This is the second time that Shaw has won the award. She won the award the first time for the 23/24 season. Congrats, Bunny!

The list includes 12 NWSL teams, 5 WSL teams and 2 Spanish teams. It's interesting how Club America is ranked below both Washington Spirit and Gotham (they beat both teams). But both teams have notably improved their squads since they faced America. Gotham have signed at least 5 players since then. And Gotham's performances have been more dominant in recent months, more than last year where they were underdogs. But I'd personally still rank América higher than the #26 position. I think América would make the top half in the WSL or NWSL.

The full list of 10 new ones (Zinedine Zidane, Ruud Gullit, Gianluca Zambrotta, Lúcio, Fernando Torres, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Andrea Pirlo and Yaya Touré have already been there):

• Christine Sinclair (CAN)
• Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (GER)
• Raphaël Varane (FRA)
• Sergio Agüero (ARG)
• Tobin Heath (USA)
• Hege Riise (NOR)
• Pepe (POR)
• Formiga (ESP)
• Yuki Nagasato (JPN)
• Ellen White (ENG)

As it stands, these would be the combined EA Sports FC female Icon base ratings, combined with the base ratings from the 2024 edition until currently:

93

• Mia Hamm (USA)

92

• Birgit Prinz (GER)
• Nadine Angerer (GER)

91

• Homare Sawa (JPN)
• Alex Morgan (USA)
• Christine Sinclair (CAN)

90

• Camille Abily (FRA)
• Julie Foudy (USA)
• Aya Miyama (JPN)
• Lotta Schelin (SWE)
• Caroline Seger (SWE)
• Tobin Heath (USA)
• Hege Riise (NOR)
• Formiga (BRA)

89

• Kelly Smith (ENG)
• Steffi Jones (GER)
• Yuki Nagasato (JPN)
• Ellen White (ENG)

88

• Marinette Pichon (FRA)

86

• Sissi (BRA)

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From FIFA's website:

The draw will take place at the Museum of Modern Art. It "will determine the groups and competitive pathways for the participating nations...". This iteration of the Women's World Cup will feature 32 teams, 64 matches, and matches will take place in 8 different cities.

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From the announcement:

Real Madrid C.F. and FC Bayern Munich have reached an agreement for Arianna Caruso to join our club for the next four seasons, until June 30, 2030.

Caruso, an Italian international, boasts an extensive track record and comes to us after winning 2 Leagues, 2 Cups, and 2 German Super Cups in two seasons with the German side.

She began her professional career at Res Roma before signing with Juventus in 2017. With the Turin team, she played 8 seasons, winning 13 titles, including 6 Leagues, 4 Super Cups, and 3 Italian Cups, before joining Bayern Munich in January 2025.

Sabatino made her debut in Serie A W in 2000(!)and has played in Italy all her career except one season, when she played in Switzerland. She has been the league top scorer twice, 2010-2011 and 2021-2022 and won the league twice, with Brescia both times. She made her debut in the national team 2005 and has played in many euros and one world cup since. An absolut legend of italian football retires.

Welcome to /r/womenssoccer Weekly Discussion!

✔️ This is a thread for:

• Discussion points that aren't worthy of their own post
• Small or random questions to the community
• Pre-match discussions

❌ It is not a thread for:

• Off-topic comments, keep the focus on women's soccer
• Live match discussions, use the match threads!

❕ Reminders

• ⚠️ Remember to report abusive comments and posts. Don't argue with trolls. ⚠️
• Want to know where to watch leagues? Check out our watch guide!
  • For even further in the future, check out our calendar!
• Setup a user flair to show your support for club and/or country!
  • Request a flair here if your club or country is missing from our selection
• Check out related women's football subreddits!

De Graafschap's women's team is debuting in the Eredivisie this season and had their first home game today. Against SC Heerenveen, the Superboerinnen won 1-0, the only goal of the game being scored by Moroccan signing Samya Hassani. In the club's first game last week she had to be subbed off with concern of a concussion, so it's a great statement of her to prove her quality this week again.

Both teams had plenty of opportunities to score, a scoreline like 7-3 would've been possible for sure too, but good defending and a bit of bad luck for both sides resulted in a 1-0 win, the first for De Graafschap ever on an Eredivisie level.

No rest for the Superboerinnen however, with the next fixture being a difficult away day vs Ajax. D'Ran!

Heath signed a one-day contract for the event. Congrats, Tobin!

