Pernille Harder

Pernille Mosegaard Harder (born 15 November 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a forward for Frauen-Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Denmark national team.

At the inaugural 2008 U-17 World Cup in New Zealand, Harder was part of the Denmark team who won their group before losing 4–0 to eventual champions North Korea in the quarter-final.

Still 16 years old, she contributed a hat-trick to a crushing 15–0 win over Georgia in her senior international debut in October 2009, and she has continued to score regularly for the Danish team ever since.

Skovbakken had made Harder and her contemporary Sofie Junge Pedersen contracted players in April 2010, in recognition of their exceptional potential.

Harder chose Swedish club Linköpings FC for her next destination because she wanted a new challenge, but also because she wanted to remain in Scandinavia.

Harder scored further hat-tricks against Austria and Armenia in 2011 and Russia in 2013.

She played in the Algarve Cup in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015, but had an injury in 2014.

In September 2013 she scored all four goals in Linköpings' 4–1 win at relegation-bound Sunnanå SK.

She was named in national coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller's Denmark squad for Euro 2013.

With nine goals she had been the team's top goalscorer in qualifying.

In October 2013, Harder won her 50th cap for Denmark in a 1–1 draw with Serbia.

She scored Denmark's goal in the match.

In the 2015 Damallsvenskan season, Harder scored 17 goals in 22 appearances for Linköping, winning a series of national awards including Årets Anfallare (Forward of the Year) and Årets Allsvenska Spelare (League Player of the Year).

At the annual awards gala, she shared the stage with male winner Zlatan Ibrahimović and was described as "hyper-talented" and "world-class" by Swedish national coach Pia Sundhage.

Harder was also voted Danish Football Player of the Year in 2015.

In June 2016, Harder was among 30 local worthies to be named in a Wall of Fame by Linköping Municipality.

Harder enjoyed further success in the 2016 Damallsvenskan season, retaining the League Player of the Year award.

Her 23 league goals secured the Top Goalscorer award and helped Linköping win the Damallsvenskan title.

By now a transfer target for the biggest clubs in women's football, Harder's agent announced in November 2016 that she would be leaving Linköping for a new challenge.

In December 2016, it was announced that Harder had signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with VfL Wolfsburg running from January 2017.

In all four seasons with the team, Harder won the Bundesliga and German Cup double.

In March 2016, Harder was appointed captain of the national team.

She was top scorer in the league twice: in the 2017–18 season with 17 goals scored, and in the 2019–20 season with 27 goals.

Thanks to these performances, she won the UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award twice for the 2017-18 and 2019-20 seasons.

In 2017, she was named in national coach Nils Nielsen's Denmark squad for the Euro 2017.

She captained the team to the final and scored a goal in Denmark's 4–2 defeat by hosts the Netherlands.

Harder won the UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award in 2018 and 2020.

Harder, like her partner Magdalena Eriksson, is also known for her LGBTQ+ advocacy and LGBTQ+ rights in sport.

Harder played for Team Viborg and IK Skovbakken in her native Denmark's Elitedivisionen.

She also played in two Champions League finals (2018 and 2020), losing both to Lyon.

In September 2020, she became the world's most expensive female footballer following her transfer from VfL Wolfsburg to Chelsea, but the record was broken in September 2022 by Keira Walsh when she was signed to Barcelona.

She is considered one of the best footballers in the world.

In 2020, she was elected best forward of the Champions League and best player of the German Championship.

On 1 September 2020, Harder signed for Chelsea on a three-year contract for a world-record fee for a female footballer, reportedly in excess of £250,000.

In the 2020–21 Champions League quarter-finals, she scored in both legs against her former club VfL Wolfsburg.

In the group stage of the 2022–23 Champions League she scored a hattrick against KF Vllaznia Shkodër.

On the 18th November 2022 she suffered a serious thigh injury on national team duty against Austria that required surgery and sidelining her for five months.

She made her comeback against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final on April 22, 2023.

In the FA Cup final against Manchester United she gave the assist for the victory goal for Sam Kerr in front of a record crowd of 77,390 people.

On 1 June 2023, it was announced that Harder, along with partner and former Chelsea teammate Magdalena Eriksson, had signed for Bayern Munich on a three-year deal.