Laura Freigang

Laura Freigang

Freigang with Germany in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Laura Freigang [1]
Date of birth	(1998-02-01) 1 February 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth	Kiel, Germany
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) [1]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Eintracht Frankfurt
Number	10
Youth career
0000–2011	FSV Oppenheim
2011–2014	Holstein Kiel
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2017	Penn State Nittany Lions	37	(11)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2016	TSV Schott Mainz	13	(4)
2018–	Eintracht Frankfurt	122	(72)
International career‡
2013	Germany U15	3	(1)
2013–2014	Germany U16	7	(4)
2014	Germany U17	5	(3)
2015–2017	Germany U19	24	(16)
2015–2018	Germany U20	17	(7)
2020–	Germany	25	(12)
Medal record UEFA Women's Championship 2022 England
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:00, 4 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12:16, 6 April 2024 (UTC)

Laura Freigang (born 1 February 1998) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Germany national team. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Club career

Laura Freigang started playing football at FSV Oppenheim. After nine years, she moved to Holstein Kiel in 2011 due to her family moving. In the 2012/2013 season she made her first appearances in the B junior team in the first-class Bundesliga North/Northeast. She scored two goals on her debut on November 3, 2012 against Werder Bremen. She scored another goal in a total of eight appearances this season. In the following season, Freigang was an integral part of the team and scored 15 goals in 17 Bundesliga appearances, the fifth most in the North/Northeast season. ^[6]

After three years in Kiel, Freigang moved back to Rhineland-Palatinate in the summer of 2014, to the regional league team TSV Schott Mainz. In her first season she scored 20 goals in 18 games, the third most in the league. ^[7]  With TSV Schott they achieved promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga as undefeated champions. ^[8]  In the following season she scored four goals in 13 second division games.

As of August 2016, Freigang studied at Pennsylvania State University on a sports scholarship and at the same time played for the university's soccer team in the Big Ten Conference.  Freigang scored a goal in the first game of the season and was then named Freshman of the Week in the Big Ten Conference.

For the 2018/19 season she moved to Bundesliga club 1. FFC Frankfurt. ^[9]  She finished her first season with Frankfurt in 5th place and scored 10 goals in 20 games. ^[10]  In the second season of 2019/20, she and two other players were the third-best goalscorer in the league with 16 goals in 22 games ^[11] and finished 6th with Frankfurt.

In July 2020, 1. FFC Frankfurt was integrated into the Eintracht Frankfurt club and formed the club's women's football department. In 2021 she extended her contract early until 2025. ^[12]  In the 2020/21 season she was second in the top scorers list behind Nicole Billa with 17 goals.

Freigang is as of this moment in pursuit of playing in either the NWSL or WSL as reported by several football outlets.

International career

Youth

Freigang made her first national appearance in 2013 with the U15 national team. ^[13]  She scored four goals in seven international matches for the U16 team. She scored two goals at the Nordic Cup for the U16 national teams in 2014, including the 2-0 goal in the final win against Sweden. ^[14]  She was appointed to the U17 national team squad for the first time at the 2014 U17 World Cup in Costa Rica. She came on as a substitute in two group games. In the other games for the U17 team she scored three goals.

In 2015 she made her debut for the U19 national team, for which she took part in three European Championships in 2015, 2016, and 2017. She scored a total of two goals and reached the semi-finals in 2015 and 2017. In total, Freigang played 24 international matches for the U19 team, in which she scored 16 goals. ^[15]

Freigang played her first game for the U20 national team in October 2015. In 2016 and 2018 she and her team reached the quarterfinals of the U20 World Cup. She scored two goals during the 2018 tournament. ^[16]  Freigang scored seven goals in 17 international matches for the U20 team.

Senior

Laura Freigang in November 2020

She made her senior national team debut on March 7, 2020, coming on as a substitute for Linda Dallmann in the 73rd minute in the Algarve Cup semi-final against Norway. She scored her first international goal on September 22, 2020 in a 3-0 win in the European Championship qualifier against the national team of Montenegro to make it 1-0 in the second minute. In her third international match on November 27, 2020, she scored a hat trick in a 6-0 win in the European Championship qualifier against Greece. ^[17]

She was named to the squad by national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg for the 2022 European Championship in England. Germany reached the final, but lost to England and became European runners-up. Freigang was used in one game.

