Ameé Ruszkai

The annual NXGN lists are back for 2026, as GOAL ranks the world's top teenage talents in men's and women's football, crowning winners that will follow in the footsteps of the likes of Jude Bellingham, Lamine Yamal, Lena Oberdorf and Linda Caicedo in being recognised as the best young footballers on the planet.

Arsenal will be without Leah Williamson when they host Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash on Tuesday night. The England captain is dealing with a hamstring issue that kept her out of the Gunners' win over West Ham at the weekend and she is not going to recover in time for the next chapter of her side's European title defence.

With little over a year to go until the 2027 Women's World Cup kicks-off, some of the front-runners for the trophy are obvious. Spain, the reigning champions, and England, the 2023 runners-up, who beat La Roja in the European Championship final last summer, are right up there. The United States' Olympic triumph in 2024 saw them reinstate themselves at the top of the international game while Brazil, as hosts and South American champions, will fancy their chances, too. This month's Asian Cup, though, has served as a reminder that Japan should also be considered as being right in that mix.

Beth Mead's clever reverse pass and Stina Blackstenius' clinical finish will forever be etched in the minds of Arsenal fans as the move that delivered the Gunners an incredible Champions League title in 2025. The north London side were huge underdogs against three-time winners Barcelona, but they fought hard and found a way to get the better of the Catalans in Lisbon last May, capping a European run for the ages.

Khadija Shaw's record-breaking hat-trick fired Manchester City to a dominant 5-2 win over Tottenham on Saturday, allowing the Women's Super League leaders to maintain their seven-point cushion at the top with just four games to go. It took Shaw just 21 minutes from kick-off, and 13 minutes between goals, to net her treble, setting two new competition records, and that was added to by Kerolin's strike and an own goal from Amanda Nilden as City bounced back from last week's disappointing draw at Aston Villa.

When Emma Hayes' time at Chelsea was coming to a well-publicised end in the final few months of the 2023-24 season, ahead of her move to the United States to take over its iconic national team, the revered manager took a moment in one of her final press conferences to ponder what the Blues' team might look like in the future, given the progress being made in the women's youth set-up and the work being done to try bridge the gap between the academy and the first team.

Alyssa Thompson's brilliant header and Lexi Potter's first Women's Super League goal allowed Chelsea to open up a four-point cushion inside the Champions League spots on Wednesday with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Brighton. Amid growing injury concerns, Sonia Bompastor could only name two senior outfield players on her bench and the Seagulls gave her side plenty to worry about as they coped with a short turnaround from Sunday's League Cup final victory. But as was the case at the weekend, Chelsea showed all their experience to get a vital win.

Less than two years ago, Khiara Keating appeared to have the world at her feet. Aged 19, she emerged as Manchester City's starting goalkeeper, won her first senior England call-up and, at the end of the 2023-24 season, became the youngest player ever to win the Women's Super League Golden Glove. And yet, on Sunday, she made just her third league appearance of the current season, having been left out of the Lionesses senior squad last month due to a lack of game time.

Winners win trophies. That was the simple message that Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor gave her players before Sunday’s League Cup final. It clearly got through, too, because her Blues put on a performance of champions to beat Manchester United and win the first silverware of the season, while sending a message to the rest of England - and Europe - that, despite a disappointing campaign so far, they are still a huge threat.

Olivia Smith and Stina Blackstenius got the goals as Arsenal beat London City Lionesses 2-0 on Sunday, a result which allowed the Gunners to move within one point of the Women's Super League's European places. With Chelsea playing in the League Cup final on Sunday, Arsenal knew the short journey across the capital presented an opportunity to close the gap and put some pressure on the third-placed Blues, and they took it, winning their seventh game in a row in comfortable fashion.

Chelsea’s season hasn’t gone to plan so far. After romping to a sixth successive Women’s Super League crown last year, going unbeaten through all 22 games to set multiple records, the Blues’ title defence has fallen incredibly flat. Sat nine points behind leaders Manchester City with six games to go, it’s simply not been good enough for a club with such high standards.

Chelsea will be without captain Millie Bright for Sunday's League Cup final against Manchester United, dealing the Blues a big blow in their bid to retain the trophy. However, head coach Sonia Bompastor will be able to welcome back another key player this weekend, giving her side a necessary boost amid a flurry of injuries.

Manchester City are reportedly 'close' to agreeing a new deal with star striker Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw, just a day after the Women's Super League's leading goal-scorer was linked with a move to rivals Chelsea. Shaw's contract expires this summer but it appears she will be staying in Manchester, despite interest from the Blues in London.

Manchester City are on the brink of a first Women's Super League title since 2016, and a big reason for their incredible performances this season has been the midfield duo of Yui Hasegawa and Laura Blindkilde Brown. And yet, in January, the Cityzens got even stronger in that position when they added another truly world-class midfielder in United States star Sam Coffey, making a move that can have so many short- and long-term benefits.

There was less than an hour remaining in the Women’s Super League summer transfer window when the most stunning business of all was completed. Jess Park and Grace Clinton had been stalwarts at Manchester City and Manchester United, respectively, during the previous season. And yet, at the eleventh hour, both were sent to opposite sides of the city, to represent what had been their biggest and bitterest rival.

Some England camps pass by without there being much new to learn; the Lionesses' first camp of 2026 was not one of those. As Sarina Wiegman's side returned to competitive action for the first time since their triumphant European Championship campaign, getting off to a perfect start in qualifying for the 2027 Women's World Cup with impressive wins over both Ukraine and Iceland, a whole host of talking points were created.

Lauren James stole the show as England beat Iceland 2-0 on Saturday, with Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway on the scoresheet as the Lionesses started their 2027 Women's World Cup qualifying campaign with two wins from two. After the 6-1 win over Ukraine on Tuesday, this was another dominant performance from Sarina Wiegman's side, setting up next month's clash with world champions Spain perfectly.

The Women's Asian Cup began on March 1, kickstarting a month that was set to see two of the major tournaments in the women's game take place, with the Africa Cup of Nations to follow on March 17. Incredibly, the latter was postponed just 12 days before it was due to start, but the impact the Asian Cup will have on the continuing club competitions will still be fascinating, as teams across the women's game say goodbye to some of their best players for a few weeks.