Dana Nadda

Dana Karim Samir Nadda (; born 14 November 2004) is an Egyptian college footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Southern Illinois Salukis and the Egypt women's national football team.

College career Prior to joining the Fairfield Stags, Nadda spent three years at IMG Academy in the United States, where she played for the academy's football programme while completing her secondary education. During her time there, she developed as a midfielder and gained experience in competitive youth football.

Following her graduation from IMG Academy, Nadda received a full scholarship from Fairfield University to join its NCAA Division I women's soccer programme. She subsequently joined the Fairfield Stags on a four-year collegiate programme beginning with the 2023 season.

During the 2024 season, she made 21 appearances, scoring one goal and registering a career-high five assists. She contributed to goals in three consecutive matches, beginning with a goal against Fordham on 1 September, followed by assists against Rider on 7 September and Iona on 14 September. All five assists came in MAAC play, with additional assists recorded against Niagara on 21 September, Manhattan on 5 October, and Marist on 23 October, helping the team win the 2024 MAAC women's soccer tournament.

Club career Nadda began her football journey at the Barcelona Academy in Cairo, Egypt, where she was the only girl training among boys, starting at the age of five. She later joined a private academy before moving to Wadi Degla, one of Egypt's top women's football clubs. At Degla, she competed in the Egyptian Women's Premier League, training and playing alongside the first team in competitive matches.

While at Degla, Nadda attracted international attention through her performances, which were recorded by her father and shared with foreign clubs. This led to a two-week trial with Chelsea in England, where her technical abilities and fitness impressed the coaching staff.

Nadda began representing Egypt at the under-20 level following the re-establishment of the national team in 2019 ahead of the 2020 African U-20 Women's World Cup qualifiers. She made an immediate impact, scoring a rocket goal from a free-kick in a 5–3 defeat to Morocco on 17 January 2020. She later took part in the 2022 qualifying campaign, scoring Egypt's consolation goal in a 3–1 loss to Congo. In the 2024 cycle, she again faced Congo and scored in both legs as Egypt secured a 7–1 aggregate victory.

In August 2021, Danna received her first call-up to the senior national team for the final squad of the 2021 Arab Women's Cup, which was hosted on home soil and marked Egypt's first international matches in five years. On 27 August 2021, she scored her first international goal in a 4–0 win over Lebanon.

International goals Egypt score listed first, score column indicates score after each Nadda goal.