cup | National Cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Levante | 2009–10 | Superliga Femenina | 24 | 4 | 3 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 27 | 5 |
| Levante | 2010–11 | Superliga Femenina | 23 | 8 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 25 | 9 |
| Levante | Total | 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 |
| Atlético Madrid | 2014–15 | Primera División | 28 | 12 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 30 | 14 |
| Atlético Madrid | 2015–16 | Primera División | 29 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 36 | 21 |
| Atlético Madrid | 2016–17 | Primera División | 30 | 15 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 33 | 15 |
| Atlético Madrid | 2017–18 | Primera División | 26 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 30 | 8 |
| Atlético Madrid | 2018–19 | Primera División | 21 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 14 |
| Atlético Madrid | Total | Total | 220 | 107 | 16 | 5 | 8 | 1 | – | – | 225 | 113 |
| Levante | 2019–20 | Primera División | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| Levante | 2020–21 | Primera División | 34 | 29 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 1 | 39 | 30 |
| Levante | Total | Total | 53 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 60 | 30 |
| Real Madrid | 2021–22 | Primera División | 27 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 17 |
| Real Madrid | 2022–23 | Liga F | 27 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 22 |
| Real Madrid | Total | Total | 54 | 30 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 77 | 39 |
| NJ/NY Gotham FC | 2023 | NWSL | 5 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| NJ/NY Gotham FC | 2024 | NWSL | 23 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 12 |
| NJ/NY Gotham FC | 2025 | NWSL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NJ/NY Gotham FC | Total | Total | 28 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 36 | 15 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 402 | 190 | 30 | 10 | 29 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 469 | 211 |
* ↑ Includes Copa de la Reina, NWSL Challenge Cup
* ↑ Includes UEFA Women's Champions League
* 1 2 3 4 Appearances in Supercopa de España
* ↑ Appearances in NWSL Playoffs

### International

    As of match played 5 April 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Spain | 2016 | 2 | 0 |
| Spain | 2017 | 0 | 0 |
| Spain | 2018 | 1 | 0 |
| Spain | 2019 | 3 | 0 |
| Spain | 2020 | 1 | 1 |
| Spain | 2021 | 8 | 13 |
| Spain | 2022 | 14 | 6 |
| Spain | 2023 | 14 | 7 |
| Spain | 2024 | 1 | 2 |
| Total | Total | 44 | 29 |
    Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each González goal.
List of international goals scored by Esther González :
| # | 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 | 0–1 | 0–13 | UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying |
| 3. | 18 February 2021 | ASK Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan | Azerbaijan | 0–2 | 0–13 | UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying |
| 4. | 18 February 2021 | ASK Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan | Azerbaijan | 0–3 | 0–13 | UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying |
| 5. | 18 February 2021 | ASK Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan | Azerbaijan | 0–4 | 0–13 | UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying |
| 6. | 18 February 2021 | ASK Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan | Azerbaijan | 0–12 | 0–13 | UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying |
| 7. | 23 February 2021 | La Ciudad del Fútbol, Las Rozas de Madrid | Poland | 1–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying |
| 8. | 23 February 2021 | La Ciudad del Fútbol, Las Rozas de Madrid | Poland | 2–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying |
| 9. | 21 September 2021 | Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion, Budapest | Hungary | 0–1 | 0–7 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 10. | 21 September 2021 | Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion, Budapest | Hungary | 0–2 | 0–7 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 11. | 25 November 2021 | Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville | Faroe Islands | 1–0 | 12–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 12. | 25 November 2021 | Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville | Faroe Islands | 5–0 | 12–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 13. | 25 November 2021 | Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville | Faroe Islands | 7–0 | 12–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 14. | 25 November 2021 | Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville | Faroe Islands | 10–0 | 12–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 15. | 25 June 2022 | Nuevo Colombino, Huelva | Australia | 3–0 | 7–0 | Friendly |
| 16. | 20 July 2022 | Falmer Stadium, Brighton and Hove | England | 1–0 | 1–2 | UEFA Women's Euro 2022 |
| 17. | 2 September 2022 | La Ciudad del Fútbol, Las Rozas de Madrid | Hungary | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 18. | 6 September 2022 | La Ciudad del Fútbol, Las Rozas de Madrid | Ukraine | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 19. | 6 September 2022 | La Ciudad del Fútbol, Las Rozas de Madrid | Ukraine | 4–0 | 5–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification |
| 20. | 11 October 2022 | El Sadar Stadium, Pamplona | 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 | 2023 Cup of Nations |
| 23. | 22 February 2023 | McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, Australia | Czech Republic | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2023 Cup of Nations |
| 24. | 29 June 2023 | Estadio Román Suárez Puerta, Avilés, Spain | Panama | 1–0 | 7–0 | Friendly |
| 25. | 29 June 2023 | Estadio Román Suárez Puerta, Avilés, Spain | Panama | 6–0 | 7–0 | Friendly |
| 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. | 5 April 2024 | Den Dreef, Leuven, Belgium | Belgium | 7–0 | 7–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying |

## Honours

Atlético Madrid
* Primera División: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
* Copa de la Reina: 2016
NJ/NY Gotham FC
* NWSL Championship: 2023
Spain U17
* U17 European Championship runner-up: 2009
Spain
* FIFA Women's World Cup: 2023