World Cup female player suffered a stroke

Running with the ball, Caicedo suddenly stopped and clutched his left chest. Then, the 18-year-old female player tried to sit, but fell down after only a few seconds. According to the Sun, Caicedo was unconscious for at least 90 seconds. When an ambulance arrived in the yard to take Caicedo to a hospital in Sydney, she regained consciousness.

"What happened was just a symptom of the stress and the physical demands," said Colombia's medical officer. "Caicedo is well and is back to normal."

In February 2020, at the age of 15, Caicedo was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She had to have surgery to remove the tumor and undergo six months of chemotherapy, before returning to the field.

"Every time we took Linda to the hospital, she cried and begged the doctors to tell her the truth, whether she could play football again," Caicedo's mother said. "That's what it wants to know."

In 2022, Caicedo and Colombia reached the final of the U17 World Cup and the quarterfinals of the U20 World Cup. She is one of the top three goalscorers at the U17 World Cup. On July 25, at the 2023 World Cup for the national team, Caicedo scored in Colombia's 2-0 win over South Korea.

Colombia is ranked second in Group H with three points, equal to Germany but less than the difference. In the first match, Germany beat Morocco 6-0. On July 30, the South American team will meet Germany, before meeting Morocco on August 3. The top two teams of Group H will advance to the round of 16 against the top two teams of Group F, which includes Brazil, France, Jamaica and Panama.