Alexandra Popp

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. One year later, she again claimed the DFB-Pokal trophy with Duisburg and finished as 2009–10 Bundesliga runners-up. Due to Duisburg's major injury problems during the 2010–11 season, Popp played the majority of matches at left back. In 2012, Popp transferred to VfL Wolfsburg, moving with her club teammate Luisa Wensing ahead of the 2012–13 campaign. In her first season at Wolfsburg, she scored 16 goals and won the treble: Frauen-Bundesliga championship, the DFB-Pokal Frauen and the UEFA Women's Champions League. A year later, Wolfsburg successfully defended their UEFA Women's Champions League title. The 2013–14 Bundesliga title came down to a top of the table clash on the final matchday of the season, where Wolfsburg played against the unbeaten 1. FFC Frankfurt, who only needed a draw…

At the 2008 UEFA U-17 Women's Championship, Popp won her first international title with Germany, scoring the team's second goal in the final. The same year, she reached third-place at the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. In February 2010, Popp made her debut for Germany's senior national team in a friendly match against North Korea. Less than two weeks later she scored her first two international goals at the 2010 Algarve Cup in a 7–0 win over Finland. 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 and with ten goals, she holds the scoring record for that tournament (together with Sydney Leroux and Christine Sinclair).

Popp was then called up for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. 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. Having chosen to play in the 2013 Champions League final with a torn ligament, Popp missed UEFA Women's Euro 2013 through injury. Germany ended up winning the tournament in Sweden, beating Norway 1-0 in the final. On 24 May…

Following a one-year internship as a physiotherapist, Popp successfully completed a three-year apprenticeship to become a zookeeper at Tierpark Essehof in Lehre. Popp married her partner Patrick Höppe in 2021. On her Instagram channel she regularly posts pictures of her dog Patch.

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.