Meet the star of U19 Euro and Sevilla Alba Cerrato. Can she led Spain to the victory?

You probably noticed Alba Cerrato on UEFA U19 women's Euro 2026. But do you know her story? Years go by and the women’s football academies in Spain continues bringing out young talents which are now knocking on the door of the elite. The case of Alba Cerrato had a before and after in 2023, when she made her debut with Sevilla’s first team in Liga F.

The young player had been burning stages very quickly, both with the Spain National Team and with the club, who signed her for the youth team. Seeing that the category was too small for him, Alba began to alternate the team with Sevilla’s reserve team while living in Cordoba, her hometown in Andalusia.

Sevilla's starchild

Alba Cerrato and her family had to make a great effort, travelling to Seville for each training session and each match with a journey of approximately 140km. In addition, the club organized the trip with another teammate, balancing the schedules and the institute of each of them because they were not yet old enough to be able to study in the afternoon. This made the player’s name enter the history of Sevilla when in the 22/23 season she moved to Sevilla to join the club’s residence, being the first young player to do so.

Alba started playing as a full-back, where she already stood out in the lower categories. At Sevilla they advanced their position to the extreme and it was in the lower categories of the Spanish national team where she also played as a striker thanks to her goalscoring instinct.

It was in 2024 when she showed her qualities in front of goal. She also signed one of her best tournaments with the National Team in the U-17 European Championship that same year, when Spain became European champions and Alba was the top scorer taking the Golden Boot by scoring seven goals and also took the award for the MVP of the tournament. Shee also played a key role in the semi-final against France scoring a brace and in the European final against England, where Alba scored one goal and caused another.

Following Olga Carmona’s footsteps

Off the pitch, Alba Cerrato dreams of studying as a physiotherapist while combining her studies with her career as a footballer, already settled in the Spanish First Division with Sevilla. She is also looking to follow in the foorsteps of Olga Carmona, one of her role models who also grew up in Sevilla and became Spain’s heroine by scoring a winner in the 2023 World Cup final in the tournament played in Australia and New Zealand. In addition, both started sharing a position on the field, although Alba started at right-back.

During their first steps in football, the two footballers started playing with children, as was usual before. When she switched to playing with girls and moved to women’s football, Alba Cerrato brought out her potential on the wing, a position in which she excels today. Now she continues to make a name for herself at Sevilla, competing in Liga F, where in the 25/26 season she became the player who came off the bench the most times as a substitute.

She made her debut in the Spanish first division Liga F in October 2023 and in her first season Alba participated in seven games. In the 24/25 season she increased her presence in the first team and played 432 minutes spread over 23 games, scoring one goal and providing two assists. That goal was also her goalscoring debut in the first team and helped her to become the youngest player to score in the First Division that season at 18 years and 10 days.

With three goals and one assist, she led Spain U19 to the EUFA U19 women's euro final.