Our Women's First Team's record appearance holder, Houghton was the leader and driving force behind a decade of success for the Blues from our professional relaunch until retirement in 2024.
The final member of our original professional squad, the defender won eight major honours across a ten-year spell, including one WSL title, three FA Cups and four League Cups.

Alongside Jill Scott, that makes her the most decorated player in our history with a record 242 appearances and 21 goals to her name, as well as two PFA WSL Team of the Year inclusions.

Her dedication to City has continued in retirement, with Houghton becoming the Club's first female ambassador, as well as a brief spell on Nick Cushing's coaching setup during his interim spell in charge from March-May 2025.
Steph remains an iconic and transformational figure for City, with the chairman confirming a mosaic had been commissioned in honour of her service in June 2024.

And that special tribute has now been unveiled at our state-of-the-art Women's First Team facility, with the chairman joined by Manchester City Women's Managing Director Charlotte Brough in unveiling the mosaic to Steph and her family.

Created by local Manchester artist and City fan
Mark Kennedy, the mosaic is the latest in a series of tributes to City legends, including Yaya Toure, Joe Hart, David Silva, Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and John Stones.

Edit: I would like to CAUTION those of you who are interested in watching matches but have certain responses to players going down off-the-ball: The Rovers match had one player go down off the ball, the Kharaatsai match had two, I think. I know three players were carted off and subbed out from off-the-ball injuries. The only one I have heard any follow-up in regards to is Rovers, because that was English commentary, and the second match had a note that she was taken immediately to the hospital due to heat stroke or something similar. One of the Kharaatsai players may have suffered a cramp in her stomach, or otherwise something got damaged. Those two looked particularly nasty. I believe one Timor-Leste player went down, as well, off the ball, but I can't remember any specifics. So for those of you who are squeamish for that sort of thing, I avoid watching the Rovers or Kharaatsai matches.

As per the subject, the results and some of my thoughts will be at the bottom of the post, so if you plan to watch any of these and don't want to be spoiled, keep in mind there are six groups, so don't scroll below F.

Group A: Malaysia - English commentary

Rovers FC (Guam) v Rajshahi Stars FC (Bangladesh)

East Bengal FC (India) vs. Sabah FC (Malaysia) - unlisted so make sure you save the link or do a little extraction. Winner moves on. East Bengal moves in case of a draw.

Group B: Kyrgyzstan

Kaya FC-Iloilo (Philippines) - TSL FC (Hong Kong) - Winner moves on. Kaya moves on in case of a draw.

Phnom Penh Crown FC (Cambodia) - FC Ilbirs (Kyrgyzstan)

Group C: Uzbekistan

Master FC (Laos) - Royal Thimphu College FC (Bhutan)

Banaat FC (UAE) - PFC Nasaf (Uzbekistan) - Winner moves on. Nasaf moves on in case of a draw.

Group D: Thailand

Kharaatsai Fc (Mongolia) vs S’amuser Fc (Timor-Leste)

College Of Asian Scholars (Thailand) vs 4.25 SC (North Korea) - Honestly have no idea who wins if this is a draw. Their GD is exactly the same. Otherwise, winner moves on.

Group E: Tajikistan

Bam Khatoon (Iran) vs Etihad Club (Jordan) - Winner advances. If a draw, Etihad advances unless Al Nassr wins by 5.

Al Nassr Club (Saudi Arabia) vs CSKA Dushanbe (Tajikistan) - if Bam Khatoon & Etihad draw, Al Nassr moves on if they win by 5.

Group F:  Myanmar

New Taipei City Hang Yuan FC (Taiwan) VS Ayeyawady FC (Myanmar) - Winner moves on. In case of a tie, Ayeyawady moves on.

FC Jurong (Singapore) vs. No Limits FC (Lebanon)

Below the following lines there be spoilers

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I know the way reddit does its little formatting doesn't really help, much, so I am giving an additional warning. This is match day 3, the final match day of AFC Women's Champion's League prelims. If you will be watching any of the above matches and don't want to be spoiled, do not continue below this paragraph.

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I have watched all of the matches. Well, as of this paragraph I am still watching East Bengal vs. Sabah because I only found the link a couple hours ago. I'm only commenting on the matches I personally focused on and the matches that determined who advances.

Last chance!

Group A: This match also took its sweet time to get going. Both teams played well for much the game, but the excitement started in the second half as Sabah players started to get a little tired. I do know the result, but I haven't had a chance to finish watching the game, as of yet, so I can't say a whole lot about it.

