Women's World Cup: Players who have featured at the most tournaments

It wasn't until 1991, almost a century after the first official fixture, that FIFA allowed the first Women's World Cup to be held.

The tournament in China was a landmark event but serves as a stark contrast to the modern game. Namely, matches were bizarrely capped at 80 minutes, prompting US captain April Heinrichs to snipe: "They were afraid our ovaries were going to fall out if we played 90."

Across the regrettably embryonic history of the official global jamboree, several players have managed to stay entirely intact playing far more than 80 minutes across multiple decades.

Here are the revered individuals that have been to five or more World Cups over the years.

7 - Formiga (Brazil)

Miraildes Maciel Mota, known more commonly as Formiga, holds the record for appearing in seven FIFA Women's World Cups - 10% of all Women's World Cup matches have featured the legendary Brazilian midfielder.

The competition's oldest scorer first debuted for her national team at 17 after being born during a period when it had been illegal for women to even play football in Brazil, making her 234 caps and 29 goals during a 26-year-long career a remarkable feat.

6 - Homare Sawa (Japan)

Regarded as one of the greatest Asian female footballers of all time, Homare Sawa's impressive career spanned 24 seasons and 22 years with the Japan national team, where she captained her side to the 2011 World Cup trophy and 2012 Olympic silver medal.

Sawa made her debut in 1993 at just 15, a career which saw her achieve 205 caps and score 83 times until 2015, when she retired as the leader for appearances and goals in the history of Japanese football, for either gender.

5 - Kristine Lilly (USA)

Kristine Lilly is one of the most notable names in football after a 23-year-long career that saw her become the most-capped footballer in the history of the sport making 354 appearances for the United States Women's National Team.

The 51-year-old scored 130 goals for the side, the third highest in the history of the USWNT, after making her debut in 1987 whilst she was still in high school. She surpassed both the men's and women's records for most national team appearances by 1999.

Lilly became the first woman and the third player overall to participate in five different World Cup finals when she appeared at the 2007 finals.

5 - Birgit Prinz (Germany)

Birgit Prinz is one of Germany's prolific strikers and second Women's World Cup all-time leading scorer with 14 goals, having made her debut for the side at just 16.

Prinz racked up 214 appearances for Germany and scored 128 goals between 1994 and 2011. Now 45, she is also a two-time World Cup winner and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year.

5 - Christie Pearce (Rampone) (USA)

Christie Pearce, also known by her married name Rampone betweeen 2004 and 2017, made 311 appearances for the United States from 1997 until 2015.

The three-time Olympic gold medallist collected two World Cups at either end of her feted career and was the only American present in both 1999 and 2015.

5 - Cristiane (Brazil)

Prolific forward having a club career in France, Germany, Sweden, the United States, Russia and South Korea, as well as in her native Brazil, Cristiane has made 151 appearances and scored 96 goals for Brazil since 2003.

In October 2017, Cristiane was one of five Brazil players to quit international football due to pay and poor conditions on top of the federation's sacking of head coach Emily Lima. She relented and indicated a willingness to return to the team in February 2018 ahead of the Copa America that year, ultimately appearing at the 2019 World Cup as well.

5 - Marta (Brazil)

One of the most well known names in women's football, Marta is often regarded as the greatest player of all time. She has been named FIFA World Player of the Year six times, five of them being consecutive from 2006 to 2010, followed by the sixth in 2018.

Marta holds several records for Brazil, in either men's or women's football, being top goalscorer with 115 goals in 174 appearances. She also holds the record for most goals scored in the FIFA World Cup tournament with 17 goals.

She was the first footballer of any gender to score at five World Cups, a feat that was later matched by Christine Sinclair in 2019 and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2022.

5 - Christine Sinclair (Canada)

Up there with Marta as one of the greats of the game, Christine Sinclair is the world's all-time leader for international goals scored in the men's and women's game. The most-capped active international player (323 appearances for Canada) has scored a staggering 190 goals on the global stage.

Debuting in 2000 at 16, the now 39-year-old is set to feature in the 2023 World Cup where she could set new records.

5 - Onome Ebi (Nigeria)

Onome Ebi, currently of Levante, became the first African footballer to play in five FIFA World Cup tournaments, completing the consecutive quintet in 2019.

Since 2003, the now 40-year-old has made 107 appearances and also captains Nigeria. Ebi is now on the cusp of her sixth World Cup this summer.

Read the latest Women's World Cup news here