Catarina Cantanhede Melônio Macário (; born October 4, 1999) is a professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder or forward for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Born in Brazil, she plays for the United States national team.
Macario played college soccer for the Stanford Cardinal, where she won the 2017 and 2019 national championships and was twice awarded the Hermann Trophy, given to college soccer's best player. In 2021, Macario signed with Lyon and won the UEFA Women's Champions League in her first full season. She joined Women's Super League club Chelsea in 2023.
Macario made her senior debut for the United States in 2021. She won a bronze medal with the team at the Tokyo Olympics later that year.
Early life Macario was born in São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil, to Ana Maria Cantanhede and José Melônio Macário. She started playing football at the age of 4, following the footsteps of her older brother, Estevão (known in the U.S. as Steve). She started playing in the academy of Flamengo in São Luís. She remained there for less than 6 months before switching to the Cruzeiro academy. At the age of 7, she moved with the family to Brasília, the capital of Brazil. In Brasília, Catarina played for the Santos academy, where she remained until she moved to the United States in December 2011. In Brazil, Catarina had always played for boys' teams and only started playing for a girls' team after arriving in the United States. In 2011, at the age of 12 and without speaking any English, Macario relocated with her father and brother to San Diego, California, in order to pursue her dream of playing soccer. Her mother, a doctor, remained in Brazil in order to financially support the family. While playing for the San Diego Surf as a youth player, she broke the all-time goal scoring record in the ECNL with 165 goals.
College career On February 1, 2017, Macario committed to play collegiately for Stanford University. In her freshman year in 2017, she played 25 matches, scoring 17 goals and clinching 16 assists. As a result of her performance this year she won several awards, including being named "ESPNW Player of the Year", "TopDrawerSoccer.com Freshman of the Year", "Pac-12 Forward of the Year", and "Pac-12 Freshman of the Year".
In her sophomore year in 2018, Macario scored 14 goals with 8 assists in 19 matches played. On December 11, 2018, she received the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Year Award. On January 4, 2019, Macario won the MAC Hermann Trophy, awarded to the nation's top female and male players. Additionally, she was named "espnW Player of the Year" and "Pac-12 Forward of the Year" for the second year in a row.
In her junior year, Macario was the winner of the Honda Sports Award, given to the nation's top female collegiate soccer player. She was also awarded the MAC Hermann Trophy a second time, becoming the sixth woman to repeat as winner since the award was established in 1988.
Stanford won the NCAA Women's College Cup in her freshman and junior years.
On January 8, 2021, Macario announced that she would be forgoing her senior season at Stanford to start her professional career.
Club career
Lyon (2021–2023)
On January 12, 2021, Lyon announced they signed Macario for 2.5 years. She made her debut for Lyon in the Division 1 Féminine on February 6, 2021, coming on as a substitute in the 37th minute for Amandine Henry in a 2–1 win against Montpellier. On May 21, 2022, Macario scored in the UEFA Women's Champions League final to help secure a 3–1 victory against FC Barcelona. Macario along with Lyon teammate Lindsey Horan became the fourth and fifth Americans to win the UEFA Women's Champion League.
Chelsea (2023–2026) On June 9, 2023, Chelsea announced they had signed Macario on a free transfer from Lyon on a three-year deal. Macario scored her first goal 6 minutes into her debut for Chelsea on March 3, 2024, during a WSL game against Leicester City after returning from an ACL injury she got in June 2022. In her second game for Chelsea, she scored for a 1–0 victory over Everton in the FA Cup three minutes after being subbed in.
San Diego Wave (2026–) In March 2026, Macario signed with NWSL club San Diego Wave FC for a transfer fee of approximately $300,000 paid to Chelsea F.C., and signing a five-year contract through 2030 with her hometown team that will pay her approximately $1.6 million a season.