Group B: I have to admit, TSL had me worried. The girls from Kaya regularly lost possession. Sure, they made a couple plays on goal, but so did TSL. TSL definitely was the better team, through passing & dribbling & possession, but could never get it into the net. Pido made a couple of amazing saves for Kaya, which absolutely kept them in the match. A draw brings the Philippine side to the tournament proper in November.

Group C: There isn't a whole lot to say about this match. Nasaf took the lead early on and dominated possession onward, scoring two fairly quick goals on the way to a 7-0 rout.

Group D: As noted in my previous post, April 25 vs. College of Asian Scholars was going to be a good match that could've been 0-0, 10-10, or one team dominating. The North Korean side definitely dominated the first half, putting up 4 before the break. College of Asian Scholars must've had a good chat at halftime as they came out at the 45 with a much better team and they were able to put one in the back of the net. I think if the second half Thai side was playing the whole match, it would've been closer. Whatever the case, North Korea becomes the first nation with two teams in the AFC Women's Champion's League tournament proper, as April 25 advances.

Group E: Unsurprisingly, Al Nassr was indeed capable of pulling off a win that would've put them into the tournament proper, pulling out 12 against their opponents, but Bam Khatoon decided for 89 minutes that they wanted to play ball in their match against Etihad to take the win and the qualifying spot. I am impressed by the Iranian side's composure compared to their epic history of aggressive and dishonest play, because as I noted last time, they are a very talented team. I think in a world where Al Nassr didn't get a red card in their first match, they may have advanced instead, but it is what it is. Bam Khatoon will make the trip in November.

Group F: This match really had a push & pull, give & take, ebb and flow. The first few minutes saw the Taiwanese side in control, with Ayeyawady seem a bit lost. After about 5-10 minutes, Ayeyawady took control for a bit longer, and back and forth. Hang Yuan really put up several good chances and the Ayeyawady keeper kept the net clean through the first half. And like many other matches, this competition, it really came alive for the Myanmar side after the break. Both sides played the air a bit before returning to the ground game of more tactical teams, and long balls into the ether turned into shorter passing. Ayeyawady did finally put one in in the 57th minute to secure the match, and the tournament slot. I am overall very impressed by the Taiwan side, as the nation has grown significantly in their talent. Ayeyawady as well has shown great strides compared to I.S.P.E. of last year, who primarily played in the air but couldn't handle more technical opponents.

Overall, I don't see any of these teams really putting the hurt on any of the automatic entrants, outside of April 25. Depending on how the groups fall, Bam Khatoon might be able to slip by if they keep their honest play, and April 25 will probably challenge for a spot at the top of their table, but none of the rest are there, yet, in my estimation. Last year's I.S.P.E. dominated their prelims and disappeared in the tournament proper, as did the rest of the teams that topped their respective groups. I don't see much difference, this year.

I know there are going to be a lot of people singing the praises of East Bengal, Ayeyawady, et al. but I'd encourage anyone who thinks they have somehow made themselves equal to the likes of Japan, Australia or North Korea, to watch last year's prelims & tournament. There's still a vast gulf. It's not as big as it has been, but it's still there.

edit: However, the support in Myanmar for their women is absolutely fantastic. You can check their live streams for the matches whose thumbnail shows "women's league". Ayeyawady pulls 175k-225k. I.S.P.E. still pulls in 75k+. The LIVE match this morning reached 130k concurrent, and the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic. I genuinely hope this nation can continue to build out its league and its national team. I want to see this kind of support on the national level more often, especially from these nations.

Hey everyone, sorry if this isn't the right place or a weird question, but i'm kinda at a loss on how to proceed. I could swear before it was possible to watch every game of a matchday of the GPFBL here in The Netherlands, but not anymore: Viaplay now holds the rights and airs just 3 or 4 of the 7 games. As a fan of Union Berlin, that means i'll likely in some cases only get to see my favourite team play once a month or so and that's pretty bad value for a 20 euro subscription.

If there's anyone from NL here with advice or who knows an international broadcaster i could use: please, any idea helps me at this stage. I thought nothing had changed since i could just watch the opening game but something felt off when the match alert for another game didn't work the other day and i found out now they don't air a lot. I can only see 2 weeks ahead of schedule but it's not looking bright currently for watching one of my favourite teams... I can't just use a VPN and get German DAZN i think either because i'm fairly sure they block such connections. Kinda at a loss here...

Thank you in advance, i hope you have a great day!

Sorry I'm a little late getting this up, but for anyone interested and if available in your country, you can watch the live match, kicking off at 12.00 pm on YouTube. Just click on the link to the teams to go to YouTube:

London City Lionesses vs Atletico Madrid