*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:45, 15 December 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:15, 8 December 2024 (UTC)
María Francesca Caldentey Oliver was born in the Mallorcan town of Felanitx to Miquel Àngel "Morete" Caldentey Bennásar and María Oliver. Her father was a football coach and her mother is a nurse by profession.[1][2][3][4] She also has an older brother.[5] Caldentey was taught by her grandmother, also named María, how to play the piano.[6]
Caldentey began playing football at the age of four in her local team as an after-school activity.[2][7] She later played futsal in Manacor, where she won multiple titles and played in three Spanish championships.[2] Although Caldentey did not develop in La Masia, she has had a lifelong connection to FC Barcelona: her father was one of the original members and promoters of Els Tamarells, the largest Barcelona penya.[7][8][9] He had been president of CE Felanitx after coaching the team (among others), and died suddenly while travelling in 2018.[8][4]
In 2013, after she won bronze at the 2013 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, Felanitx town hall placed a plaque in honour of Caldentey.[10] Els Tamarells began a campaign to rename the municipal pitch where CE Felanitx play[2] after Caldentey in July 2018, and this ultimately happened in 2020;[11][12] the Camp de Futbol Es Torrentó Mariona Caldentey Oliver was the first public space in Felanitx to be named after a woman.[9]
Caldentey began her football career in the youth ranks of CD Felanitx. The staff who registered her there took her name down as the masculine Mariano instead; Caldentey was the only girl at the club throughout her time there, but never felt excluded or weird. At under-8 (pre-benjamín [es]) level, Caldentey won the Spanish championship with Felanitx. Though her youth coaches felt she was not the best at any one thing, "she was a 9 in everything", which made her indispensable. She was also a versatile player and was fielded in all positions.[13]
When she was nine, she began playing futsal alongside football, taking part in both sports until she was twelve.[13] Caldentey then played football at Club Estudiantes CIDE (associated with the Palma Centre Internacional d'Educació).[13][14]
Felanitx presented Caldentey with an honorary shirt with her club number, and had her take the kick-off for their Trofeo Ciudad de Felanitx match against Ferriolense, in August 2013.[10]
Collerense
She joined her first girls' team at the age of fourteen at UD Collerense, which played in the top flight of Spanish women's football at the time. She had only taken part in two training sessions before picking up her first injury, something she would be plagued with throughout her senior career. Caldentey was involved in the Collerense youth system, though played for the first team.[13] Training was in the evenings, with Caldentey travelling 50 minutes each way every day from Felanitx and returning home at almost midnight.[6]
In the 2010–11 season, she played in two games for the first team: she came on as a substitute at half time in a league match, at fourteen years old,[15] and made a 16-minute substitute appearance in the Copa de la Reina aged fifteen.[16] In the 2011–12 season, she played 21 league games and scored two goals for the first team.[17] Caldentey would later describe Collerense as a community team; relying on local talent around the Mallorcan capital meant that players became integral at a young age, but this experience set them up for success.[6] She became a regular starter in the 2012–13 season, playing 22 matches (21 as starter) and scoring seven goals.[18] By 2013, Última Hora dubbed Caldentey and teammate Patricia Guijarro as "the pride of Collerense" and the newspaper considered them to be among the best Balearic footballers, despite both being younger than seventeen.[19]
In Caldentey's last Collerense match, against Athletic Club, she received a blow to the face and her nose was broken. She was taken off in the 28th minute and needed surgery.[20]
Barcelona
On 30 July 2014, Caldentey signed for Barcelona, the reigning Copa de la Reina and Primera División champions, after her success in the 2014 U-19 European Championship. She was the team's fourth summer signing, with Barcelona's first match of the 2014–15 season to be against Collerense.[21] During the season, she played in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Copa de la Reina, scoring in the 4–0 win versus Levante, before Barcelona was knocked out in the semifinals.
She suffered various injuries in her time at Barcelona, missing out on chunks of some seasons and not always being able to show her best level. Playing as an inside forward, Caldentey was key to this area of the team's formation and contributed to all aspects of the attack.[22]
Towards the end of what Sport called her best season for Barcelona, and one in which they won everything,[22] Caldentey announced on 5 June 2024 that she would be leaving the club at the end of the season. Having spent ten years at the club, she was among the top players for total appearances (303); goals (115, the fifth highest in club history); and trophies (25 trophies, the fourth most).[23][24]
Arsenal
On 2 July 2024, Arsenal announced the signing of Caldentey on a free transfer.[25][26] Caldentey said that leaving Spain had been a tough decision,[27][better source needed] but also suggested that Spanish players in general were considering similar moves as she felt Spanish women's domestic football was stagnating despite their 2023 World Cup success.[28]
International career
Youth
Caldentey was called up the Spain under-16 team for a camp in November 2011. She had already played for the under-16 Balearic Islands team.[29]
Caldentey earned third place at the 2013 U-17 European Championship, representing Spain. In the semifinals of the tournament, she converted her penalty in the shootout against Sweden, but would end up losing the match after the shootout ended 4–5 in Sweden's favor.[30] In the third place match, Caldentey captained the team and scored in the 42nd minute in an 0–4 rout of Belgium.[31]
She was called up to the under-19 team for the first time in October 2013,[32] and played for them at the 2014 U-19 European Championship. Caldentey started every game in the tournament, and scored the first goal in the semifinal match against Norway.[33] She started in the final, which Spain lost to the Netherlands.[34]
Caldentey also participated in the 2016 U20 World Cup, where she scored twice in the group stage against Canada and Japan. Spain were eliminated in extra time of the quarterfinal against eventual champions North Korea.[35] Her goal against Canada was named goal of the tournament.[36]
Senior
In 2017, Caldentey earned her first senior national team call-up when Jorge Vilda named her to Spain's squad for two friendlies against Switzerland.[37][38][39] Two months later, she made her international debut in an Algarve Cup match versus Japan, subbing on in the 73rd minute for Amanda Sampedro.[40][41] Spain went on to the final against Canada and won the tournament, earning Caldentey her first international title.
Caldentey scored her first senior international goal in a friendly match against Belgium.[42]
She was called up to the squad for the Euro 2017. Caldentey started in two group stages games- a win against Portugal and a loss against Scotland.[43][44] After Spain qualified for the knockout rounds on their head-to-head record, she started the quarterfinal match against Austria but was subbed out in the 56th minute. Spain exited the tournament after a penalty shootout.[45]
In 2019, Caldentey was called up to represent Spain in the 2019 Algarve Cup, where Spain finished 7th place. She was also named to the Spain squad for the 2019 World Cup. She started each match in the group stage of the tournament, where Spain received four points and moved on to the Round of 16 for the first time in their history.[46][47][48] In the Round of 16 match, she subbed in at the 83rd minute for Virginia Torrecilla, and Spain would end up losing to eventual champions, the United States.[49]
She was among Las 15, a group of players who made themselves unavailable for international selection in September 2022 due to their dissatisfaction with head coach Jorge Vilda, but one of three who was selected for the tournament squad nine months later.[50][51] She was in the starting line-up for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup final as Spain defeated England 1–0 to win the trophy for the first time.
Career statistics
Club
As of 18 December 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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