Freigang was called back into the squad for the 2023 World Cup and played a short seven-minute appearance in the 6-0 win against World Cup newcomers Morocco, but was eliminated with Germany in the preliminary round. ^[18]

Personal life

Freigang studied communication sciences and later psychology at Pennsylvania State University from 2016 to 2018. She has been studying sports science at the Goethe University Frankfurt since the 2018/19 winter semester. ^[19]

In December 2023, Freigang published a book with personal photographs from Germany's World Cup campaign. ^[20] The limited edition was sold out in ten minutes. ^[21]

Career statistics

As of 5 April 2024 ^[16]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Germany	2020	3	4
	2021	7	5
	2022	7	3
	2023	7	0
	2024	1	0
Total		25	12

Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Freigang goal.

List of international goals scored by Laura Freigang ^[16]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	22 September 2020	Podgorica, Montenegro	Montenegro	1–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2021 qualifying
2	27 November 2020	Ingolstadt, Germany	Greece	2–0	6–0	UEFA Euro 2021 qualifying
3				3–0
4				4–0
5	24 February 2021	Venlo, Netherlands	Netherlands	1–1	1–2	Friendly
6	10 April 2021	Wiesbaden, Germany	Australia	4–0	5–2	Friendly
7	13 April 2021	Wiesbaden, Germany	Norway	1–1	3–1	Friendly
8	26 October 2021	Essen, Germany	Israel	3–0	7–0	2023 FIFA World Cup qualification
9	26 November 2021	Braunschweig, Germany	Turkey	6–0	8–0
10	6 September 2022	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	2–0	8–0
11				6–0
12				8–0

Honours

Germany

• UEFA Women's Championship runner-up: 2022 ^[22]

• UEFA Women's Nations League third place: 2023–24 ^[23]

References

1. "FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup France 2018: List of Players – Germany" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 26 July 2018. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
2. Laura Freigang at WorldFootball.net
3. "TSV Schott angelt sich Sturmtalent" [TSV Schott nets attacking talent]. Sport aus Mainz (in German). 27 June 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
4. "Laura Freigang feiert A-Nationalmannschafts-Debüt" [Laura Freigang celebrates her senior national team debut]. Schleswig-Holstein Football Association (in German). 23 March 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
5. "Laura Freigang". Penn State Nittany Lions . Retrieved 1 May 2020.
6. "B-Juniorinnen-Bundesliga Nord/Nordost - Alle Torschützen - Frauenfußball auf soccerdonna.de". www.soccerdonna.de. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
7. "Regionalliga Südwest - Alle Torschützen - Frauenfußball auf soccerdonna.de". www.soccerdonna.de. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
8. "Regionalliga Südwest - Aktuelle Tabelle, Heimtabelle, Gasttabelle - Frauenfußball auf soccerdonna.de". www.soccerdonna.de. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
9. "Frankfurt holt U-20-Nationalspielerin Freigang". kicker (in German). Retrieved 9 November 2023.
10. "Torjäger | Allianz Frauen-Bundesliga 2018/19". kicker (in German). Retrieved 9 November 2023.
11. "Torjäger | Flyeralarm Frauen-Bundesliga 2019/20". kicker (in German). Retrieved 9 November 2023.
12. "Laura Freigang verlängert bis 2025". Eintracht Frankfurt (in German). Retrieved 9 November 2023.
13. "U15-Juniorinnen Nationalmannschaft". Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e. V. (in German). 18 April 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
14. "Statistik-Center". DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. (in German). 14 August 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
15. "Laura Freigang - Spielerinnenprofil". DFB Datencenter (in German). Retrieved 9 November 2023.
16. Laura Freigang at DFB (also available in German )
17. "Laura Freigang trifft und trifft und trifft – DW – 27.11.2020". dw.com (in German). Retrieved 9 November 2023.
18. "Wenig Weltklasse, keine Kadertiefe, falsche Entscheidungen: Die Gründe für das WM-Aus". kicker (in German). Retrieved 9 November 2023.
19. "Laura Freigang will sich beim 1. FFC Frankfurt durchsetzen". Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 30 August 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
20. "Laura Freigang über ihren Fotografie-Bildband zur Frauenfußball-WM 2023: 'Ich wollte ein besonderes Team auf einem besonderen Weg festhalten'". vogue.de (in German). 8 December 2023.
21. "Nach 10 Minuten ausverkauft: DFB-Fanliebling veröffentlicht Fotobuch". n-tv.de (in German). 8 December 2023.
22. Sanders, Emma (31 July 2022). "England beat Germany to win first major women's trophy". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
23. "Germany win Nations League play-off to reach Olympics". BBC Sport. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 29 February 2024.

External links

• Laura Freigang – UEFA competition record ( archive ) 
• Laura Freigang – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Laura Freigang at kicker (in German)
• Laura Freigang at Soccerway