Manuela Vanegas

Manuela Vanegas
Vanegas with Colombia in 2026
Personal information
Full name Manuela Vanegas Cataño[1]
Date of birth (2000-11-09) 9 November 2000[1]
Place of birth Copacabana, Colombia
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Position Left back[1]
Team information
Current team
 Brighton & Hove Albion
Number 2
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2017 Formas Íntimas
2017–2018 Envigado
2018 Atlético Huila
2019 Independiente Medellín
2020–2021 Espanyol 33 (3)
2021–2025 Real Sociedad 83 (9)
2025– Brighton & Hove Albion 14 (1)
International career‡
2018– Colombia 34 (6)
Medal record
Women's football
Representing  Colombia
Copa América Femenina
Runner-up2022 Colombia
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place2019 LimaTeam
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 16 May 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 30 July 2023

Manuela Vanegas Cataño (Latin American Spanish: [maˈnwela baˈneɡas kaˈtaɲo]; born 9 November 2000) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a left back for Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Colombia women's national team.

Club career

Portrait of Vanegas, 2021

Born in the Antioquia Department, Vanegas began playing club football in Colombia with local side Formas Íntimas. She began her career playing at times as goalkeeper, and other times outfield. She participated in the 2013 and 2014 Copa Libertadores Femenina with the club, reaching the finals and semi-finals. She made her debut in the Libertadores at the age of 13 as a goalkeeper after Sandra Sepúlveda was sent off[3] Vanegas joined professional side Envigado F.C. in 2017, where she made a penalty save after replacing the squad's injured goalkeeper in a May 2018 league match. She moved to rivals Atlético Huila in 2018, and then signed for Independiente Medellín in 2019 helping the club reach the league final.[4]

She joined RCD Espanyol in 2020, becoming a key part of the club's defense during the 2020–21 season.[5]

Brighton & Hove Albion

In July 2025, Vanegas signed for Brighton & Hove Albion.[6][7]

International career

Vanegas was called up to the Colombia squad for the 2018 Copa América Femenina.[8] She also made her senior debut for Colombia during the 2018 Copa América Femenina.

On 3 July 2022, she was called up to the Colombia squad for the 2022 Copa América Femenina, which Colombia finished as runners-up.[9] She played in all six of Colombia's matches at the 2022 Copa América Femenina, scoring two goals as Colombia reached the final.[4]

On 4 July 2023, she was called up to the Colombia squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. On 30 July 2023, she scored the winning goal from a header in the 97th minute of stoppage time, in a 2–1 victory over Germany during the World Cup group stage.[10]

Vanegas was called up to the Colombia squad for the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup.[11]

On 5 July 2024, she was called up to the Colombia squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[12]

Early life

Vanegas was born and grew up in Copacabana, a town of around 50,000 inhabitants in the department of Antioquia. Her mother, whom Vanegas describes as her 'biggest inspiration', grew up 50 miles North-East of Copacabana in the town of Amalfi in the same department. Her mother works in clothing manufacturing and her father as a labourer. She describes how her family struggled to provide for three children. However she says that her and her siblings never lacked anything because her parents were very tough workers and she was sometimes supported by her cousins and aunt.

Vanegas has two older brothers, her eldest brother was killed due to Colombian street violence at the age of 16 in 2005, at the time Vanegas was four years old, her other brother five. Vanegas describes having limited memories of her eldest brother, although she has a tattoo of him.[13]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 31 May 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup Continental[b] Other[c] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Espanyol 2020–21 Primera División 33310———341
Real Sociedad 2021–22 26220———282
2022–23 Liga F 26310—1020303
2023–24 20152———253
2024–25 11310———123
Total 83992—10209511
Brighton & Hove Albion 2025–26 Women's Super League 1415100——192
Career total 1301315300102014814

International goals

Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1
21 July 2018Estadio Moderno Julio Torres, Barranquilla, Colombia Venezuela
2–0
3–2
2018 Central American and Caribbean Games
2
8 July 2022Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero, Cali, Colombia Paraguay
4–1
4–2
2022 Copa América Femenina
3
20 July 2022Estadio Centenario, Armenia, Colombia Chile3–04–0
4
12 October 2022Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero, Cali, Colombia Paraguay
2–0
4–0
Friendly
5
30 July 2023Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia Germany2–12–12023 FIFA Women's World Cup
6
21 February 2024Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, United States Panama4–06–02024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup
7
14 April 2026Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero, Cali, Colombia Chile2–02–02025–26 CONMEBOL Women's Nations League

References

  1. 1 2 3 Manuela Vanegas at Soccerway
  2. ↑ 2019 Pan American Games - FIRST ROUND - GROUP A - MATCH 9 - SAN MARCOS STADIUM - START LIST (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 3 August 2019
  3. ↑ "Una lesión le impidió celebrar título de Copa" (in Spanish). El Colombiano. 20 February 2020.
  4. 1 2 "A capa y espada, Manuela Vanegas Cataño custodia la defensa de la selección Colombia Femenina" (in Spanish). Infobae. 29 July 2022.
  5. ↑ "MANUELA VANEGAS, UN BALUARTE DEFENSIVO PARA EL ESPANYOL FEMENINO" (in Spanish). OneFootball. 7 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "Brighton Women sign Colombia international Manuela Vanegas". The Argus. 3 July 2025. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  7. ↑ "Manuela Vanegas Catano signs for Albion". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 4 July 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  8. ↑ "Conoce a las 22 convocadas para representar a la Selección de Colombia". cafemchile.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  9. ↑ "Convocatoria Selección Colombia Femenina de Mayores para CONMEBOL Copa América" [Call for Colombia Women's National Team for CONMEBOL Copa América] (in Spanish). Colombian Football Federation. 3 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "Colombia stages stunning upset against Germany in Women's World Cup". CNN. 30 July 2023.
  11. ↑ "Convocatoria de la Selección Colombia Femenina de Mayores para la Copa de Oro 2024" [Call for the Colombian Senior Women's National Team for the 2024 Gold Cup] (in Spanish). Colombian Football Federation. 9 February 2024. Archived from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  12. ↑ "Convocatoria Selección Colombia Femenina Mayores para los Juegos Olímpicos de París 2024" [Call-up for the Colombian Women's Senior Team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games]. ww.fcf.com.co (in Spanish). Federación Colombiana de Fútbol. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  13. ↑ "Manuela Vanegas, una charla de orgullo, lucha y pasión con la Selección Colombia". www.youtube.com (in Spanish). Federación Colombiana de Fútbol. 2 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.