 Kleinherne in 2023. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sophia Kleinherne[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (2000-04-12)12 April 2000 (age 24) | ||
| Place of birth | Telgte, Germany | ||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Eintracht Frankfurt | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| SG Telgte | |||
| BSV Ostbevern | |||
| 2014–2017 | FSV Gütersloh | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016–2017 | FSV Gütersloh | 8 | (1) |
| 2017 | 1. FFC Frankfurt II | 8 | (1) |
| 2018– | Eintracht Frankfurt[a] | 132 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2014–2015 | Germany U15 | 5 | (0) |
| 2015 | Germany U16 | 2 | (0) |
| 2016 | Germany U17 | 14 | (0) |
| 2017–2019 | Germany U19 | 22 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Germany U20 | 6 | (0) |
| 2019– | Germany | 32 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:00, 4 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13:04, 5 April 2025 (UTC) | |||
Sophia Kleinherne (born 12 April 2000) is a German professionalfootballer who plays as adefender forFrauen-Bundesliga clubEintracht Frankfurt and theGermany national team.[2][3]
In January 2020, Kleinherne was named byUEFA as one of the ten most promising young players in Europe.[4]
Kleinherne first played for SG Telgte and BSV Ostbevern before moving to the youth department of FSV Gütersloh in 2009.[5][6] There she competed with the B-Juniors in the Bundesliga West/Southwest and reached the finals of the German Championship with her team in both 2015 and 2016. In 2015 she won the U18 national cup held in Duisburg with the Westphalia selection. In the 2016/17 season, she also made her first two appearances for the FSV team in the 2nd Bundesliga Northand scored a goal.
For the 2017/18 season, she moved from Gütersloh to 1. FFC Frankfurt II in the 2nd Bundesliga South, but was promoted to the squad of theBundesliga team during the winter break. After this change of club and association, Kleinherne won the U18 national cup again in 2017, this time with the U18 Hessen selection. She made her debut in the Bundesliga on 11 February 2018 (matchday 10), when she played the full game time in the 0-1 home defeat againstSGS Essen. In July 2020, 1. FFC Frankfurt was integrated intoEintracht Frankfurt, thus forming the club's women's football department.
On 29 October 2022 Kleinherne scored her first Bundesliga goal in her 100th Bundesliga game againstTSG 1899 Hoffenheim.[7]
In December 2021, Kleinherne extended her contract with Eintracht Frankfurt through June 2024.[8]
Kleinherne made her national team debut on 28 October 2014 in the 13–0 victory of the U15 national team against Scotland. After two appearances for the U16 national team in 2015, she was already part of theU17 national team in 2016 and took part in theEuropean Championship with them. She played in all five tournament games in Belarus and became European champion with a final win (3–2 on penalties) againstSpain. At theU17 World Cup in the same year, she was also part of the German squad, was a regular player, as at the European Championships, and reached the quarter-finals with the team. In the spring of 2017 followed the debut in theU19 national team, with which they qualified for theEuropean Championship in Northern Ireland in the same year, where they played in two group games and the semi-finals, which they lost 2–1 toFrance. On 18 October 2017 Kleinherne made her debut for theU20 national team. At the2019 U19 European Championship in Scotland, she captained Germany to the final, which they narrowly lost to France. Kleinherne was named to the team of the tournament.[9]
On 9 November 2019 she made her senior debut in a friendly againstEngland at London'sWembley Stadium in front of a crowd of over 77,000.[10] Kleinherne played the entire game at left-back, which Germany won 2–1.[11]
For theEuro 2022 in England, she was called up to the squad by the national coachMartina Voss-Tecklenburg. Kleinherne played in three games and scored her first international goal.
In addition to her football career, Kleinherne is studying sports management at a distance learning university and is a soldier in the german army (Bundeswehr), currently in the rank of aHauptgefreiter (higher private).[12]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 11 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 32 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 July 2022 | Milton Keynes, England |  Finland | 1–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2022 |
Germany Youth
Germany
Individual
Germany squads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
