Kyra Cooney-Cross

Kyra Lillee Cooney-Cross (born 15 February 2002) is an Australian professional footballer 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.

Early life
Cooney-Cross was born to Jessica Cooney and Jai Cross in Herston, Queensland. Jai played soccer at semi-pro level in Queensland with Sunshine Coast and he wanted his daughter to grow up with a ball at her feet. Usually playing with older girls and boys, at the age of 13, she started at FFV NTC and a year later trialled for the Mini Matildas. Cooney-Cross attended Ballarat High School as well as Surf Coast Secondary College in Torquay, Victoria before dropping out to pursue her dream of soccer.

Club career
Cooney-Cross spent three years in Ballarat City between 2013 and 2016, playing under the tutelage of Ballarat City coach Tessa Curtain.

Melbourne Victory (2017–2019)
In 2017, Cooney-Cross was signed by Melbourne Victory for the 2017-18 W-League season. 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. On 29 December 2017, she scored her first ever 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. By the end of the season she played in Victory's all twelve games, scoring two goals. In the 2018–19 season, she was part of the W-League premier title winning squad, though she was only able to play in four of the twelve matches.

Western Sydney Wanderers (2019–2020)
Cooney-Cross moved to Western Sydney Wanderers 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.

Melbourne Victory (2020–2022)
In December 2020, following one season at Western Sydney Wanderers, Cooney-Cross returned to Melbourne Victory. On 11 April, Cooney-Cross 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.

Hammarby (2022–2023)
On 15 March 2022, Cooney-Cross transferred to Hammarby IF in the Swedish Damallsvenskan, signing a two-year contract.

Arsenal (2023–)
On 15 September 2023, Arsenal announced the signing of Cooney-Cross. Ian Wright wanted Arsenal to recruit Cooney-Cross after her impressive performance in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, and asked Steph Catley to help convince Cooney-Cross to join the club. On the 1 October 2023, the opening day of the 2023-24 season, Cooney-Cross made her first appearance for the club in a 0-1 loss to Liverpool.

International career
In August 2016, Cooney-Cross was part of the Australia U-17s who participated in the 2017 AFC U-16 Women's Championship qualifiers, scoring six goals, the first four of which came against Palestine. 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.

In October 2018, Cooney-Cross scored the first three of her six goals of the 2019 AFC U-19 Women's Championship qualifiers. On 4 June 2019, she was named as a standby player for the Australian squad participating in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. On 15 October 2019, she was named in the Australia U-20 squad participating in the 2019 AFC U-19 Women's Championship. 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.

Cooney-Cross made her debut for the Australian women's national soccer team in a 3–2 friendly loss to Denmark on 10 June 2021.

Cooney-Cross was selected for the Matildas soccer team which qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The Matildas 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 the semi-final and were then beaten 4–3 in the bronze medal playoff by USA.

Cooney-Cross was a part of the Australian team at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. She featured in the starting lineup of every match 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.

Honours
Hammarby Arsenal
 * Melbourne Victory
 * W-League Premiers: 2018–19
 * W-League Championship: 2020–21
 * Swedish cup: 2023
 * FA Women’s League Cup: 2023–24