BVB start training: Dortmund women joined by star signing Popp | OneFootball

It was incredibly close. In the end, they were just two points short of first place. But promotion to the 2. Bundesliga has only been postponed. By the end of the 2026/27 season, Borussia Dortmund’s women’s team aims to move up a division.

Alexandra Popp will play a prominent role going forward. The 35-year-old world-class striker joins the Black-and-Yellows with the experience of 144 international caps (67 goals) and 336 Bundesliga appearances (162 goals). “My heart beats for this club,” said the Witten native, explaining her commitment in the Regionalliga. “BVB’s interest made me proud from the very first moment; I immediately had a huge grin on my face,” she said during her presentation.

Now things are getting serious for Popp and her new teammates. The start of the 2026/27 season began for the BVB women with a two-day performance assessment. But it was not only the high-profile new signing wearing the black-and-yellow outfit for the first time. Alongside the former Wolfsburg player, six more new signings completed the sports medicine tests: Manuela Zinsberger (30/Arsenal), Lara Schmidt (25), Ricarda Walkling (29/both Werder Bremen), as well as Ramona Maier (30), Lena Ostermeier (29), and Jacqueline Meißner (32/all SGS Essen).

Test against Bundesliga side

With the exception of the injured Mia Scholle (20/torn ACL) and Emilia Pauls (17/ankle ligament injury), head coach Markus Högner (59) gathered almost the entire 25-player squad for the mandatory fitness and workload tests.

Photo: IMAGO

As early as Friday, July 10, BVB will hold a public training session. At 3:30 p.m., fans will be able to watch the team on Pitch 5 at the training ground in Dortmund-Brackel. The first friendly follows just two days later (July 12, 1 p.m.) on the grass pitch at the Hennef Sports School against Eintracht Frankfurt II. From July 17 to 24, the Dortmund women will then travel to a training camp in Westendorf (Austria). There, on July 22 at 5 p.m. in Hopfgarten, they will face newly promoted Bundesliga side Mainz 05 in a tough test.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.