#womens-football

#womens-football

Record nine-time Women's Asian Cup champions China face host nation Australia in the first semifinal of the 2026 tournament. China are also this edition's defending champions, having won the last title in India in 2022.

A mistake led to James opening the scoring against her former club in a frantic first half which saw both sides have plenty of chances. United looked good value for an equaliser, but Chelsea were clinical and that proved to be the difference when Beever-Jones sealed the win with a close-range finish 14 minutes from time.

Chelsea have not gone trophyless since 2018-19 and will be determined to ensure this season does not end that run. However, their position has become increasingly precarious. In the Women's Super League (WSL), despite winning the past six titles, they are nine points adrift of Manchester City at the top and are even in danger of falling out of the top-three race.

Hosts Australia continue their campaign aiming to reclaim the Asian Cup crown they last won in 2010. After beating Philippines and Iran, a draw against South Korea saw them finish their group stage campaign.

FCB Women demonstrated spirit in particular, since the She-Wolves were 1-0 up at half-time. The second half was a different story as Jovana Damnjanović (54', 56') turned the game around with a quickfire double, before Georgia Stanway (70') and Klara Bühl (80') wrapped up the win in the top-of-the-table clash.

Kelly played a starring role in England's back-to-back Women's European Championship wins, shooting to international fame at the Lionesses' home tournament in 2022. Her extra-time goal to defeat Germany in the final was the biggest women's football moment Wembley has ever seen, yet she somehow managed to outdo herself in Switzerland three years later.

OBACHT is FC Bayern's awareness concept, which was developed by the club together with the Munich Fan Project, which is run by AWO München Stadt and fans from the Südkurve. It stands for a culture of watchfulness and respectful interaction and pursues the goal of enabling all people - regardless of origin, religion, identity, sexual orientation or gender - to enjoy a safer stadium experience.

It stings. We put in such a shift tonight from start to finish so to concede the second goal the way we did is hard to take. I can't fault the effort from the girls tonight, it was absolutely brilliant. Just gutted we couldn't get even a point. We can't feel sorry for ourselves, we have to move on quick.

A goal from captain Sam Kerr in the first half saw the hosts secure their first points of the tournament in front of 44,379 people at Perth Stadium, breaking the record for the highest-attended Asian Cup match on its very first day.

Hosts Australia begin their Asian Cup campaign determined to make their home advantage count as they chase a second title, their first in 16 years. Backed by a star-studded line up, the Matildas face a Philippines side who made the semi-finals last time out.

I think over the years as the women's game has grown, it's opened up more of a platform for people to have their opinion and share their voices. I think unfortunately social media has become a place where people can say whatever they want whether it's good, bad, ugly and sometimes the ugly is really ugly.

It is very exciting for us to be playing for the first time at Everton's new stadium. We have always said that taking this team around the country is so important and we're really looking forward to playing in front of fans in the north-west. The city of Liverpool has a rich football history with many connections to the Lionesses over the years, so it will be a very special evening.

In 1986, when Norwegian delegate Ellen Wille stood on stage at Fifa's annual congress in Mexico and demanded the creation of a World Cup for women, it sparked support from one of the room's unlikeliest allies. Delegates from North Korea, so the story goes, were inspired by Wille's speech and returned to Pyongyang with a plan: to use women's football as a tool to reassert their collapsing power on the world stage.

We were completely shocked, she said. The rug was pulled from under our feet. She described how the players have been trying to process what has happened but said: One thing is for sure: this will take a long time There are better and worse days. But my thoughts are of course often on this case. And when that happens you think about how disgusting and grim it is what has been going on here.

The Chilean players' association officially became a union in December, and its president, Javiera Moreno, believes there needs to be women's representation in players' unions around the world. We want this movement to become massive, says the former Universidad Catolica captain. Our goal is to spread this to other countries. I don't know if in other places the path will be to have a specific union for women. This was needed here, but I think there needs to be at least representation of women's players within every country's footballers' union.

AC Milan Women have announced the signings of Ewelina Kamczyk and Mawa Sesay in the last few days, strengthening the side after a pretty big departure. Two weeks ago, Milan confirmed the sale of their star forward Evelyn Ijeh to NC Courage. It is believed that the Rossoneri got a decent chunk of cash, especially since Ijeh explained that the decision to leave wasn't made by her. Nevertheless, having lost a pretty important player, Milan decided that it was time to make some reinforcements.

Former England netball player and head coach Tracey Neville has been appointed managing director of the Stockport County Women football team. Neville, the younger sister of ex-England and Manchester United footballing brothers Gary and Phil, joins as the club rebrands from Stockport County Ladies. The side, who were formed in 1989, play in the fourth tier of the women's game in National League Division One North.

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has submitted a preliminary bid to host the Women's Champions League final at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in 2029. Dublin was put forward as a potential host city in an expression of interest by the FAI to Uefa in October. The FAI said it is in a "strong position" to host the final due to the increased popularity of women's football in the Republic of Ireland.

The Women's Super League's transfer window shuts on Tuesday - and what better way to mark the deadline than putting your knowledge to the test? Can you name the 10 players that WSL clubs have spent the most money on? Only two of them were signed in this window. You have four minutes - good luck! After more quizzes? Go to our dedicated Football Quizzes and Sports Quizzes pages and sign up for notifications to get the latest quizzes sent straight to your device.

A record 20.7m ($28.6m) was spent globally on transfers in the women's professional game in 2025 - an increase of 83.6% from 2024 - according to a report published by Fifa. There was an increase in the total number of cross-border transfers, with 2,440 completed in 2025, up 6.3% on the previous year. But the report does not take into account deals done between teams in the same league, therefore, the actual total spend would be much higher.

As this is the inaugural edition of the competition, Fifa undertook a comprehensive assessment to identify the most suitable location to launch this new event. London was selected as the optimal choice based on a range of strategic considerations. In line with Fifa's commitment to growing the women's game globally, key factors such as visibility, player experience, climate, accessibility for global fans and teams, media infrastructure, and commercial potential were thoroughly evaluated.

If anyone didn't take our ambition seriously, I hope they really do after this window, because it shows what we're pushing for. Amy Merricks was answering a question about Birmingham City breaking the second-tier transfer record to sign Wilma Leidhammar from Norrkoping, but the head coach's words could easily sum up the English January transfer window as a whole, as teams in the Women's Super League, and in WSL2, demonstrate where the financial power lies in the women's game.

Certainly. I'm going to put my personal hat on. There are over 500 bills in the US with anti-gay legislation on them. That was last year when I started researching. I say that because I also think more broadly, we all have to look at how we can continue to create different perceptions. I think sport is a powerful conduit to do that. That's just me putting my [personal] thing on.

"But these days they can play football quite well," Hoeneß said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). "Unfortunately, you can't make money from women's football in Germany, but you lose a lot of money. Even the small stadium in the campus is rarely sold out. I laugh my head off at the idea of equal pay. Equal pay would also mean equal income. But you can't make money with women's football in Germany."