Felicitas Rauch

Felicitas Rauch's career has run through two of German football's dominant clubs. She came through the ranks at 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam, starting with the reserve side and winning the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga Nord title in 2013–14 before her promotion to the first team and Bundesliga debut in September 2014. She stayed with Potsdam until 2019, making 89 appearances, then moved to VfL Wolfsburg on a free transfer, winning two Frauen-Bundesliga championships and four consecutive DFB-Pokal titles. That contract was mutually terminated in early 2024, and she signed for North Carolina Courage soon after. Rauch's versatility has been a constant thread — she has played as a midfielder and winger as well as in her established left-back role. That adaptability was evident at international level, too. She was part of the Germany squad that won the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in 2014, and by senior level had earned 50 caps and scored five goals for the national team. She started in the final of UEFA Women's Euro 2022, which Germany lost, and won bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics, starting all six matches after being called up as an alternate. Not every campaign went to plan: a knee injury sustained in training forced her withdrawal from the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup squad. In 2024, she was awarded the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, Germany's highest sporting honour.