Women's football

Arsenal confirmed on Monday that young centre-back Katie Reid has been hit with a devastating injury blow and is expected to miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season. The Lionesses prospect is set to undergo surgery shortly after becoming the latest player to suffer a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, a serious knee injury that continues to plague women's football.

Arsenal and Chelsea managers Renee Slegers and Sonia Bompastor called for the introduction of VAR in women's football after a nail-biting Women's Super League clash between the two London rivals on Saturday. The reigning champions took the lead through Alyssa Thompson's first half strike, while the Gunners staged a comeback in the second half as Alessia Russo scored a late equaliser.

Former Premier League footballer Joey Barton has been found guilty of sending "grossly offensive" social media posts. The 43-year-old called broadcaster Jeremy Vine a "bike nonce" and compared pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko to serial killer couple Fred and Rose West on X. Now, jurors have accepted the prosecution's argument that Barton "crossed the line between free speech and a crime" on six counts.

It's been impossible to escape the storm surrounding the release of Mary Earps' new book this past week, with the former England No.1 making headlines aplenty for her comments on Sarina Wiegman and Hannah Hampton in particular - and not in a good way. Earps has since said she "never intentionally" meant to "hurt" anyone, but it's hard to imagine that Hampton has not been negatively impacted by everything that has unfolded over the course of the last seven days.

England legend Ellen White has suggested that Mary Earps broke an "unwritten oath" when she criticised Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman and fellow goalkeeper Hannah Hampton in her upcoming book. Earps has been under fire for saying Wiegman rewarded "bad behaviour" when Hampton was recalled to the national squad after previously getting dropped for allegedly being "disruptive and unreliable". Now, White has had her say.

There was a lot to like about Arsenal's win over Leicester City on Sunday. Despite concluding last season by stunning Barcelona to win the Champions League, the Gunners have been nowhere near their best at the start of this new campaign, suffering four successive defeats in all competition for the first time since January 2022. Unconvincing but vital wins against Brighton and Benfica allowed them to fight back before the international break and their return to action at the weekend, in a 4-1 victory over the Foxes, was much-improved.

England's record cap holder, Fara Williams, has weighed in with her opinion on Mary Earps, after the former Lionesses No.1 made comments claiming successor Hannah Hampton was rewarded for "bad behaviour" when Sarina Wiegman restored her to the squad. The former midfielder accused Earps, who retired just before Euro 2025, of lacking respect towards her team-mate and manager.

England were handed a nightmare draw in qualifying for the 2027 Women's World Cup, with the Lionesses to battle Spain for the only automatic berth in the group. Sarina Wiegman's side were able to defeat La Roja in the Euro 2025 final back in July but finished as runners-up to the world champions in the Nations League earlier this year, having failed to deliver the same level of consistency across the group stage as the side boasting two Ballon d'Or winners, in Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmati.

The Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit, NWSL expansion sides debuting in 2026, will play their first home matches at iconic NFL venues, the teams announced. The legacy will play in the New England Patriots’ Gillette Stadium on March 14, and the Summit will open in the Denver Broncos’ Empower Field on March 28.

Who's hot, who's not? GOAL ranks all 14 teams across the National Women's Soccer League

Mary Earps has spoken out following criticism over comments made in her new autobiography about Hannah Hampton and Sarina Wiegman, insisting the book was not written to "tear anyone down". The former England goalkeeper, who was part of the Euro 2022-winning side, said the negative public reaction to segments from the book had been "distorted" and taken out of context.

Barcelona's incredibly dominant women's team suffered their earliest Liga F defeat in 11 years on Sunday as they were shockingly beaten 1-0 at Real Sociedad. The hosts have made a flying start to the new campaign, sitting third in the table after this win, but this was a hugely surprising result - representing just a fifth league loss for the Catalans since the beginning of the 2019-20 season.

Former England goalkeeper Mary Earps has lifted the lid on her dramatic last few months with the Lionesses and the explosive exchanges with boss Sarina Wiegman which led to her departure from the team just weeks before this summer's successful European Championship defence, following the decision to recall Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton.

