Women's football

England's squad announcement on Tuesday morning brought with it a real surprise, as Erica Parkinson received her first senior call-up at the age of 17 ahead of World Cup qualifiers with Iceland and, crucially, world champions Spain. Parkinson will be a new name to many Lionesses fans and Sarina Wiegman has now explained why she chose to hand the teenager an invite that left her "speechless".

Talk of Alessia Russo's goal-scoring has dominated conversation around the England international for most of her senior career to date. It's become especially prominent since her move from Manchester United to Arsenal three years ago, with the scrutiny increased because of the switch and also the fact she's become the Lionesses' starting centre-forward. But in this past week in particular, Russo has shown what remarkable steps she has made towards that talk becoming obsolete.

Leah Williamson has been named in the latest Lionesses squad despite missing all of Arsenal's last three games, with Sarina Wiegman clearly hopeful that the England captain will be fit to face world champions Spain in a crucial World Cup qualifier next month. Williamson has been dealing with a hamstring issue but it will be a major boost for the Lionesses if she is able to recover for the April international break.

England international Lucy Bronze is determined to help Chelsea finally conquer Europe and match the historic success of the men's side. The serial winner hopes her vast experience can guide the Blues to Women's Champions League glory, though they first face a daunting task to overturn a two-goal deficit against Arsenal and keep their dreams of lifting the elusive trophy alive.

GOAL reviews the top USWNT performances abroad across the weekend from Girma andThompson at Chelsea to Heaps and Yohannes at Lyon, Tullis-Joyce at United, Coffey at Man City and Fox at Arsenal.

England midfielder Missy Bo Kearns has shared the devastating news that she and her partner, Luton Town midfielder Liam Walsh, have lost their baby during pregnancy. The Aston Villa star, who only recently went public with the news that the couple were expecting their first child, took to social media to express her "heavy heart" following the tragic loss.

Manager Renee Slegers has highlighted Alessia Russo's maturing influence within the Arsenal squad following her devastating first-half performance against Tottenham. Beyond the goals, the Gunners' boss is seeing a shift in the forward’s personality and responsibility on the training pitch as the season reaches its climax.

Marc Skinner has reaffirmed his belief that Manchester United can still secure a European spot this season despite suffering a bruising 3-0 defeat to rivals Manchester City. The United boss admitted the result at Old Trafford was "horrible" but remained defiant regarding his side's chances of finishing in the Champions League places.

USWNT defender Naomi Girma has challenged her Chelsea team-mates to treat every remaining Women’s Super League fixture as a "must-win" clash. The Blues are navigating a relentless schedule across domestic and European fronts as they look to stay in the hunt for silverware.

San Diego Wave signed USWNT forward Cat Macario from Chelsea, in a deal worth a total of $8 million, the club announced Friday morning. Including add ons, it is expected to be the most significant outlay for a transfer in women's soccer history. Macario spent her youth career playing for the San Diego Surf, before leaving for Europe. This will be her first time playing in NWSL.

Only a year on from winning an unbeaten domestic treble, Chelsea's difficulties this season have been well-documented. The Blues are set to be dethroned as English champions for the first time since 2019 and injuries in attack have played a significant role in their shortcomings, forcing Sonia Bompastor to deploy line-ups without a central striker at times. Sam Kerr's performances for Australia at the Asian Cup this month, then, were a welcome sight for Chelsea fans.

Arsenal captain Kim Little has signed a new one-year deal with the club, taking her name off the long list of those out of contract with the Gunners this summer. The reigning European champions had more than 10 first-team players whose current deals were set to expire at the end of the season but Little is officially staying put, the club announced on Thursday.

Lionesses star Ella Toone is not expected to return from injury until after the April international break, dealing a significant blow to both England and Man Utd. It's a delay that means the playmaking midfielder will miss United's upcoming games with Manchester City and Bayern Munich, as well as the Lionesses' crucial clash with Spain in World Cup qualifying.

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has hit out at the standard of officiating following her side's 3-1 Women's Champions League quarter-final first-leg loss to Arsenal. Despite a spectacular Lauren James effort, the Blues were undone by a ruthless Gunners side at the Emirates. Bompastor insists her team "deserved better" after seeing a crucial goal disallowed, leaving them with a mountain to climb in next week's return leg.

Manchester United's season is likely to be defined by events in the next eight days. The Red Devils have enjoyed some real highs this year, reaching a Women's Champions League quarter-final on their main draw debut and a first League Cup final, but if Marc Skinner's side don't get some big results over the course of this next week, they could have very little to show for their efforts.

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has insisted the London club will remain a dominant force in women's football even if legendary figures Millie Bright and Sam Kerr depart this summer. The Blues boss faced direct questions regarding the futures of two of the club's longest-serving stars ahead of their crucial Women's Champions League quarter-final showdown against Arsenal, but refrained from giving a definitive answer.

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.

Swiss international forward Alisha Lehmann has hit back at her critics, firmly denying claims that she prioritises social media over her football career. After cutting short a stint in Italy to join Leicester City's relegation battle, the 26-year-old insists her focus remains entirely on the pitch, relying on her strong work ethic to prove the persistent doubters wrong.

Manchester City striker Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw has been hailed as "the best in the world" after her brilliant hat-trick against Tottenham on Saturday. The centre-forward scored the quickest hat-trick in Women's Super League history as City beat Spurs 5-2 in a thumping victory.

The FIFA Council approved a new legislation that mandates that a woman head coach or a woman assistant coach must be on every team across all of FIFA's youth and senior women's football tournaments, national team competitions, and club competitions. This initiative and mandate are to increase the number of women coaches and fit into FIFA's long-term strategy to do so.

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.

International player Lisanne Gräwe made her debut in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga at the age of 17. Yet she had almost given up on her football career very early on.

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.

Catarina Macario is set to make history by leaving Chelsea to join the San Diego Wave in the National Women's Soccer League. This groundbreaking transfer is reported to be the most lucrative contract ever signed in women's professional football, signalling a massive shift in the sport's financial landscape and bringing the American international back to where her career began.

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.

GOAL reviews top USWNT performances abroad, from Naomi Girma’s injury to Alyssa Thompson’s first League Cup with Chelsea and Heaps, Yohannes lifting the French Cup with Lyon.