Top five Indian female footballers playing overseas in 2026

Indian women have made some brilliant transfers overseas.

The Indian Women’s Football season has taken major steps forward in recent years, with the impressive performance of the Indian Women’s Football teams across multiple levels bringing a lot of pride to the nation.

All three of the Indian Women’s Football Teams have qualified for three AFC Women’s Asian Cup competitions (AFC Women’s Asian Cup, AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup and AFC U17 Asian Cup) in 2026, with bigger things on the horizon for Indian Women’s Football.

As a result of their impressive performances, many Indian women’s footballers have started getting recognition outside the country and have impressed scouts of notable foreign teams. There are currently quite a few female Indian footballers playing overseas, and here we look at the top five female footballers playing overseas right now.

5. Rivka Ramji

Rivka Ramji came up through the Karnataka football scene, impressing at the youth level by playing for multiple teams and performing at a high level. The 19-year-old midfielder even excelled for the Karnataka state team before going on to play for Sethu FC in the Indian Women’s League as well.

In 2025, Ramji received a huge chance to join the Singapore side Lion City Sailors’ Women’s team, who were impressed with her performances for the India U20 teams and in the IWL. She became the first Karnataka-based women’s footballer to join a foreign club, and she’s been a pretty important player for Lion City Sailors since joining them, making quite a few appearances and proving her quality with hard-working performances.

4. Kajol D’Souza

A product of the La Liga football schools, Kajol D’Souza has come a long way in making herself into a renowned figure in the Indian women’s football scene. She played for both Sethu WFC and Odisha WFC in the IWL and had an impressive youth career as well – playing in the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup for India U17 as well. D’Souza has already made her debut for the India Women’s team, scoring three goals in two appearances for them, and her bright performances attracted interest from abroad.

In the summer of 2025, D’Souza accepted an offer from Saudi Arabian club Al-Amal to join them for a new chapter in her career. The efficient midfielder opted to play at a higher level in the Saudi Women’s First Division, and she has performed really well for Al-Amal. D’Souza has five goals in four games in the 2025-26 season for Al-Amal, as she seems to be thriving under the pressure of playing in a foreign league.

3. Aveka Singh

Aveka Singh earned a lot of her football experience playing for the UC Irvine Anteaters team in the college football scene in the USA, when she did her course on business economics in the University of California. After returning from the USA, she opted to join a foreign club rather than play in the Indian Women’s Football scene.

Aveka, who as made 11 appearances for the India U17 national team and scored five goals for them as well, joined Danish Women’s top division club Naestved HG in the 2025 summer window. She’s since gone onto become a pretty vital squad player for them, even scoring her debut goal for the club and holding Indian Women’s Football’s reputation in bright light.

2. Harshika Jain

Harshika Jain had to fight her way to ensure she could get the experience of playing football in a European country. The former Gokulam Kerala FC player, who even won the Indian Women’s League title with them, opted to try her luck in playing for a foreign club after earning a trial with Romanian top division side ACS Atletic Olimpia Gherla.

Harshika earned a 20-day trial with the club and did so well in that period that they decided to sign her on a permanent basis. In doing so, Harshika became the first Indian footballer to play for the Romanian top division team, making the Indian Women’s Football scene proud. Jain is now a key squad member of the Romanian side, which finished in seventh place in the end of the league stages of the 2025-26 season.

1. Manisha Kalyan

Manisha Kalyan has been one of the most impressive women’s footballers to come out of the Indian Women’s Football scene in the 21st century.

A multi-time AIFF Women’s Player of the Year award winner, Manisha won the IWL title twice with Gokulam Kerala and has made 48 appearances for the Indian Women’s Team, scoring 14 goals in the process.

However, Kalyan took a major leap in her career in 2024 when she was able to bag a move to Greek side PAOK’s women’s team. She went onto became not only the first female footballer from India to play in Greece, but also the first Indian footballer to play in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

Manisha scored eight goals and provided five assists in the 2024-25 season for PAOK, proving herself to have the mettle to succeed in a tough European league.

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