Kyra Cooney-Cross

Kyra Lillee Cooney-Cross (/ˈkaɪrə/; born 15 February 2002) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club Arsenal and the Australia women's national team. She has previously played for Hammarby IF in the Damallsvenskan, as well as Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne Victory in the W-League.

Kyra Cooney-Cross

Cooney-Cross in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Kyra Lillee Cooney-Cross
Date of birth	(2002-02-15) 15 February 2002 (age 23)
Place of birth	Herston, Queensland, Australia
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[1][2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Arsenal
Number	32
Youth career
2013–2016	Ballarat City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2017	Senior NTC	30	(20)
2017–2019	Melbourne Victory	16	(2)
2019–2020	Western Sydney Wanderers	13	(4)
2020–2022	Melbourne Victory	28	(7)
2022–2023	Hammarby IF	30	(1)
2023–	Arsenal	33	(0)
International career‡
2016–2017	Australia U-17	14	(14)
2018–2022	Australia U-20	8	(7)
2021–	Australia	59	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 30 April 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 10 July 2025

Early life

Cooney-Cross was born in 2002 to Jessica Cooney and Jai Cross in Herston, Queensland,^[1] and grew up with three siblings.^[3] Their father, Cross played soccer at semi-pro level in Queensland with Sunshine Coast and encouraged Cooney-Cross in that sport. After her parents separated,^[4] Cooney-Cross, at eight-years-old, relocated to Alice Springs with her mother and siblings, for three years before moving to Ballarat.^[4][5] Usually playing with older girls and boys, at the age of 13, she started at FFV NTC (Football Federation Victoria National Training Centre) in Melbourne and a year later trialled for the Junior Matildas.^[6] Cooney-Cross had attended six different schools including Ballarat High School and then in 2016 to Surf Coast Secondary College, Torquay, Victoria for two years.

In July 2016 Cooney-Cross was a member of Victoria's Under-15 girls soccer team at the National Youth Championships for Girls, which won the tournament contested by seven other state/regional teams.^[7] She later enrolled in the Future Matildas programme (for Junior Matildas) based in Sydney.^[4][5][8] Her mother and siblings remained in Torquay and, while in Sydney, she attended Westfields Sports High School for her final years of secondary education, alongside fellow Junior Matilda, Courtney Nevin.^[4][5] After living with two foster families, she moved in with the Nevins family.^[5]

Club career

As a youth, Cooney-Cross spent three years with Ballarat City between 2013 and 2016, playing under their coach Tessa Curtain.^[9] She also played for an FFV NTC side, Senior NTC/FV Emerging, in the NPLW Victoria in 2016 and 2017.^[10] In the latter season she won NPLW Victoria Player's Player of the Year.^[11]

Melbourne Victory (2017–2019)

In 2017, Cooney-Cross was signed by Melbourne Victory for the 2017-18 W-League season.^[12] On 28 October 2017, she made her debut for the club in a 2–1 home win against Canberra United, playing the full 90 minutes in her first competitive league match.^[13] On 29 December 2017, she scored her maiden goal for the club in a 3–1 home loss against Newcastle Jets, heading in at the 28th minute mark behind Jets goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom.^[14] By the end of the season she played in Victory's all twelve games, scoring two goals.^[6] Primarily playing as a forward, she was nominated for Young Player of the Year.^[15] In the 2018–19 season, she was part of the W-League premier title-winning squad, although only playing in four of twelve matches.^[6]

Western Sydney Wanderers (2019–2020)

Cooney-Cross moved to Western Sydney Wanderers as a midfielder for the 2019–20 season, where she scored in her debut, a free-kick at the 92nd minute mark of a 2–1 home win over Adelaide United.^[16]

Melbourne Victory (2020–2022)

In December 2020, following one season at Western Sydney Wanderers, Cooney-Cross returned to Melbourne Victory.^[17] On 11 April 2021, she scored directly from a corner kick in the 120th minute of extra time to win the 2021 W-League Grand Final, beating season premiers Sydney FC 0–1.^[18][19] At that year's W-League Awards she won Young Footballer of the Year.^[20] Before the next season, her friend Nevin joined her at Melbourne Victory.

