Few Spanish female footballers have transitioned from sports headlines to current affairs covers as quickly as Jenni Hermoso. A historic goal scorer, a symbol of a generation, and an involuntary protagonist of one of the most talked-about episodes in world football, the Madrid native has a biography that could fill several seasons of a series. Here’s the complete rundown, straightforward and with everything people search for when they type her name into Google.
Age and origins of a neighbourhood girl from Madrid
Jennifer Hermoso Fuentes was born on May 9, 1990, in Madrid, which means she is around 35 years old. She grew up in Carabanchel, a neighbourhood in the south of the capital that doesn’t usually appear in tourist brochures but has given more character than many penthouses in the centre.
Her passion for the ball didn’t come from nowhere. Her father, Antonio Hermoso, was a professional footballer, so football was practically another family member at home. Her mother, Ana Fuentes, was a teacher. With two older brothers and a father who understood perfectly what it meant to dedicate oneself to this, Jenni had the ideal environment to start kicking balls from a very young age.
She stands about 1.75 metres tall and plays as a forward, although throughout her career she has moved between the attacking midfield and the false nine position. She is left-footed, a detail that any opposing goalkeeper remembers with a complete lack of fondness.
A career that crossed three continents
Hermoso’s journey is one that tires just to read about. She started in the youth categories of Atlético de Madrid, where she spent eight years before making the leap to the first team. From there, she moved to Rayo Vallecano, the club with which she lifted her first league title in 2011.
Then came the international stage: a season at the Swedish Tyresö FF in 2013 and, above all, her establishment at FC Barcelona starting in 2014. It was precisely at the Blaugrana club where she reinvented herself as a footballer and where she recorded some of her best statistics. With Barça, she won seven leagues, several cups, and the Champions League in 2021, that trophy which so many teams pursue for decades without success.
Along the way, she allowed herself a brief stint at Paris Saint-Germain between 2017 and 2018, and a second spell at Atlético before returning to Barcelona. In 2022, she made the leap to Mexico by signing with Pachuca, and since then she has been defending the colours of Tigres UANL, where she continues to score goals at a rate that puts to shame players half her age. In the 2025/2026 season, she has accumulated scoring records that many national team forwards would envy.
On the international stage, she is the all-time top scorer for the Spanish national team and holds the record for five Pichichi trophies. In 2021, she finished second in the Ballon d'Or voting, placing her among the absolute elite of world football.
The Rubiales case: the kiss that changed the script
It’s impossible to talk about Jenni Hermoso without mentioning the episode that catapulted her beyond sports pages. Spain had just won the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the first in its history, and during the medal ceremony, the then president of the Federation, Luis Rubiales, kissed her without her consent.
What was initially intended to be sold as a moment of euphoria turned into an institutional earthquake. Hermoso denied having given her consent, stood in solidarity with her teammates, and triggered a wave of solidarity: 53 players signed a letter of support and many refused to wear the national team jersey until there were changes in the federation’s leadership.
The matter ended up in the courts. The National Court convicted Rubiales of sexual assault, imposing a financial penalty and compensation for the footballer. Beyond the ruling, the case opened a debate about consent that transcended the realm of sport. Not bad for someone who just wanted to celebrate a title.
Who is Jenni Hermoso's partner?
And we arrive at the million-dollar question, the one that probably brought you here. The short answer: she is currently not known to have a partner, and she has made that clear herself.
In January 2024, in a conversation with Jesús Calleja, Hermoso spoke for the first time and candidly about her love life. She admitted that she had never openly declared that she likes girls because she always viewed it as a taboo subject, although it was an open secret in her circle. She also acknowledged that in the past she was “the intense one” in her relationships and that, after a couple of significant disappointments, she learned to prioritise her own well-being over depending on anyone.
As for confirmed relationships, the only name that appears with some consistency is Paula Nicart, a former footballer who also played for Barcelona and whose career was cut short by a serious knee injury. They were linked until around 2020, although neither confirmed officially the beginning or the end of the story.
The other name that always comes up is Alexia Putellas. The close friendship between the two, their iconic photos, and public messages of support have sparked rumours for years. However, both have insisted time and again that theirs is pure and simple friendship, nothing romantic. At this point, the theory of a secret couple is more of an internet wish than a fact.
A figure that goes far beyond football
What’s interesting about Hermoso is that she has managed to turn adversity into something greater than herself. She went from being one of the best goal scorers on the planet to becoming an involuntary reference in the fight for respect and consent. And she did it without stopping playing, which is quite an achievement.
Today, settled in Mexico, she seems to have regained her enthusiasm for football that almost slipped away from her that summer of 2023. She talks about goals, titles, and returning to wear the Spain jersey. When asked about her private life, she deftly diverts the conversation with the elegance of someone who has understood that not everything needs to be on display. And, honestly, after everything that has happened, no one is going to blame her for that.
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