Gaëtane Thiney

Gaëtane Iza Laure Thiney (born 28 October 1985) is a French former footballer who played as a midfielder or striker. She spent most of her career with Première Ligue club Paris FC.

Thiney was also a member of the France national team, making her first major tournament appearance with her nation at UEFA Women's Euro 2009. She is a two-time winner of the Division 1 Féminine player of the year award.

Club career Thiney began her career playing for ASS Brienne-le-Château in the commune of Brienne-le-Château, which is 26 miles northeast of her hometown Troyes. After a stint in the youth system, she moved a few miles north to Olympique Saint-Memmie, who were playing in the first division of French women's football. She made her league debut with Saint-Memmie during the 2000–01 season. Thiney spent six seasons at the club and, following the 2005–06 season, secured a moved to US Compiègne Oise in Compiègne. In her first season with the club, she appeared in 21 matches and scored five goals. Unfortunately, Compiègne suffered relegation to the second division. Thiney spent her final season with the club in D2 Féminine and was easily the best player in the team appearing in 18 matches and scoring a team-leading 20 goals.

Thiney's successful play earned her a call-up to the national team and also a move to top-tier club FCF Juvisy. In Thiney's first season with Juvisy, she appeared in 21 matches. She scored seven goals, helping Juvisy finish in 3rd position, one point shy of qualifying for the newly created UEFA Women's Champions League. In the 2009–10 season, Thiney remained potent on the field scoring nine goals helping Juvisy finish runner-up to Lyon in the league, which inserted the club into the 2010–11 edition of the UEFA Women's Champions League. In the competition, she scored a goal in the first qualifying round against Estonian club Levadia Tallinn in a 12–0 win. After contributing to Juvisy reaching the knockout stage, Thiney increased her contribution by scoring a goal in each leg of the team's 9–0 aggregate victory over Icelandic club Breiðablik in the Round of 32. Juvisy ultimately suffered elimination in the competition at the hands of the defending champions Turbine Potsdam. In league play, Thiney converted 11 goals, second-best on the team behind lead striker Laëtitia Tonazzi. Juvisy, however, finished the season in a disappointing 4th place.

Thiney retired from professional football in May 2025.

International career

Thiney made her international debut on 28 February 2007 in a 2–0 victory over China. During qualification for the UEFA Women's Euro 2009, she scored two goals against Slovenia and Serbia. In the tournament, she scored her only goal in France's 1–5 group stage defeat to the eventual champions Germany. France reached as far as the quarterfinals, losing to the Netherlands 4–5 on penalties. On 28 October 2009, Thiney scored her first career hat trick in a 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification match against Estonia in a 12–0 victory. Thiney finished the qualification campaign with a team-high 12 goals, including a goal in the team's 3–2 second leg World Cup playoff victory over Italy, which allowed France qualification to the competition.

At the World Cup, Thiney was the decisive player in the team's second group stage match against Canada, scoring a double in a 4–0 win. The victory allowed France progress to the knockout stage portion of the competition.

Career statistics

Club Statistics accurate as of 26 July 2022.

International

International goals Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 28 February 2007 Stade Robert Brettes, Mérignac, France 1–0 2–0 Friendly 2 30 May 2007 Stade Lebon, Angoulême, France 6–0 6–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying 3 1 October 2007 Mitsubishi Forklift Stadion, Almere, Netherlands 0–4 1–4 Friendly 4 27 October 2007 Stadion Kralj Petar I, Belgrade, Serbia 0–7 0–8 UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying 5 8 March 2008 Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca, Morocco 0–4 0–6 Friendly 6 27 August 2009 Ratina Stadion, Tampere, Finland 4–1 5–1 UEFA Women's Euro 2009 7 24 October 2009 Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France 1–0 2–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 8 28 October 2009 Stade Jules Deschaseaux, Le Havre, France 4–0 12–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 9 6–0 10 7–0 11 21 November 2009 Gradski Stadion, Inđija, Serbia 0–1 0–2 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 12 20 June 2010 Stade Léo Lagrange, Besançon, France 1–0 3–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 13 23 June 2010 Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia 0–1 0–6 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 14 21 August 2010 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland 0–1 0–1 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 15 25 August 2010 Stade de l'Aube, Troyes, France 2–0 7–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 16 5–0 17 7–0 18 15 September 2010 Stadio Pietro Barbetti, Gubbio, Italy 1–2 2–3 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 19 2 March 2011 GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus 0–1 0–2 2011 Cyprus Cup 20 30 June 2011 Ruhrstadion, Bochum, Germany 0–1 0–4 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup 21 0–2 22 22 October 2011 Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli, Wales 1–1 1–4 UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying 23 1–3 24 26 October 2011 Stade de l'Aube, Troyes, France 1–0 5–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying 25 3–0 26 4–0 27 16 November 2011 Stade René Serge Nabajoth, Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe 1–0 8–0 Friendly 28 4–0 29 28 February 2012 GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus 2–0 3–0 2012 Cyprus Cup 30 4 March 2012 Paralimni Stadium, Paralimni, Cyprus 0–3 0–3 2012 Cyprus Cup 31 11 July 2012 Stade Pierre Brisson, Beauvais, France 1–0 3–0 Friendly 32 25 July 2012 Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland 2012 Summer Olympics 33 6 March 2013 Stade Marcel Picot, Tomblaine, France 2–2 2–2 Friendly 34 1 June 2013 Stade du Hainaut, Valenciennes, France 2–0 3–0 Friendly 35 29 June 2013 Stade Auguste Delaune, Reims, France 1–0 1–0 Friendly 36 25 September 2013 Kazhimukan Munaitpasov Stadium, Astana, Kazakhstan 0–2 0–4 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 37 0–4 38 25 October 2013 Stade Pierre Brisson, Beauvais, France 5–0 6–0 Friendly 39 23 November 2013 Lovech Stadium, Lovech, Bulgaria 0–3 0–10 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 40 0–8 41 0–9 42 28 November 2013 MMArena, Le Mans, France 3–0 14–0 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 43 5–0 44 9–0 45 13–0 46 8 February 2014 Stade de la Licorne, Amiens, France 1–0 3–0 Friendly 47 12 March 2014 GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus 0–1 0–2 2014 Cyprus Cup 48 5 April 2014 Jean-Bouin Stadium, Angers, France 6–0 7–0 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 49 7–0 50 7 May 2014 Stade Léo Lagrange, Besançon, France 3–0 4–0 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 51 13 September 2014 ISS Stadion, Vantaa, Finland 0–2 0–2 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 52 9 March 2015 Stadium Bela Vista, Parchal, Portugal 1–1 1–3 2015 Algarve Cup 53 1–3 54 22 May 2015 Stade Gaston Petit, Châteauroux, France 1–0 2–1 Friendly 55 2–1 56 1 March 2018 MAPFRE Stadium, Columbus, Ohio, United States 4–1 4–1 2018 SheBelieves Cup 57 6 April 2018 MMArena, Le Mans, France 3–0 8–0 Friendly 58 1 September 2018 Stade de la Licorne, Amiens, France 2–0 4–0Correct as of 31 August 2019

Honours Paris FC Coupe de France Féminine: 2024–25

France UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship: 2003

Individual UEFA Women's Championship team of the tournament: 2013 UNFP Première Ligue player of the year: 2011–12, 2013–14 Première Ligue top goalscorer: 2013–14 Coupe de France Féminine top goalscorer: 2024–25 LFFP Première Ligue team of the season: 2015–16