Hammarby (2022–2023)

On 15 March 2022, Cooney-Cross and Nevin both transferred to Hammarby IF in the Swedish Damallsvenskan, signing a two-year contract.^[21][22] While at Hammarby, she made 30 appearances and scored one goal.^[1]

Arsenal (2023–)

On 15 September 2023, Arsenal announced the signing of Cooney-Cross.^[23] Ian Wright had wanted Arsenal to recruit Cooney-Cross after her impressive performance in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, and asked fellow Matilda and Arsenal player, Steph Catley to convince Cooney-Cross to join her at the club.^[24] On 1 October 2023, the opening day of the 2023-24 season, Cooney-Cross made her first appearance for them in a 0-1 loss to Liverpool.^[25] During the 2024–2025 pre-season Cooney-Cross kicked her first goal for Arsenal in a friendly 0–3 win against Southampton.^[26] Tom Maher of The Halfway Line observed, "the ball found its way to the onrushing Cooney-Cross on the edge of the box who took a touch to steady herself before slotting the ball in off the post from outside of the Southampton box."^[26] The mid-fielder scored a goal for her club in the quarter-finals of the 2024–25 Women's League Cup in their 0–4 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion in January 2025.^[27][28]

International career

In August 2016, Cooney-Cross was part of the Australia U-17s (Junior Matildas) who participated in the 2017 AFC U-16 Women's Championship qualifiers, scoring six goals, the first four of which came against Palestine.^[29] She was later named in the squad for the 2017 AFC U-16 Women's Championship finals, where Australia was knocked out in the group stage, their only points coming from a 3–2 win against Bangladesh. Cooney-Cross scored in the 78th minute of the game to bring the scores level to 2–2, before Sofia Sakalis scored the winner in the 83rd minute, to help Australia finish third in the group.^[30]

In October 2018, Cooney-Cross, as a member of Australia women's national under-20 soccer team (Young Matildas), scored the first three of her six goals of the 2019 AFC U-19 Women's Championship qualifiers.^[31] On 4 June 2019, she was named as a standby player for the Australian senior squad (Matildas) participating in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.^[32] On 15 October 2019, she was named in the Australia U-20 squad participating in the 2019 AFC U-19 Women's Championship.^[33] She scored Australia's first goal of the tournament in a 5–1 opening match loss against North Korea, heading in at the 16th minute mark from an Indiah-Paige Riley cross.^[34]

Cooney-Cross made her debut for the Australian women's national soccer team (Matildas) in a 3–2 friendly loss to Denmark on 10 June 2021. The midfielder was selected for the senior Matildas team, which qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (postponed to 2021). The team advanced to the quarter-finals with one victory and a draw in the group play. In the quarter-finals they beat Great Britain 4–3 after extra time. However, they lost 1–0 to Sweden in a semi-final and were then beaten 4–3 in the bronze medal playoff by USA.^[35]

Cooney-Cross was a part of the Australian team at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. She featured in the starting lineup of all seven matches that Australia played, forming a midfield partnership with Katrina Gorry. On 4 June 2024, Cooney-Cross was named in the Matildas team which qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics, her second Olympic games selection.^[36] Later that year, she scored her debut goal for Australia during her 50th international game in a 1-2 win against Germany on 28 October in Duisburg, Germany.^[37] Cooney-Cross's strike won Football Australia's Goal of the Year (2024).^[38]

Personal life

Personality

Cooney-Cross is well-known for her playful and cheeky personality, as well as her sense of humour, having been given the affectionate titles of an "annoying little sister" and a "pest" by national team and Arsenal teammates Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord.^[39] Two other Matildas teammates, who are close friends, are Charli Grant^[40] and Katrina Gorry.^[41]

Career statistics

Club career

As of 30 April 2025^[1]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Melbourne Victory FC	2017–18	W-League	12	2	—		—		—		12	2
	2018–19		4	0	—		—		—		4	0
	Total		16	2	—		—		—		16	2
Western Sydney Wanderers FC	2019–20	W-League	13	4	—		—		—		13	4
Melbourne Victory FC	2020–21		14	6	—		—		—		14	6
	2021–22	A-League Women	14	1	—		—		—		14	1
	Total		28	7	—		—		—		28	7
Hammarby IF	2022	Damallsvenskan	12	1	—		—		—		12	1
	2023		18	0	—		5	0	—		23	0
	Total		30	1	—		5	0	—		35	1
Arsenal	2023–24	FA WSL	14	0	2	0	7	0	0	0	23	0
	2024–25		19	0	3	0	2	1	10	0	34	1
	Total		33	0	5	0	9	1	10	0	57	1
Career total			120	14	5	0	14	1	10	0	149	15

International

As of match played 28 October 2024

Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cooney-Cross goal.

List of international goals scored by Kyra Cooney-Cross

No.	Cap	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref
1.	50	28 October 2024	Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena, Duisburg, Germany	Germany	1–1	2–1	Friendly	[37]

Honours

Melbourne Victory

• W-League Premiers: 2018–19
• W-League Championship: 2020–21^[1]

Hammarby

• Swedish cup: 2023^[1]

Arsenal

• FA Women's League Cup: 2023–24^[1][42]
• UEFA Women's Champions League: 2024–25^[43]

Individual

• NPLW Victoria: Player's Player of the Year^[11]
• Arsenal Player of the Month: November 2023^[44] January 2025^[45]
• Football Australia's Goal of the Year 2024.^[38]
• Festival of Women's Football Awards: Young Midfielder of the Year (2025)^[46][47]