International career
Macario is eligible to play internationally for Brazil and the United States. She was called to represent the United States at several youth levels. Macario stated that she intended to represent the United States at the senior level, turning down several approaches from the Brazilian Football Confederation. She generally plays as a midfielder for the United States, although Vlatko Andonovski has stated she could move to a false nine role in the future.
On October 8, 2020, Macario received her first call up to represent the United States at senior level, though she could not yet do this in games until she received clearance from FIFA. Later the same day, she announced on Twitter that she had acquired American citizenship. On January 13, 2021, U.S. Soccer announced that Macario received clearance from FIFA to represent the United States internationally. On January 18, 2021, Macario debuted for the United States, coming in the half-time of a friendly match against Colombia, thus becoming the first naturalized citizen ever to play for the US senior women's team. In the next game, another friendly against Colombia, she started for the first time, scoring her first international goal, on January 22, 2021.
On June 23, 2021, Macario was included in the United States roster for the 2020 Summer Olympics where they placed 3rd, earning Macario a bronze medal.
After missing the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup due to an ACL injury she obtained with Lyon in 2022, Macario made her return to the United States national team for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup in April 2024. On June 26, 2024, Macario was selected by her former Chelsea coach Emma Hayes to the 18-player roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics in France. On July 12, it was announced that Macario would be withdrawing from the Olympics due to "knee irritation", and that Lynn Williams would replace her on the roster.
Personal life Despite declaring herself a fan of Marta, Macario stated that her favorite soccer player is American former forward Mia Hamm.
Macario graduated from Stanford University in 2021 with a BA in communications and minor in psychology.
Career statistics College SchoolSeasonRegular seasonCollege CupTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals Stanford Cardinal 2017 Div. I 19 14 6 3 25 17 2018 14 12 5 2 19 14 2019 19 23 6 9 25 32NCAA Total 52 49 17 14 69 63
Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsLyon2020–21Division 1 Féminine7500411162021–22Division 1 Féminine2014201393523Total27192017104629Chelsea2023–24FA WSL8131401522024–25FA WSL186727332112025–26FA WSL900032122Total3571031455915Career total6226123311510544
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsUnited States20211232022552023002024202025 10 8Total 29 16
Scores and results list United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Macario goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Catarina MacarioNo.DateLocationOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 January 22, 2021 Orlando, Florida, United States 1–06–0Friendly2 September 21, 2021 Cincinnati, Ohio, United States 5–08–0 38–04 February 23, 2022 Frisco, Texas, United States 1–05–0 2022 SheBelieves Cup 52–06 April 9, 2022 Columbus, Ohio, United States 5–09–1Friendly7 April 12, 2022 Chester, Pennsylvania, United States2–09–086–09February 20, 2025Houston, Texas, United States1–02–02025 SheBelieves Cup10April 8, 2025San Jose, California, United States1–01–2Friendly11May 31, 2025Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States1–03–0 12October 29, 2025Kansas City, Missouri, United States2–06–0 132–014November 28, 2025Orlando, Florida, United States2–03–0 153–016December 1, 2025Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States1–02–0
Honors Stanford Cardinal NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship: 2017, 2019
Lyon Division 1 Féminine: 2021–22 UEFA Women's Champions League: 2021–22
Chelsea Women's Super League: 2023–24, 2024–25 Women's FA Cup: 2024–25 FA Women's League Cup: 2024–25, 2025–26
United States SheBelieves Cup: 2021; 2022,2024 Olympic Bronze Medal: 2021
Individual ESPNW Player of the Year: 2017, 2018 Hermann Trophy: 2018, 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 first team: 2018 TopDrawerSoccer.com Freshman of the Year: 2017 TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Year: 2018, 2019 United Soccer Coaches First-Team All-America: 2017, 2018 Pac-12 Forward of the Year: 2017, 2018 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year: 2017 Honda Sports Award: 2020 Best Player SheBelieves Cup: 2022
References
External links
Catarina Macario at Stanford Cardinal