Popp attended Gesamtschule Berger Feld in Gelsenkirchen, one of four facilities certified as "elite schools of football" by the German Football Association. She was the school's sole female pupil and could only attend courtesy of a special permit. She studied and trained with junior players of the German men's Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04. Popp left school after the 12th grade with a Fachabitur diploma.[5]
Popp started her career at FC Silschede, playing there in mixed-gender teams until she reached the age limit of 14. Later she changed to 1. FFC Recklinghausen and played three years before joining the Bundesliga side FCR 2001 Duisburg in 2008. She had also been approached by French champions Olympique Lyonnais at the time, but chose Duisburg. Popp made her Bundesliga debut in September 2008 against Herforder SV and scored her first two goals three weeks later in an 8–0 win over TSV Crailsheim.
In her first year at Duisburg, Popp won the Double: the 2009 UEFA Women's Cup and the 2009 German Cup. She was awarded the 2009 Fritz Walter medal in silver as the year's second best female junior player.[6] One year later, she again claimed the German Cup title and finished runner-up with Duisburg in the 2009–10 Bundesliga season. Because Duisburg had major injury worries during the 2010–11 season, Popp played the majority of matches at left back.
A year later Wolfsburg successfully defended their UEFA Women's Champions League title. For the Bundesliga championship, it came down to a match on the final day of the season against the previously unbeaten 1. FFC Frankfurt. Frankfurt needed only a draw to win the championship, while Wolfsburg needed to win. Popp scored the winning goal in the 89th minute, and Wolfsburg was again victorious in the DFB-Pokal.
Popp returned to junior competition for the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup on home soil. She won the title and became the tournament's best player and top goalscorer. She scored in every game that Germany played[7] and with ten goals, she holds the scoring record for that tournament (together with Sydney Leroux and Christine Sinclair).
Popp during an international friendship match against Chile, 2019
Popp was then called up for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.[4] She played in all four games as a substitute, but the Germans were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual champions Japan. Later that year, she played in a European Championship qualifying match against Kazakhstan, where she and teammate Célia Šašić each contributed four goals to a record 17–0 victory. With this achievement, she became the seventh German woman to score four goals in an international game.
On 24 May 2015, Silvia Neid called Popp up for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. In Canada, Germany finished fourth, defeating fellow European powerhouses Sweden and France but were eventually defeated by eventual champions the United States. Popp started in four of the team's seven games, scoring once.
Popp was called up again for the 2016 Summer Olympics, where Germany won the gold medal.[8] She played in all six games, contributing a goal and two assists. She received the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, Germany's highest sports honour, for her performance, along with the rest of the German team.
Popp missed the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 tournament due to injury. The loss of a key player like her reasonably impacted Germany's performance, as they lost in the quarter-finals to Denmark.
She was the captain of the German squad for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. She played every minute of the group stage and scored a header against South Africa.[9] She made her 100th appearance for Germany on 22 June 2019 against Nigeria in the round of 16, where she also scored the opening goal.[10]
On 30 September 2024, Popp announced her retirement from international football, with her last game being played on 28 October.[13]
Personal life
Following a one-year internship at a physiotherapist, Popp successfully completed a three-year apprenticeship to become a zookeeper at Tierpark Essehof in Lehre.[14][15] Popp married her partner Patrick Höppe in 2021.[16] On her Instagram channel she regularly posts pictures of her dog Patch.[16]
^Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian (2009). Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch [German Pronunciation Dictionary] (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 302, 835. ISBN978-3-11-018202-6.
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