Women's football

For the fourth time in seven years, Lyon and Barcelona will go head-to-head in the Women's Champions League final on Saturday. The eight-time winners and three-time winners, respectively, are developing something of a rivalry in Europe's premier competition, with this season providing further support to the belief that they are the two best teams in the women's game right now.

When Barcelona won their seventh successive Liga F title last month, Alexia Putellas was reminded of the many doubts that were raised about her team prior to the season. Financial restraints produced serious obstacles in the transfer market and prevented the club from building the sort of squad one would hope for when competing on four fronts, leading many to wonder how they would fare this season, especially in the Champions League. That the Catalans are back in the final on Saturday and just one win away from a quadruple, then, is quite the rebuttal.

As feared, captain Giulia Gwinn will miss the German women's decisive World Cup qualifying matches.

Manchester City striker Khadija Shaw has been crowned the Women's Super League Player of the Season following an exceptional domestic campaign. The prolific forward also secured the Golden Boot after netting 21 goals in 22 appearances to guide her team to a first league title in a decade.

Ella Toone is back in the Lionesses squad for the first time in 2026 after recovering from a hip injury that has forced her to miss England's last two camps. Aggie Beever-Jones has also returned to the fold to offer another timely boost to Sarina Wiegman's side, as they prepare to face Spain in a decisive World Cup qualifier next month.

Who's hot? Who's not? GOAL ranks each of the current 16 National Women's Soccer League teams.

Unsurprisingly, Manchester City dominate GOAL's 2025-26 Women's Super League Team of the Season, after Andree Jeglertz's side comfortably clinched their first title triumph in 10 years without even needing a result on the final day. How the rest of the XI looks, though, sums up what an interesting campaign it has been.

And so another Women's Super League season is in the books. After six years of dominance by Chelsea, this was one that shook things up, too, as Manchester City claimed a first title in 10 years and Arsenal, the last team to win the trophy before this past season, proved to be the side that ran them closest.

As the Women's Super League season came to a close on Saturday, a team other than Chelsea lifted the trophy for the first time in seven years, with the Manchester City's scenes of celebration bringing the curtain down on a year of action that has had its fair share of shocks and surprises.

Arsenal has confirmed that Katie McCabe will leave the club at the conclusion of the season following the expiry of her contract. The 30-year-old Republic of Ireland captain departs north London as a decorated legend, having made over 300 appearances and won every available club trophy, including the historic 2025 Women’s Champions League and the 2026 FIFA Champions Cup.

Chelsea have confirmed that legendary striker Sam Kerr will depart the club when her contract expires at the end of the current season. The Australia international brings an end to a trophy-laden six-and-a-half-year spell in West London that saw her become one of the most clinical finishers in the history of the women's game.

Transfers in women's football have gone crazy in the last 18 months. It was in January of last year that Naomi Girma became the first million-dollar player in the sport and yet she is now already only the sixth most-expensive women's player of all time, with seven-figure fees suddenly becoming more and more frequent as the game grows.

Manchester City have officially opened a new £10 million ($13.5m) state-of-the-art facility for the women’s team, just days after the side clinched a first Women’s Super League title in 10 years. Shaped with input from players and staff, Lionesses star and club captain Alex Greenwood described it as a space which takes the new English champions “to a whole different level”.

Unlike last year, the FC Bayern women's team will now have their own championship celebration.

Beth Mead will leave Arsenal when her contract expires this summer, the club has announced. The England star joined the Gunners back in 2017 and will depart as an icon, having helped them win six major honours, including the Champions League, during her productive nine-year stay. She is not the only player fans will be able to bid farewell to at Arsenal's final home game of the season this week, either, with two more departures also confirmed.

Man City will take on Brighton in the Women's FA Cup final later this month, after Liverpool and Chelsea fell in the semi-finals on Sunday. It'll be a first Wembley appearance for the Seagulls, who downed the Reds in a dramatic 3-2 win, and they will be huge underdogs against Man City, the newly-elected Women's Super League champions who won by the same scoreline in extra time at Stamford Bridge, thanks to Khadija Shaw's double.

In a few weeks' time, Sam Kerr's Chelsea contract will come to its end. After six-and-a-half years, 156 appearances and 114 goals, which have helped deliver 12 trophies, it looks like this month will be her last in Chelsea blue. If it is, Kerr will leave as the club's all-time top goal-scorer in the Women's Super League and a genuine legend - but there is still time to add to that legacy yet.

Over the last few weeks, as Manchester City have been chasing down their first Women's Super League title in 10 years, things have become nervy on and off the pitch. Dropped points had threatened to let Arsenal back in the title race, until the Gunners' own midweek slip-up at Brighton ended that suspense. Still, though any concerns around the destiny of the WSL trophy have now been put to bed, City fans can still worry themselves over the future of their star striker, Khadija Shaw.

Selina Cerci will leave TSG Hoffenheim on a free transfer this summer to join a top-flight club.

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has addressed reports linking Manchester City superstar Khadija "Bunny" Shaw with a blockbuster summer move to the Blues. The Jamaica international is expected to depart Joie Stadium as contract negotiations with the newly-crowned Women's Super League champions have reportedly reached a standstill.

Vivianne Miedema has revealed the emotional reason behind her absence as Manchester City Women celebrated their league title. The Dutch forward has been at her mother’s bedside after serious complications following cancer treatment left her in intensive care. Miedema shared a heartfelt update on her family’s difficult weeks.

Fran Kirby's achievements throughout her career to date make for remarkable reading. Part of the Lionesses side which beat Germany in the European Championship final at Wembley back in 2022, the 32-year-old also lifted 16 major honours during her incredible nine-year stay at Chelsea, with individual accolades galore coming in and amongst all of that. She was there for England's first major title and Chelsea's first major title; now, in Brighton colours, Kirby will hope she can help another ambitious side hit new heights.

Manchester City star Khadija Shaw is set to leave the club this summer at the end of her contract, according to a report which emerged just hours after her side claimed a first Women's Super League title in 10 years. Shaw's goals were a key factor in that triumph but speculation about her future has rumbled on throughout the season and now she looks set to depart, with domestic rivals Chelsea heavily linked with a move.

For the first time in 10 years, Manchester City are Women’s Super League champions. The crowning moment may not have been what the runaway leaders expected, with Arsenal’s draw at Brighton on Wednesday night confirming their triumph without them even needing to take to the field. But it won’t taste any less sweet for a City side that has endured five second-placed finishes since their last title triumph in 2016.

With 20 goals across the four games, and late drama at the end of both ties, it's fair to say the 2025-26 Women's Champions League semi-finals delivered. Out of them emerged Lyon, the eight-time winners, and Barcelona, the three-time champions, to set up a truly mouth-watering final in Oslo on May 23, in which there will be so many fascinating storylines.

After talks with the DFB collapsed, the Women's Bundesliga is poised to secure its future with substantial investment.

Barcelona will face Lyon in the Women's Champions League final after beating Bayern Munich 4-2 on Sunday, for a 5-3 win on aggregate in the semi-finals. The German champions gave the three-time winners a tough match last week but the Catalans asserted their authority at Camp Nou, as goals from Salma Paralluelo, Ewa Pajor and an Alexia Putellas brace set up a fourth UWCL final between Barca and Lyon.

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Ena Mahmutovic caught the eye with her unusual playing kit during the Champions League semi-final second leg against FC Barcelona.

Manchester United manager Marc Skinner has admitted he is solely accountable for the club’s underwhelming conclusion to the campaign following a frustrating draw with Brighton. The disappointing result has left the Red Devils’ aspirations for Women's Champions League qualification in serious jeopardy as their winless domestic run continues.