Tournament newcomer Alisha Lehmann: The world’s most popular footballer makes her World Cup debut

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National coach Inka Grings (44) will officially announce her selection for the World Cup in New Zealand/Australia on Monday. But it has long been clear that Switzerland will fly Down Under with an experienced team.

The only exception: Alisha Lehmann (24) is a newcomer to the tournament. The most popular Swiss woman, with more than 13.6 million followers on the social media platform Instagram and 8.8 million on Tiktok, has never played at a World Cup or European Championship.

‘I can hardly wait for the departure’

In women’s football, she is even the most popular online player in the world. This is also confirmed by a new study by market research firm Nielsen, which identifies Lehmann as the most influential influencer in women’s football – without a single World Cup match in her legs.

Lehmann tells Blick about her debut on the big stage: “As a small child you collect Panini photos and dream of being there yourself. I’m just really happy that I’m actually playing at a World Cup. I can hardly wait to leave.”

She started at FC Konolfingen when she was six. Now she goes to the World Cup. She now has her own Panini photo – it was there before EM 2022, but then Lehmann pulled out at short notice for mental reasons. She doesn’t talk about the last-minute shot at the time: “That’s in the past!” Now the focus is on the World Cup.

The only debutante with sporting relevance

In addition to Lehmann, the trip to New Zealand would also be the tournament premiere for Amira Arfaoui (23), Marion Rey (24), Iman Beney (16) and Laura Felber (21). But Grings will likely drop two in the final roster. Not Lehmann. She is the only newcomer of the beginners group with starting eleven ambitions.

At the Nati camp in Yverdon, the native Berner made it clear that she wants to be more than just a complementary player on the other side of the world, even if she doesn’t say so specifically. “Of course you always hope to play. Not playing is a disappointment. I really want to stand up for my country,” says the internet queen of Tägertschi BE, pointing to the Swiss cross on her shirt and really entranced.

“It is a great honor to play for your own country. Sometimes you forget that a bit. We grew up here and can now play for Switzerland. Representing our country means a lot to me,” says Lehmann.

The Aston Villa attacking player has scored six goals in 36 domestic appearances. Now Lehmann dreams of her first World Cup goal. “For a striker, the dream of scoring a goal in a World Cup comes quite quickly after the dream of participating in the World Cup.”

The born Berner does not yet know whether her parents will be in the stadium for the group matches in Dunedin and Hamilton. Her mother works as a salaried dentist. Doesn’t she get weeks off? Lehmann says with a laugh, “Your boss likes me a lot, that shouldn’t be the problem.” But the care of the many animals at home with the Lehmanns. A cousin and one of her siblings will certainly be there in New Zealand.

However, the internet superstar won’t travel to the pinnacle of his career without some tournament experience. Lehmann was a junior national player at the 2015 U17 European Championships in Iceland and was there when she won silver and also at the 2019 U19 European Championships in Switzerland, when she was already a national team player.

However, these small tournaments cannot be compared to the mega event Down Under. Not even internally, as far as life as a team is concerned on the ground. In New Zealand there are single rooms for the players. Lehmann: “You’re only there to sleep. But it’s nice to have some privacy.” At the U17 European Championship there were small double rooms, the attacking player shared her room with the then captain Naomi Mégroz. “We had to hand in our cell phones at 8 p.m. at night,” Lehmann recalls with a smile.

The post with the most likes is a national photo

Alisha without her cell phone – that’s hard to imagine even for her these days. The smartphone has made the resident of Bern a unique social media icon worldwide. Large company next to the square. The Nati star has several advertising contracts and is a figurehead for brands such as Coca-Cola. According to “Forbes”, Lehmann’s accounts with millions can easily earn $20,000 per post. All the more remarkable because the BBC estimates the average annual wage in the English women’s league at around 50,000 euros.

But Lehmann still does not want to exaggerate her unprecedented “fame”. She says, “It’s wrong to think that just because you have a lot of followers, there’s a lot of work behind it. I post like everyone else. It’s a nice change from working out. I’m always bored anyway, so I’d rather do a photoshoot then nothing…»

But football remains central. The Insta post with the most likes this year (2.6 million) shows Lehmann not in a bikini and not in an extensive photo shoot as a model, but in a national outfit shortly before the international match against China starts in April.

With the World Cup coming up – Lehmann’s net popularity will continue to grow rapidly with her first appearance on the big football stage.

Source : Blick