Marta (1986-…) is a Brazilian Swedish soccer star. As a forward for the Brazilian national team, Marta was the first person to score 17 goals in World Cup competitions and the first person to score goals in five different World Cups. Marta has been named the best female soccer player of the year six times by FIFA, soccer’s world governing body. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football). Soccer is called football in much of the world. Marta helped Brazil’s women’s soccer team win silver medals at the 2004, 2008, and 2024 Summer Olympic Games. 
At the age of 16, Marta joined Brazil’s national team to compete in the 2003 Pan American Games. There, she helped her team win the women’s soccer gold medal. That year, she also participated in the FIFA World Cup for the first time, though Brazil was eliminated in the quarter-finals. In the 2007 Pan American Games, Marta’s team again won the gold medal. She also played on the Brazilian team for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Marta scored the most goals of any player, but her team lost the championship to Germany. Marta made her final World Cup appearance in 2023.
Marta Vieira da Silva was born on Feb. 19, 1986, in the town of Dois Riachos in northeastern Brazil. She began to play for the youth branch of her home state’s soccer club, Centro Sportivo Alagoano, in 1999. The next year, Marta joined the club Vasco da Gama of Rio de Janeiro. Like several clubs throughout Marta’s career, Vasco cut their female team, driving Marta to a different club.
Marta joined the Swedish club Umeå IK, helping it win the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Women’s Cup in 2004. Marta joined the U.S. club Los Angeles Sol in 2009. After playing for several U.S. clubs, she returned to Sweden in 2012 to play for the club Tyresö FF. When Tyresö FF disbanded its female team, Marta joined FC Rosengård. After three years, she left to play for Orlando Pride, returning to the United States in 2017. That year, she also became a Swedish citizen.
