Ria Percival

Ria Dawn Percival (born 7 December 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. Born in England, she played for the New Zealand women's national team and represented New Zealand 166 times, more than any other player, male or female. She previously played for FFC Frankfurt and FF USV Jena of the Bundesliga, FC Basel in the Swiss league and West Ham United.

International
Percival represented New Zealand at age group level, appearing at the 2006 Women's U-20 World Cup finals in Russia and again at the 2008 Women's U-20 World Cup in Chile, where she scored both of New Zealand's goals in their 3–2 loss to Nigeria.

Percival made her senior debut in a 0–3 loss to China PR on 14 November 2006, before representing New Zealand at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup finals in China, where they lost to Brazil 0–5, Denmark (0–2) and China PR (0–2).

Percival was also included in the New Zealand squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics, again in China, where they drew with Japan (2–2) before losing to Norway (0–1) and the United States (0–4).

On 9 March 2011, Percival earned her 50th A-level international cap in a 5–0 loss to Mexico in the play-off for 7th place at the Cyprus Cup.

Percival contested her fifth major tournament when she appeared in all three of New Zealand's matches at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany. She appeared in all four of New Zealand's games at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

She again featured in all three of New Zealand's matches at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, taking her to a tally of 9 World Cup matches. She appeared in all three of New Zealand's games at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

In April 2024, Percival announced her retirement from international football.

International goals
Updated 28 June 2020


 * Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Percival goal.

Honours

 * Individual
 * IFFHS OFC Best Woman Player of the Decade 2011–2020
 * IFFHS OFC Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020

In the 2024 New Year Honours, Percival was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to football.