Linda Lizeth Caicedo Alegría (; born 22 February 2005) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga F club Real Madrid, where she is one of the club captains, and the Colombia national team.
Caicedo made her senior debut for América de Cali at the age of 14 in 2019, finishing that season as the Colombian league's top scorer and scoring the goal that won the club its first league title. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer early in 2020, returned to football after chemotherapy, and won a second league title with Deportivo Cali in 2021 before finishing as joint top scorer of the 2021 Copa Libertadores Femenina. She joined Real Madrid in February 2023, played in the Copa de la Reina final that May, and has since been a regular in their UEFA Women's Champions League campaigns; in November 2025 she extended her contract until 2031, and in July 2026 she was named one of the squad's four captains.
At international level, Caicedo was named the best player of the 2022 Copa América Femenina, where Colombia finished as runners-up, and won the Silver Ball as captain of the under-17 side that lost the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup final to Spain. In 2023 she played at her third FIFA World Cup in less than a year, and her goal against Germany at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was voted the Goal of the Tournament. She played at the 2024 Summer Olympics, scored in the 2025 Copa América Femenina final, and helped Colombia win the inaugural CONMEBOL Women's Nations League in 2026, a campaign that also secured qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup. Her individual honours include the 2023 Golden Girl award, a ninth-place finish in the 2023 Ballon d'Or Féminin, selection to the 2024 FIFPRO Women's World 11 and the 2025 Trofeo EFE.
Early life Caicedo was born in Candelaria, in the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia, and is the youngest daughter of Mauro Caicedo and Herlinda Alegría. Her mother has recalled that as a young girl Caicedo showed little interest in dolls and would instead kick them, along with kitchen utensils, around the house as if they were footballs. At the age of five she began playing at Real Juanchito, a club in the village of Villagorgona that had until then been open only to boys. There she was coached by Diego Fernando Vásquez and came under the guidance of the club's president, Rafael Murillo, who became her mentor.
At the age of ten Caicedo joined her first girls' team, Generaciones Palmiranas, where she came to the attention of Fabián Taborda, who was then the head coach of Colombia's senior women's team. A year later she moved to CD Atlas C.P., a youth club in Cali founded by the Colombian international Carolina Pineda, and between 2017 and 2019 she won three national under-13 tournaments with the team. Those results drew interest from Colombia's leading women's clubs, and Pineda persuaded Marcela Gómez, the president of América de Cali's women's team, to sign her.
Club career América de Cali (2019) Caicedo made her professional debut for América de Cali against Cortuluá on 15 July 2019, aged 14, and scored the only goal of the match. She finished the 2019 Colombian Women's Football League as its top scorer with seven goals in seven matches. On 30 September 2019, in the second leg of the final against Independiente Medellín, she scored the goal that gave América a 3–2 aggregate victory and the club's first league title. Reaching the final qualified América for the 2019 Copa Libertadores Femenina, but Caicedo was ineligible to take part because the competition's minimum age was 16. América and Caicedo were unable to agree terms on a new contract, which the club attributed to her salary demands, and it confirmed her departure on 30 January 2020.
Deportivo Cali (2020–2022) On 4 February 2020, Caicedo joined América's cross-city rivals Deportivo Cali on a one-year contract. Within weeks she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and her treatment kept her out of football for around six months; she resumed training days after completing her final round of chemotherapy. She made her debut for Cali on 20 October 2020 in a home defeat to Junior in the opening match of the 2020 Colombian Women's Football League, and her only goal of the group stage came in a 3–0 win over her former club, América. Cali won their group and met Millonarios in the quarter-finals, where Caicedo scored the winner in a 2–1 first-leg victory and Cali's only goal of the return match, but Millonarios won the second leg 3–1 to go through 4–3 on aggregate.
Caicedo opened her 2021 league account with two goals against Atlético Bucaramanga in the group stage. Cali again topped their group and reached the final against Santa Fe, in which Caicedo scored once in the first leg in Bogotá and twice in the second as Cali won 6–3 on aggregate to claim the first league title in their history; her five goals made her the team's second-highest scorer of the campaign. The title took Cali into the 2021 Copa Libertadores Femenina, Caicedo's first continental club competition, where she scored twice in an 8–0 win over the Bolivian club Real Tomayapo and once in a 4–1 win over Universidad de Chile. Cali won Group C but lost 2–1 to the Uruguayan side Nacional in the quarter-finals, with Caicedo scoring their goal. Her four goals left her level as the tournament's top scorer with Esperanza Pizarro, Victória, Jheniffer and her Cali teammate Tatiana Ariza, and she was named in the team of the tournament selected by CONMEBOL's technical study group.
