Haley Bugeja

Haley Bugeja
Personal information
Full name Haley Bugeja[1]
Date of birth (2004-05-05) 5 May 2004 (age 20)[2]
Place of birth Pietà, Malta
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Forward[3]
Team information
Current team
 Inter Milan
Number 7
Youth career
Mġarr United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2020 Mġarr United 29 (52)
2020–2022 Sassuolo 30 (15)
2022–2023 Orlando Pride 4 (0)
2023– Inter Milan 32 (4)
International career‡
2019–2021 Malta U17 6 (0)
2020– Malta 31 (19)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 July 2024

Haley Bugeja (born 5 May 2004) is a Maltese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Inter Milan of Serie A and the Malta women's national team.

Club career

Mġarr United

Bugeja made her senior club debut at the age of 14 for Maltese Women's League club Mġarr United during the 2018–19 season.[4] She finished the season as the league's top scorer with 26 goals and was named the league's Player of the Year at the Malta FA awards.[5] Bugeja retained her player of the year title the following season although, despite matching her 26 goal total from the previous season, she was beaten to the golden boot by Loza Abera of Birkirkara who scored 30.[6][7] Mġarr United finished second to Birkirkara in the league both seasons.

Sassuolo

In July 2020, Bugeja signed a thee-year deal with Italian Serie A club Sassuolo.[8] She made her debut for the club on 5 September 2020, at the age of 16, in Sassuolo's 3–1 win against Napoli. Bugeja scored the first and third goal for her team on debut for the club.[9]

Orlando Pride

On 1 July 2022, it was announced Bugeja had signed for Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) through the end of the 2023 season.[10] After making five appearances for the Pride across all competitions, the club transferred her on 3 July 2023 for an undisclosed fee to Italian Serie A club Inter Milan.[11]

International career

Bugeja won her first senior cap for Malta as a 14-year-old in April 2019, starting a 2–0 friendly defeat by Romania in Bucharest.[12] She scored her first goal in a 2–1 home friendly defeat by Turkey in January 2020.[13] A first competitive goal arrived in March 2020, in a 2–1 home UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying Group B win over Georgia.[14] In November 2020 Bugeja scored a hat-trick in Malta's 4–0 win over the same opponents away from home.[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of 12 May 2024.
Club Season League Cup[a] Playoffs Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Mġarr United 2018–19[16] Maltese Women's League 19 26 — — 19 26
2019–20[16] 10 26 — — 10 26
Total 29 52 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 52
Sassuolo 2020–21 Serie A 18 12 2 0 — — 20 12
2021–22 12 3 2 0 — 1[b] 0 15 3
Total 30 15 4 0 0 0 1 0 35 15
Orlando Pride 2022 NWSL 3 0 0 0 — — 3 0
2023 1 0 1 0 — — 2 0
Total 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 5 0
Inter Milan 2023–24 Serie A 22 4 0 0 — — 22 4
Career total 85 71 5 0 0 0 1 0 91 71
  1. ^ Coppa Italia and NWSL Challenge Cup
  2. ^ Supercoppa Italiana

International

Statistics accurate as of match played 16 July 2024.
Year Malta
Apps Goals
2019 2 0
2020 7 6
2021 2 0
2022 4 1
2023 9 11
2024 7 1
Total 31 19

International goals

As of match played 22 February 2024. Malta score listed first, score column indicates score after each Bugeja goal.
No. Date Cap Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 January 2020[13] 4 Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta  Turkey 1–1 1–2 Friendly
2 5 March 2020[17] 5 Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta  Georgia 2–0 2–1 Euro 2022 qualifying
3 26 November 2020[18] 8 Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia  Georgia 1–0 4–0
4 2–0
5 3–0
6 1 December 2020[19] 9 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel  Israel 2–0 2–0
7 16 February 2022[20] 12 Hibernians Stadium, Paola, Malta  Moldova 3–1 3–1 2022 Malta International Tournament
8 17 February 2023[21] 16 Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta  Luxembourg 1–1 2–1 Friendly
9 2–1
10 7 April 2023[22] 18 Sportland Arena, Tallinn, Estonia  Estonia 1–0 2–1
11 22 September 2023[23] 19 Sloka Stadium, Jūrmala, Latvia  Latvia 1–0 1–0 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League C
12 26 September 2023[24] 20 Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta  Moldova 1–0 2–0
13 2–0
14 27 October 2023[25] 21 Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta  Andorra 1–0 5–0
15 3–0
14 31 October 2023 22 Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella, Andorra  Andorra 1–0 3–0
15 2–0
16 3–0
17 22 February 2024 25 Tony Bezzina Stadium, Paola, Malta  Faroe Islands 2–0 2–0 2024 Malta International Tournament

Honours

See also

References

  1. ^ "Haley Bugeja" (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  2. ^ Haley Bugeja at Soccerway. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  3. ^ Haley Bugeja – UEFA competition record (archive)
  4. ^ "February 2019 BOV Female Player of the Month - Haley Bugeja (Mgarr United)". BOV Group. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Agius named MFA Player of the Year". Times of Malta. 24 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Winners of the 2019-2020 individual awards". Malta Football Association.
  7. ^ "BOV Women's League | Malta Football Association". Malta Football Association. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Haley Bugeja sees Sassuolo move as a big step after sealing three-year deal". Times of Malta. 28 July 2020.
  9. ^ "The Maltese prodigy making waves in Italy". FIFA. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Orlando Pride Signs Top Young Forward Haley Bugeja" (Press release). Orlando City SC. 1 July 2022.
  11. ^ Rollins, Sean (1 July 2023). "Orlando Pride Transfer Forward Haley Bugeja to Inter Milan". The Mane Land. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Malta girls lose to Romania despite spirited display". Malta Football Association. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Malta women lose narrowly to Turkey in friendly". Times of Malta. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  14. ^ Lia, Gianluca (5 March 2020). "Superb display earns Malta women win over Georgia". Times of Malta. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  15. ^ "UEFA names football starlet Haley Bugeja as one to watch in 2021". Times of Malta. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Haley Bugeja BOV Women's League profile | Malta Football Association". Malta Football Association.[permanent dead link‍]
  17. ^ "Malta-Georgia | UEFA Women's EURO 2022". UEFA.com.
  18. ^ "Georgia-Malta | UEFA Women's EURO 2022". UEFA.com.
  19. ^ "Israel-Malta | UEFA Women's EURO 2022". UEFA.com.
  20. ^ "Winning start for Malta in VisitMalta Women's Trophy". mfa.com.mt.
  21. ^ "Bugeja brace hands Tesse winning debut as Malta women national team coach". Times of Malta. 17 February 2023.
  22. ^ "Mängud". jalgpall.ee (in Estonian).
  23. ^ "Latvia-Malta | UEFA Women's Nations League 2025". UEFA.com.
  24. ^ "Malta-Moldova | UEFA Women's Nations League 2025". UEFA.com.
  25. ^ "Malta-Andorra | UEFA Women's Nations League 2025". UEFA.com.
  26. ^ "BOV Women's League 2018–19 top scorers | Malta Football Association". Malta Football Association.[permanent dead link‍]


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