 Berger withGermany in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ann-Katrin Berger[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1990-10-09)9 October 1990 (age 34) | ||
| Place of birth | Göppingen, Germany | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | NJ/NY Gotham FC | ||
| Number | 30 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2011 | VfL Sindelfingen | 26 | (0) |
| 2011–2014 | 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam | 19 | (0) |
| 2014–2016 | Paris Saint-Germain | 12 | (0) |
| 2016–2018 | Birmingham City | 33 | (0) |
| 2019–2024 | Chelsea | 65 | (0) |
| 2024– | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 27 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2009 | Germany U19 | 1 | (0) |
| 2020– | Germany | 19 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 03:01, 29 March 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:23, 04 April 2025 (UTC) | |||
Ann-Katrin Berger (born 9 October 1990) is a German professionalfootballer who plays as agoalkeeper forNJ/NY Gotham FC in theNational Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and theGermany national team. She has a well-known reputation as a penalty killer.[2][3]
At the age of four, Berger began playing football in the KSG Eislingen. As a teenager, she moved to FV Faurndau. She played as astriker,midfielder anddefender and only switched to the goal at the age of 16, joking she became "lazy to run," and "has grown" again.[4]
In 2007, she moved up to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg. A year later, Berger moved to second division side,VfL Sindelfingen.[5] In the summer of 2011, Berger signed a three-year contract with1. FFC Turbine Potsdam in theFrauen-Bundesliga, the top division in Germany.[5] She made her debut for the club on 21 August 2011 and shut out Hamburger SV 4–0.[6] She made five appearances for the club during the 2011/2012 season playing a total of 450 minutes. Potsdam finished first in the league with an 18–2–2 record.[7] She was the starting goalkeeper in three of Potsdam's2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League matches helping the squad earn shut-outs againstÞór Akureyri andGlasgow City F.C.[6][8]
Berger signed withParis Saint-Germain in June 2014, playing 22 matches in all competitions during her two-year spell with the club.[9] In June 2016, she joinedBirmingham City.[10]
In November 2017, Berger was diagnosed withthyroid cancer, for which she received treatment and was able to enter remission.[11] During her battle with cancer, she had a desire to continue playing football. On 4 February 2018, she made her first appearance since being diagnosed with cancer in the Fourth Round of the2017–18 FA Women's Cup in an away match againstReading. Birmingham won 1–0. With her strong determination she had a brilliant season, and as a result she won thePFA Team of the Year Award.[12]
Berger continued her strong return in 2018, helpingBirmingham City to a fourth-place standing after midway point of the2018–19 FA WSL season. Having run down her contract at Birmingham City and rejected a new offer,[13] she joined reigning championsChelsea on 4 January 2019.[14] Chelsea managerEmma Hayes signed her as part of the team rebuild even though Chelsea had three other goalkeepers on their roster.[15]
In April 2021, Berger made title winning saves away againstManchester City in a 2–2 draw, as Chelsea fought to preserve their lead at the top of the table.[16] Chelsea and manager Emma Hayes later won their 4th WSL title, the most by any WSL team, by 2 points on the final day of the 2020–21 season with a 5–0 victory over Reading. Chelsea broke the records for most wins (18) and most points (57) in a season, and became just the third team to defend the League title after Liverpool and Arsenal. Berger registered the most clean sheets (12), winning theGolden Glove.[17] On 23 August 2022 Berger announced, that she was suffering from thyroid cancer again.[18] A little over a month later, on the 25 September, Berger made her comeback against Manchester City.[19] In March 2023, Berger made the decisive save onLindsey Horan's shot in the penalty shootout withLyon, to take Chelsea to the semi-finals in the Women's Champions league.[20]
In April 2024, it was announced that Berger had signed a one-year contract with an option for an additional year withGotham FC.[21][22] In September she extended her contract till 2026.[23] In November 2024, Berger was ranked 25th, as the best goalkeeper worldwide by ESPN, in a list of the “Top 50 soccer players of 2024.”[24]
Berger received her first call-up to theGermany national team in November 2018.[14] She made her national debut on December 1, 2020 in theEuro 2022 qualifier against theRepublic of Ireland.[25]
She was named in the squad forEuro 2022, but did not play, as Germany finished as runners-up.[26] In July 2023, she was named in the squad for the2023 World Cup.[27] She made no appearances and for the first time ever, Germany got knocked out after the group stage.
In July 2024, she got selected for the squad for the2024 Summer Olympics[28] and was promoted to the new number one for this tournament.[29] During the penalty shootouts in the quarter-finals againstCanada, she saved two shots fromAshley Lawrence andAdriana Leon before scoring the decisive penalty which qualified her nation to the semi-finals.[30] In the bronze match againstSpain she deflected a penalty in the ninth minute of added time and played a big part, why Germany won the bronze medal.[31]
Berger is openly lesbian, and since 2017 in a relationship with her Birmingham City, Chelsea, and Gotham teammateJess Carter.[32] They announced their engagement in May 2024.[33]
Berger is an Ambassador and co-founder of theJudan Ali Football Academy known as JAFA based in London and founded in 2019.[34][35]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| VfL Sindelfingen | 2009–10 | 2. Frauen-Bundesliga | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| 2010–11 | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 12 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||||||
| Turbine Potsdam | 2011–12 | Frauen-Bundesliga | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 2013–14 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | — | 22 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 19 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | — | 32 | 0 | ||||
| Paris Saint-Germain | 2014–15 | Division 1 Féminine | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||||
| 2015–16 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 12 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | |||||
| Birmingham City | 2016 | FA WSL | 6 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2017 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||||
| 2017–18 | 14 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 0 | |||||
| 2018–19 | 8 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 33 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | 44 | 0 | ||||
| Chelsea[36] | 2018–19 | FA WSL | 1 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| 2019–20 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | ||||
| 2020–21 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | |||
| 2022–23 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 26 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| Total | 65 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 108 | 0 | ||
| NJ/NY Gotham[37] | 2024 | NWSL | 7 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| Total | 7 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||||
| Career total | 148 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 221 | 0 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2020 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 19 | 0 | |
1. FFC Turbine Potsdam
Birmingham City
Chelsea
Germany
Individual
Germany squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