The 2022 league switched to a round-robin format, and Cali finished third to qualify for the knockout rounds. Caicedo scored in the first leg of a 3–2 aggregate quarter-final win over Millonarios, scored again in the first leg of the semi-final against Santa Fe, and converted the decisive kick when that tie went to a penalty shoot-out. In the final against América she scored in the second leg, but Cali lost 4–3 on aggregate in what proved to be her last match for the club. The DIMAYOR cancelled the second half of the 2022 women's season because too few clubs had registered, and her commitments at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup ruled her out of Cali's 2022 Copa Libertadores campaign, which was played the same month. Her contract expired in December 2022, leaving her a free agent. In January 2023 she said she had long dreamed of playing abroad and intended to do so once she turned 18 that February, amid reported interest from Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona; Barcelona's president Joan Laporta had confirmed in November 2022 that his club had been in contact with her.
Real Madrid (2023–present) 2023–2024
After Spanish media reported on 21 February 2023 that Caicedo had chosen Real Madrid over Chelsea and Barcelona, the club announced her signing on a three-year contract on 24 February, two days after her 18th birthday. She made her debut against Alhama CF on 4 March 2023, and five days later scored her first goal for the club in extra time of the Copa de la Reina quarter-final to put Madrid into the semi-finals. Her first league goal followed in a 3–1 win over Levante Las Planas. Before the Copa de la Reina final, coach Alberto Toril praised her ability to unbalance defences, and she started the final against Atlético Madrid on 27 May 2023; she was substituted in the 82nd minute, and Atlético equalised deep in stoppage time before winning on penalties. She ended her first half-season with two goals and four assists in ten league appearances.
Caicedo made her UEFA Women's Champions League debut on 11 October 2023 in the second qualifying round against Vålerenga, a tie Madrid won 5–1 on aggregate to reach the group stage. In October 2023 she finished ninth in the voting for the Ballon d'Or Féminin, and on 17 November she received Tuttosports Golden Girl award as the best under-21 female player in Europe. Two days later she damaged ligaments in her right ankle late in a match against Barcelona, and the injury kept her out for around a month; she returned as a substitute on 20 December in a 1–0 home defeat to Paris FC that left Madrid bottom of their Champions League group. In December 2023 she was one of three finalists for The Best FIFA Women's Player, alongside Aitana Bonmatí and Jennifer Hermoso. She was also named in the IFFHS Women's World Team for 2023 and was nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year in 2024, while Madrid finished the 2023–24 Liga F season as runners-up to Barcelona.
2024–25 season
Caicedo scored three goals in the 2024–25 UEFA Women's Champions League group stage: she came off the bench to score in a 3–2 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 8 October 2024, set up Caroline Weir's opener and scored a penalty in a 4–0 win over Celtic nine days later, and on 20 November equalised on the stroke of half-time and assisted Signe Bruun's winner as Madrid came from behind to beat Twente 3–2 and qualify for the quarter-finals. In December 2024 she was selected as a forward in the FIFPRO Women's World 11. In January 2025 she scored in a 2–1 league win away to Atlético Madrid and was then named player of the match in a 3–2 Supercopa de España semi-final win over Real Sociedad on 23 January, in which she set up one goal and scored another; Barcelona beat Madrid 5–0 in the final three days later, the club's first appearance in the competition's final. Her form that month earned her the first Liga F Player of the Month award, presented for January 2025.
On 18 March 2025, Caicedo scored the opening goal of a 2–0 home win over Arsenal in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, but Arsenal won the return match 3–0 at the Emirates Stadium on 26 March to progress 3–2 on aggregate. At the end of the season she was named in the Liga F Team of the Season, alongside her Madrid teammates Weir and Maëlle Lakrar.
2025–present In September 2025 Caicedo finished second to Vicky López in the voting for the inaugural women's Kopa Trophy, awarded to the best player under the age of 21. On 24 November 2025, Real Madrid extended her contract until 30 June 2031, and on 6 December she made her 100th appearance for the club in a 1–0 league win over Real Sociedad. Three days later she ran clear from the halfway line and rounded the goalkeeper to score in a 2–0 Champions League win over Wolfsburg, and on 20 December she scored twice in a 4–0 win over Espanyol in the round of 16 of the Copa de la Reina. Madrid finished seventh in the Champions League league phase, and in the knockout play-off against Paris FC she provided an assist and scored late in a 3–2 away win on 11 February 2026 as Madrid progressed 5–2 on aggregate. She scored both of Madrid's goals in a 6–2 home defeat to Barcelona in the first leg of the quarter-finals on 25 March, and Barcelona won the second leg 6–0 to eliminate them.
Barcelona also ended Madrid's domestic cup ambitions that season. Caicedo scored in a 3–1 win over Atlético Madrid in the Supercopa semi-final on 20 January 2026, but Madrid lost the final 2–0 to Barcelona four days later, and Barcelona knocked them out of the Copa de la Reina with a 4–0 quarter-final win on 5 February. In February 2026 she received the Trofeo EFE as the best Ibero-American female player of 2025. She captained Madrid for the first time in a 1–1 league draw with Dux Logroño in April, scoring the team's goal, and the club secured second place in Liga F with a win at Badalona in May. Having scored 13 goals in 41 matches across all competitions, she was voted the club's player of the season, after also winning its monthly award for September 2025, December 2025 and March 2026.