Alessia Mia Teresa Russo (Italian: [aˈlɛssja ˈmiːa teˈrɛːza ˈrusso]; born 8 February 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Arsenal and the England national team.

She previously played club football for Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester United, as well as college soccer for North Carolina Tar Heels.

Born in Maidstone, Kent to Carol and Mario,[3][4] Russo began playing football at a young age in a family of athletes.

[10] In 2006, she was a mascot for her future Manchester United manager Casey Stoney, who was captain of Charlton Athletic while Russo was at the London club's Centre of Excellence.

[11] Russo attended the St Simon Stock Catholic School in Maidstone, where she took part in a variety of sports; as well as playing as both a midfielder and a forward in football, she undertook athletics, ran cross country, and competed in cricket and netball.

[3] When she was considering university, Chelsea offered her an option that would have involved several hours' travel between school and training; instead she decided to go to the United States, where her brother Luca had already experienced a combined athletic-academic programme.

On 11 February, Russo scored Brighton's first ever goal at WSL level in the team's Spring Series opener, a 1–1 draw with London Bees.

[15] In autumn 2017, Russo moved to the United States to play college soccer, joining ACC team North Carolina Tar Heels.

Russo was named tournament MVP[18] and, though having missed matches to join up with the England youth squads, ended the year with a string of personal accolades, including the university's own for best female newcomer in an athletics program.

[3] In 2018, despite missing the postseason with a broken leg,[19] Russo earned a United Soccer Coaches first-team All-America selection, the first Tar Heel to make the first team since Crystal Dunn in 2013, and was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year as North Carolina won the regular season title for the first time since 2008.

[20] Russo received increased personal recognition, making national rankings, and was a semi-finalist for the Hermann Trophy, awarded to the nation's best college soccer player; she was joint team lead in scoring with six goals, and North Carolina noted her tendency to score the game-winning goals during her first two years.

[3] In August 2020, Russo announced she was forgoing her final year of college eligibility amid uncertainty around the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[38] On 15 October, Russo scored her first goal for Arsenal in the WSL, finding the net in the 94th minute of stoppage time to seal a 2–1 comeback win against Aston Villa.

[50] On 26 February 2020, Russo was called up to the senior England national team for the first time as part of the 2020 SheBelieves Cup squad, initially as a training player but was later added as an injury replacement for Lucy Bronze.

[51] She made her senior international debut on 11 March 2020 in the final game of the tournament, appearing as a 76th-minute substitute for Toni Duggan in a 1–0 defeat to Spain.

[57] She ended the tournament with four goals, the fourth an audacious back-heel between the legs of Sweden keeper Hedvig Lindahl in the semi-final,[58] described as "instantly iconic" by The Guardian.