Women's football

It's hard to overstate the degree to which Chloe Kelly captured the attention of a nation this past summer. Her pivotal performances in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the 2025 European Championship helped drive England on to a second successive continental crown while also catapulting her name into the limelight like never before, even surpassing the levels achieved after her extra-time goal won Euro 2022. Yet, fans tuning into the Women's Super League this season hoping to see Kelly's magic in action for Arsenal, will have been disappointed.

Cat Macario shined, Jaedyn Shaw delivered a statement, and Emma Hayes couldn’t stop smiling as the USWNT capped 2025 with another dominant win over Italy.

A complete guide to the United States' year, including fixtures in qualifying for the 2027 Women's World Cup

The USWNT blew past Italy in the opening match of a pair of friendlies. Will Hayes give opportunities to newer faces in Monday's rematch?

Como star Alisha Lehmann could not resist cracking a joke after she scored for Switzerland during an international friendly defeat to Belgium. The Swiss' first outing under new head coach Rafel Navarro ended in a 2-1 defeat but Lehmann was still in good spirits afterwards. The former Juventus star stepped off the bench to score Switzerland’s only goal, and followed it up with a wry grin.

Keira Walsh has explains that her leadership will be a change from England team-mate Leah Williamson as she prepares to captain her country against China. The Lionesses will entertain the Steel Roses on Saturday at a sold-out Wembley Stadium, with Walsh set to skipper the side. Ahead of this encounter, the Chelsea ace admits she has had to adjust to this new role in Williamson's absence.

Ellie Roebuck has returned to the England squad for meetings with China and Ghana, the FA has confirmed. The Aston Villa stopper replaces Manchester City goalkeeper Khiara Keating due to injury, her first time being selected by the Lionesses since shortly after the 2023 World Cup. In the intervening years, Roebuck's health issues had put her entire career in severe jeopardy.

The USWNT’s chemistry is clicking at every level, with Catarina Macario and Rose Lavelle driving a dominant showing and Olivia Moultrie rising fast.

The United Kingdom has formally submitted its bid to host the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup, outlining an unprecedented vision centred around 22 stadiums across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. If successful, the tournament would become the largest standalone sporting event ever staged in Britain, eclipsing the 2015 Rugby World Cup and Euro 1996.

The United Kingdom has launched a joint bid to host the 2035 Women's World Cup. England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are hoping to host the tournament in just under a decade, with the proposal including 22 stadiums. The competition would be the largest single-sport event ever staged in the UK and the first FIFA World Cup hosted on these shores since 1966.

Alexia Putellas has opened up about her contract situation with Barcelona, acknowledging ongoing talks while refusing to rule out a future away from the club. As Paris Saint-Germain intensify their pursuit and Barca navigate financial limitations, the Spain captain’s comments come at a crucial moment for both her career and the Catalan side’s long-term project.

Aitana Bonmati is preparing to lead Spain into another major final but insists her historic third Ballon d’Or does not change who she is. The Barcelona Femini midfielder addressed talk of being labelled the Lionel Messi of women’s football, spoke about expectations ahead of the Nations League showdown with Germany, and reflected on how she handles success on and off the pitch.

It’s no secret that, despite winning the last two European Championship titles and reaching the final of the most recent Women's World Cup, England’s Lionesses lack options at left-back. Sarina Wiegman has tried plenty to address the issue, deploying centre-forward Rachel Daly there for a good while, moving centre-backs across to test their credentials there and even changing formation to mask the problem.

England's centre-back room looks almost unrecognisable this month to how it has for the majority of Sarina Wiegman's tenure. With Millie Bright having recently retired, Leah Williamson still injured, Alex Greenwood ruled out for a few weeks and Jess Carter granted a period of rest, Wiegman is set to name a starting defence without any of that quartet for just the second, and third, time in her four years in charge of the Lionesses when her side take on China and Ghana over the course of the next week.

With Rose Lavelle flying, Naomi Girma healthy again and new faces pushing in camp, Emma Hayes gets a final 2025 look at the USWNT against Italy.

Whether hearing the team news over the tannoy in the stadium or seeing the line-up graphics revealed on their television screens, there are likely to be many England fans who encounter some unfamiliar names when watching the Lionesses play their final two matches of 2025 over the course of this next week - and they can certainly be forgiven.

Women's Super League clubs have reportedly been left furious by a chaotic draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Women's League Cup. The draw was made by GK Barry and has caused controversy after a ball was taken out of bag and then put back in, while the social media influencer also made crude sexual references while the draw was being made.

England are missing a lot of key names for their final international camp of 2025. Captain Leah Williamson remains sidelined, making the absences of both Alex Greenwood and Jess Carter all the more notable in a depleted centre-back unit, while Lauren James remains out of the squad having only just returned from injury at Chelsea. Perhaps the most significant bit of team news, though, concerns Hannah Hampton, who could miss the rest of the year with a quad issue.

The draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Women's League Cup have been announced, with all of the Women's Super League's top-four sides still in the competition. The draw offered good news for all of the quartet, who avoided each other in the last eight, but some intriguing semi-final clashes could lie in wait. The quarter-finals will take place between December 19-21, with the semis taking place a month later on 21-22 January.

Lionesses star Hannah Hampton has been named BBC Women's Footballer of the Year following her exceptional exploits for England and Chelsea. After helping the Blues to win an unbeaten domestic treble, the goalkeeper inspired the Lionesses to an incredible Euro 2025 triumph and the individual accolades have now followed, with this just the latest award to come the 25-year-old's way.

Como and Switzerland star Alisha Lehmann named a Chelsea star as the toughest-ever opponent she has contested against, while also revealing whether she would rather win the World Cup with the Switzerland national team or the Ballon d'Or. Lehmann left Aston Villa for Italy to join Juventus in the summer of 2024 after spending six years in England and joined Como in the summer.

Birmingham City would like England's Lionesses to share their proposed new 'Powerhouse' stadium as the Blues continue their ambitious plans for the £1.2 billion ($1.57bn) new ground, which was officially announced in Thursday. The venue is hoped to be open by the 2030-31 season and could also host the Lionesses, who do not have a permanent home at present.

Trinity Rodman has spoken out about her NWSL future as the Washington Spirit look to retain the forward's services. USWNT star Rodman's current deal in the capital expires next month and the Spirit are keen to keep 23-year-old after another strong season. DC Power have reportedly lodged an offer, which exceeds the Spirit's offer owing to the NWSL wage cap structure, while there is also interest from England's WSL.

With everything on the line, here's how the Spirit can top the Gotham FC for the 2025 NWSL Championship.

Sonia Bompastor has claimed the eight-minute delay caused by a technical fault during Chelsea's 1-1 draw against Barcelona was "not good enough". The French manager fumed during her post-match press conference, claiming the problem caused her side to lose momentum, and that she believed the VAR was not used to rule out Catarina Macario's disallowed winner.

With everything on the line, here's how Gotham FC can top the Spirit for the 2025 NWSL Championship.

Referees' chief Howard Webb has denied that a former staff member lost her role as an international football official because she complained a coach "manhandled" her. Lisa Benn alleges she was threatened and grabbed by an assistant referee coach and unfairly lost her post on FIFA's international officials list because the 34-year-old submitted her grievance.

The squad is missing a few key names, forcing Hayes to continue broadening the player pool ahead of the final two matches of 2025.

Chelsea could hand Lauren James her first start of the season when they face Barcelona in their Women’s Champions League clash, though Sam Kerr will remain unavailable despite her return to action earlier in the campaign. James, who has been slowly building back towards match readiness after an ankle injury, has been named in contention for Thursday night’s heavyweight contest.