Linda Caicedo: Colombia's cancer-surviving teenager set to star at the Women's World Cup after Real Madrid arrival

Despite no one in her family playing the sport, Caicedo took up football at the age of five, first in a boys’ team and later with girls. When she was 11 years old, the forward joined Atlas, the sports school of former Colombia national team player Carolina Pineda. It was there that Melissa Ortiz, who went to the 2012 Olympic Games with Colombia, first saw her play.

“She was like 14 years old,” Ortiz tells GOAL. “I even told her now-agent, 'You need to sign her!' and he eventually did. I just remember thinking, 'She's going to be the next big thing'.”

Caicedo's next steps would see her represent her region in tournaments, then the youth national teams, before a move to America de Cali aged 14. In her first season with the club, she won the Golden Boot and inspired them to a first-ever league title, earning herself a senior national team debut as a result.

Although too young to play in the Copa Libertadores after helping America qualify, she would debut in the competition two years later for the club’s rivals, Deportivo Cali. Caicedo made the switch in early 2020 and would have another league title to her name in her second season.

The hype around Caicedo had been building steadily for some time - but 2022 was her big year. Colombia hosted Copa America and it was a tournament that their teenage forward took by storm.

Caicedo scored the only goal in the semi-final against Argentina and was then named the Most Valuable Player of the final, though her country were defeated 1-0 by Brazil. In the end, she also scooped up the Player of the Tournament award, having fully asserted herself on the senior stage during the month of July.

A month later, she scored twice as Colombia reached the knockout stages of the U20 Women's World Cup for just the second time, topping a group that Germany crashed out of. In October, she bettered that, making history as part of the first Colombia team ever to reach a World Cup final as she captained the U17s to the showpiece match in India. Spain beat them by the finest of margins in a 1-0 result, as Caicedo collected the Silver Ball and Bronze Boot awards to go with her runners-up medal.

Time after time she was asked to deliver and, time after time, she did. It was the year that really put Caicedo’s name in lights.

Things have only got better in the months since, with Caicedo signing for Real Madrid in February, just a few days after celebrating her 18th birthday. She’s already making her mark with Las Blancas, scoring a huge extra-time goal against Villarreal as part of the team’s run to the Copa de la Reina final.

While gaining huge experience in Spain, she’s continued to be a key figure for country and is now heading to her first senior World Cup – her third at any level in 12 months.

Capable of playing out wide or more centrally, Caicedo’s lightning pace, goalscoring instincts and confidence in taking players on are all big strengths of her game that make her such a dangerous proposition for opposing defences.

When she does get into those good areas, the teenager can finish well because of her ability to use both feet, too. Throw in her desire to work hard for her team, either in tracking back or pressing high, and she is an asset on both sides of the ball.

Caicedo’s character is another part of what makes her a great footballer. For one, she is a great leader, often wearing the captain’s armband for Colombia’s youth teams and proving to be a motivating presence for her team-mates.

She’s also a player who speaks often about enjoying herself on the pitch and has an incredibly humble attitude, previously describing her humility and joyfulness as her strengths. There’s no doubt those qualities have helped her thrive despite so much hype and pressure from the outside.

“I still have a long way to go,” she told GOAL last year. “I am only 17 years old. I haven't won anything in the national team yet. I don't have a historical record, so I want to improve in that.

“I am very young and I have a lot of tournaments ahead of me, so that is what I am doing, I am believing and I hope people will know me for that, for my joy, for the way I lived soccer, and that is how I always want to be known everywhere.”

Of course, there are still ways that this gifted 18-year-old can get even better, too. Caicedo is creative, but the execution of her final pass can still improve, both in terms of its weight and accuracy, but also its timing in order to find team-mates before they stray offside or become crowded out.

She’s a clinical finisher already, but that can even hit new levels given her age and inexperience. After all, she has only been playing in a top European league for a few months now. That exposure to the highest stage will only see her grow.

In terms of being a very goal-oriented wide player, Caicedo has qualities reminiscent of France star Kadidiatou Diani. The pair both have a wonderful first touch, an ability to ride challenges, to beat players and are big dangers in the penalty area.

Another trait both share is certainly their work-rate and energy out of possession, both tracking back to help out their team-mates and often picking the pockets of defenders higher up.

Diani is different in that she plays closer to the touchlines than Caicedo, who more often looks to move in centrally to get nearer to the goal rather than aiming for the byline where she can get a cross in, but that’s not surprising given Diani is right-footed and usually plays on the right, whereas Caicedo is right-footed and usually plays on the left.

In that sense, perhaps Lieke Martens is a better comparison, as she is a right-footed left winger who likes to cut inside to make use of her stronger wing. That said, she doesn’t carry the same goal threat and ruthlessness in the penalty area as Diani, which Caicedo has in abundance.

Caicedo has already collected a number of huge experiences despite being just 18 years old – and the next few months promise even bigger ones.

First up is the Women’s World Cup, her first at senior level. Her confidence in what Colombia can do in Australia and New Zealand is massive, too. Asked by FIFA how far they can go, she replied: “Until the end. The desire and the union that this team has is incredible. We truly believe that we can make it, we can achieve it and we can win every match. We want to achieve great things.”

Caicedo and her team-mates certainly have a strong chance of making the knockout stages, with the race for second place in a group also containing Germany, Morocco and South Korea wide open.

Once the tournament is over, the young forward will return to Madrid for her first full season with Real, meaning she will get to play Women’s Champions League football for the first time, too. She has already made a huge impression in the Spanish capital and can build on that in the new campaign, especially with a senior World Cup experience under her belt.