Laura Harvey, who has coached the Seattle Reign since 2021, revealed that she used ChatGPT to help form her tactics this season. The English manager admitted that the AI system helped her lay out a defensive system, which she then put into place for her playoff-bound Reign ahead of the campaign. They are currently fourth in the NWSL after finishing 13th last season.

With her impact on the field and her leadership off it, Coffey continues to stand out in a talented USWNT crowd

After winning an unprecedented Champions League title back in May, expectations were high for this Arsenal side coming into the 2025-26 season. Could the Gunners use their European success as a springboard and really challenge for the Women's Super League title this time around? Could they finally end Chelsea's incredible dominance which has now seen them claim each of the last six league crowns, as well as 13 of the last 18 domestic honours?

Emma Hayes' side had a bumpy start to the October camp, but finished off in style by overpowering New Zealand 6-0

Lionesses starlet Michelle Agyemang has suffered a torn ACL, it has been announced. It's a diagnosis which confirms the worst fears of the teenager after she was stretchered off with a knee injury during England's 3-0 win over Australia on Tuesday night and one that spells the end of her 2025-26 season, which she had started well on loan at Brighton again from Arsenal.

There was no shortage of stars on show as the Lionesses took to the pitch for Tuesday's clash with an Australia side boasting plenty of household names of their own. Be it the likes of Lucy Bronze, Ella Toone, Beth Mead and Alessia Russo in the home colours, or Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Ellie Carpenter and Steph Catley representing the visitors, there was top-class talent all over the park. And yet, it was a relatively unknown 21-year-old by the name of Lucia Kendall who stole the show.

It was one-way traffic for Emma Hayes, who started a young lineup that was determined to dominate from start to finish

England's first camp since their second successive European Championship triumph was certainly a little up and down. Marred by injuries going into the window, with there already three notable absentees before Sarina Wiegman's squad was announced and four withdrawals after it was revealed, the Lionesses then suffered a 2-1 defeat to Brazil in their first game post-Euros, despite playing for over an hour against 10 players, but were able to bounce back on Tuesday against Australia, who also had a player sent off very early on in a rather strange couple of games.

Michelle Agyemang worryingly left the pitch on a stretcher as England beat Australia 3-0 at Pride Park in Derby on Tuesday night. The up and coming teenage forward has made a huge impact since bursting onto the international scene for the Lionesses earlier this year, going on to play a decisive role at Euro 2025, but could now be set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Former England goalkeeper Mary Earps has been unable to accept a Lionesses send-off at Wembley next month after calling time on her international career in the weeks leading up to Euro 2025 in the summer. The Paris Saint-Germain stopper, who has become a superstar of the women's game in recent years and even transcends her sport, remains in talks about what a tribute might look like.

Moultie's brace in a 3-1 victory over Portugal showed just how potent the still just 20-year-old can be for the USWNT

NWSL sides San Diego Wave and Kansas City Current will join the World Sevens Football tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in December, the organization announced. The two clubs join an Americas-focused iteration of the tournament, which now has seven teams committed to play. The debut edition of the tournament featured entirely European clubs.

The USWNT reversed fortunes with a win over Portugal, and now look to close out the October window with momentum

Alessia Russo is one of 11 Lionesses on the list of nominees for this year's FIFPRO XI, which also includes seven players from the Spain side England beat in the European Championship final - albeit not Mariona Caldentey, who put La Roja ahead in that game and finished as runner-up to Aitana Bonmati at the Ballon d'Or. That's not the only surprise, either, with Mary Earps included and there no representation for the United States women's national team.

England boss Sarina Wiegman has added yet another fresh face to her Lionesses squad ahead of Tuesday's clash with Australia after West Ham defender Anouk Denton accepted her first senior call-up. That's despite no player withdrawing from selection before the European champions' second fixture of this international break, with it instead a measure to protect Lucy Bronze and Niamh Charles in particular.

It's fair to say England's homecoming didn't go to plan on Saturday. Returning to action for the first time since winning the European Championship this past summer, the Lionesses were 2-0 down just 18 minutes into their meeting with Brazil, and despite the visitors going down to 10 players not long after scoring that second, England could not make their numerical advantage count in a disappointing 2-1 defeat. What will have made the loss even more frustrating for some, though, was that it came amid a lack of experimentation from Sarina Wiegman.