Deyna Cristina Castellanos Naujenis (born 18 April 1999) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or forward for Liga Femenil club Tigres UANL and the Venezuela national team. She played college soccer for the Florida State Seminoles, where she won the national championship in 2018. She has previously been a member of Liga F club Atlético Madrid, Women's Super League club Manchester City, and National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) clubs Bay FC and the Portland Thorns.

College career Castellanos was born in Maracay, on the Caribbean coast of Venezuela. She was awarded a scholarship to study journalism and play football at Florida State University, an experience she has described as life-changing. She spent three college years with the Florida State Seminoles, scoring 48 goals in 82 total appearances. In 2018, she contributed to an NCAA national title.

Club career

After leaving Florida State, Castellanos elected not to enter her name into the 2020 NWSL College Draft due to the lack of player autonomy afforded to her by the draft system. Instead, she signed her first professional contract with Spanish club Atlético Madrid on 2 January 2020, inking a two-year deal.

At the end of this contract, Castellanos moved to English club Manchester City in the Women's Super League (WSL), where she signed a three-year contract on 3 June 2022; she was described as the marquee signing during a high-turnover summer for the club. She made her Manchester City debut on 18 August 2022, in a 6–0 Champions League win against Kazakhstani side Tomaris-Turan, scoring a penalty in the 89th minute. On 18 September 2022, she made her WSL debut, coming on in the 70th minute during a 4–3 defeat by Aston Villa. On 26 January 2024, Castellanos was acquired by new NWSL expansion franchise Bay FC for a transfer fee. In the 2024 season, Castellanos appeared in 20 matches, starting 12, and scored 2 goals.

On 23 January 2025, Bay FC announced that they had bought out the remainder of her contract, making her a free agent. The next day, Castellanos was acquired by NWSL team Portland Thorns FC and signed to a two-year contract with a club option. She made her Thorns debut in the league's season-opener, starting and playing 87 minutes in a defeat to the Kansas City Current. Castellanos scored her first goal with her new club on 22 April 2025, helping the Thorns beat NJ/NY Gotham FC 4–1.

In September 2026, having made 33 appearances for the Thorns across all competitions, Castellanos departed Portland on a mutual contract termination. Shortly afterwards she signed with Liga MX Femenil team Tigres UANL.

International career

Youth

In 2014, she was a member of the Venezuela national under-17 team who finished fourth in the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and runners-up in the 2014 Women's Youth Olympic football. She won the Golden Boot of the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup with six goals, equalling her teammate Gabriela García and was also a goalscorer of the 2014 Women's Youth Olympic football with seven. She was also as a top scorer of the 2016 South American Under-17 Women's Football Championship with 12. Castellanos is the top goalscorer of the Venezuela U-17 women's team with 35. Castellanos is currently the all-time leading goalscorer of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup with 11.

Castellanos was called up to the Venezuela U-20 women's team in January 2018 for the 2018 South American Under-20 Women's Football Championship. She was the only player to score in the Group B matches with three, once against Uruguay, Bolivia and Chile. She was also the only player to score in the final stage, scoring once in a 3–1 defeat against Paraguay U-20 women's team.

Senior In April 2018, Castellanos was part of the senior team in the 2018 Copa América Femenina. She scored on her debut against Ecuador on 5 April, and netted four times in an 8–0 win over Bolivia four days later. In 2021, at the age of 21, she was named captain of the team for the first time.

Off the pitch

Castellanos started a foundation that encourages gender equality and helps provide football scholarship for South American girls.

She has worked as a studio analyst for NBC and Telemundo at the 2018 (men's) and 2019 (women's) FIFA World Cups, and in Spain. She is a fan of tattoos and as of 2022 has over 30. In Venezuela, she is known as Reina Deyna ("Queen Deyna"). She learned English while at Florida State University, becoming quickly bilingual.

In The Best FIFA Football Awards 2017, Castellanos was named to the three-woman shortlist for The Best FIFA Women's Player while still playing in college. Her nomination created some controversy. Megan Rapinoe was outspoken about this nomination, complaining that Castellanos was an unknown player and had not played professionally, nor in a major senior national team tournament at the time of her nomination.

Career statistics

Club .

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAtlético Madrid2019–20Primera División5010—0010702020–21Primera División271320—412135152021–22Primera División261010—00212911Total5823400041527126Manchester City2022–23Women's Super League191324021—2842023–24Women's Super League500031——81Total24132712100365Bay FC2024NWSL202———10212Portland Thorns FC2025NWSL232— — — — 23 22026NWSL40————40Total27200000000272Career total131287271626215535

International

+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsVenezuela2014402015002016002017102018962019102020002021542022116202376Total3822

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

+ List of international goals scored by Deyna CastellanosNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition 1 5 April 2018 Estadio Municipal Francisco Sánchez Rumoroso, Coquimbo, Chile1–01–0 2018 Copa América Femenina29 April 20181–0 8–032–043–058–06 19 July 2018 Estadio Moderno Julio Torres, Barranquilla, Colombia2–1 2–12018 Central American and Caribbean Games7 23 October 2021 Estadio Monumental Banco Pichincha, Guayaquil, Ecuador 3–14–1 Friendly84–19 26 October 2021 2–0 4–1103–111 9 April 2022 Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero, Cali, Colombia 1–02–2 122–013 9 July 2022 Estadio Centenario, Armenia, Colombia 1–01–0 2022 Copa América Femenina1415 July 20221–0 2–01524 July 20221–1 1–1 (2–4 p)1614 November 2022 Estadio Municipal Los Arcos, Orihuela, Spain 1–21–2 Friendly 17 29 June 2023 Estadio Las Delicias, Santa Tecla, El Salvador 3–0 4–0 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games 18 1 July 2023 1–1 4–1 19 4–1 20 3 July 2023 2–0 2–0 21 5 July 2023 2–0 2–122 26 September 2023 Estadio Olímpico de la UCV, Caracas, Venezuela 1–01–0 Friendly23 31 May 2025 Marbella Football Center, San Pedro Alcántara, Spain 1–03–124 2 December 2025 Estadio Metropolitano de Cabudare, Cabudare, Venezuela 1–06–0 2025–26 CONMEBOL Women's Nations League25 18 April 2026 7–08–026 9 June 2026 Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay 1–11–1

Honors

Team Florida State Seminoles NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship: 2018

Atlético Madrid Supercopa de España Femenina: 2020–21

Personal The Best FIFA Women's Player nomination: 2017

References

External links

Her official site