Australian football superstar Sam Kerr has been revealed as the first woman to grace the global cover of the latest iteration of EA Sports' FIFA franchise.
The sport's premier video game comes out with a new release every year, and FIFA 23's Ultimate Edition will feature Kerr alongside Paris St Germain striker, Kylian Mbappé.
The two players were revealed in a tweet by EA Sports on Tuesday with the caption: "Two phenomenal forces up front. One ultimate strike partnership."
This is Mbappé's third straight appearance on the international FIFA cover, but the first for Kerr.
It's not the first time the franchise has featured women on its covers, with Matildas star Steph Catley starring alongside Lionel Messi on the Australian version in 2016.
US women's national team striker Alex Morgan and international football's all-time top scorer Christine Sinclair also appeared on the USA and Canadian covers, respectively.
But Kerr's appearance marks the first time a woman has been included on the official global cover.
It comes after the Matildas' skipper led Chelsea to their second consecutive Women's Super League title as well as their second FA Cup earlier this year.
The Australian won the Golden Boot for the second consecutive season before being named the English players' association player of the year.
She has since become one of the favourites to win her first Ballon d'Or and FIFA Player of the Year awards.
While Kerr's appearance on the cover further highlights the growing popularity of women's football, EA Sports is yet to include women's leagues or women players available in Career Mode in the game itself.
Twelve international women's teams, including Australia, were first introduced in FIFA 16 in the wake of the successful 2015 Women's World Cup.
Women were also added to the online social Pro Clubs mode in the '22 edition, which also included former Lionesses player Alex Scott as the first English-speaking woman broadcaster.
However, after the gaming company ended their decades-long partnership with FIFA earlier this year, it's expected the game's future brand — EA Sports FC — will rapidly expand into the women's game, with women's clubs such as Olympique Lyonnais and Manchester City already featuring in some of the new marketing material.
