Beth Mead is back with the England national team after tearing her ACL a year ago.
Mead last featured for England in November 2022, but she suffered an ACL tear with Arsenal later that month. As a result, the 28-year-old forward missed the World Cup for the Lionesses.
In May of this year, Mead described her recovery as “ahead of schedule,” saying she hoped to make the World Cup. But at the time, England coach Sarina Wiegman said it would be a “miracle” if Mead were healthy in time for the tournament.
“I am back on the pitch and kicking a ball again, feeling good, ahead of schedule,” Mead said in May. “That’s all I can do that’s in my control right now.”
Mead did not make it back for the World Cup in July, but she returned to the pitch with Women’s Super League club Arsenal in October. And on Tuesday, Wiegman said her conversation with Mead when calling her into this camp was a “very nice phone call.”
“Of course that’s really nice,” she said. “She’s played minutes. She’s in a good place and still building. But that was a very nice phone call and she was very happy.”
The Lionesses did fine at the World Cup, reaching the final even without Mead and Leah Williamson. But they’ve struggled this fall, and their hopes of making the Olympics and topping their Nations League group are hanging by a thread after a loss to Belgium in October.
England faces a tall test in its next Nations League games. The Lionesses will face the Netherlands on Dec. 1 at Wembley and Scotland on Dec. 5 at Hampden Park. If they are to top their group, they’ll need to win both games. And if they want to guarantee their Olympic qualification, they’ll need to reach the final of the Nations League.
“We know we’ll need to win our last two games of 2023 and we’ll give everything we have for that outcome,” Wiegman said. “This group have shown resilience and strength of character time and time again and I have absolutely no doubts we’ll be ready to go when the whistle blows for both fixtures.”
One of the reported finalists in the U.S. women’s national team’s search for its next head coach may be out of the running.
Former USWNT assistant coach and current Australia manager Tony Gustavsson was one of three candidates at the top of U.S. Soccer’s shortlist, The Athletic reported on Oct. 27. Laura Harvey of OL Reign and Joe Montemurro of Juventus are the other contenders.
Yet the same report noted that Gustavsson is not likely to relocate to the United States. And on Wednesday, Gustavsson alluded to the prospect of remaining with Australia.
When asked by Australia’s Network 10 about the reported interest from the USWNT and whether he would still be with the Matildas for the 2024 Olympics, Gustavsson did not deny his involvement in the search. But he did note that he is happy with the Matildas, who he led to the 2023 World Cup semifinals.
“I love this team, Gustavsson said. “And we have unfinished business to do.”
U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker has said that the federation would like to have a new head coach in place by the team’s December friendlies. Those take place on December 2 and 5 against China.
Gustavsson, meanwhile, is in the middle of Olympic qualifying competition with Australia. The Matildas took a 3-0 win over Chinese Taipei on Wednesday, advancing to the third round of Asian qualifying for the Paris Olympics.
Aitana Bonmatí won the 2023 Ballon d’Or after leading Spain to its first-ever Women’s World Cup title.
The 25-year-old midfielder took home the Golden Ball award at this summer’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand. She also won the 2022-23 player of the year awards from UEFA and the Champions League, and she won the Liga F, Champions League and Supercopa titles with FC Barcelona.
Her Barcelona teammate, 19-year-old forward Salma Paralluelo, finished third in the Ballon d’Or voting. So it came as no surprise that the Spanish club, which had six of the 30 total nominees, won Women’s Team of the Year.
Australia striker Sam Kerr finished as runner-up to Bonmatí. Sophia Smith, the reigning NWSL MVP and one U.S. player among the nominees, ranked 25th overall.
Bonmati’s win makes three in a row for Spain. Alexia Putellas won the 2021 and 2022 awards but missed most of the 2022-23 season with an ACL tear.
USWNT forward Megan Rapinoe won in 2019, while her teammate Alex Morgan placed third. No other USWNT players have finished in the top three since the Ballon d’Or Féminin first was awarded in 2018.
A number of prominent women’s players were unable to attend Monday’s ceremony in Paris, which was held during the FIFA women’s international window. Georgia Stanway, one of four England players nominated for the Ballon d’Or, called out the scheduling.
“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t be there,” Stanway said. “We spoke about it as a group and said it would be nice in the future if the ceremony wasn’t on a matchday minus one day so we can all enjoy the experience. … If it was planned a little better, then it would be easier for a lot of female footballers to be there.”
Former Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales has been banned from all activities related to the sport for three years, FIFA announced Monday.
The ban comes after Rubiales’ nonconsensual kiss of star midfielder Jenni Hermoso at the 2023 World Cup final. He also threw another Spanish player over his shoulder and was seen grabbing his crotch during Spain’s 1-0 win over England, and his behavior resulted in multiple investigations into his conduct.
While Rubiales initially refused calls to resign, he stepped down on Sept. 10, though he remained defiant in the face of the backlash against him. His decision to resign came after he received a provisional suspension from FIFA, the Spanish government attempted to have him removed and Hermoso filed a criminal complaint against him.
“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has banned Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Association (RFEF), from all football-related activities at national and international levels for three years, having found that he acted in breach of article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code,” FIFA said in a statement Monday. “This case relates to the events that occurred during the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup on 20 August 2023, for which Mr Rubiales had been provisionally suspended for an initial period of 90 days.
“Mr Rubiales has been notified of the terms of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee’s decision today. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, he has ten days in which to request a motivated decision, which, if requested, would subsequently be published on legal.fifa.com. The decision remains subject to a possible appeal before the FIFA Appeal Committee.
“FIFA reiterates its absolute commitment to respecting and protecting the integrity of all people and ensuring that the basic rules of decent conduct are upheld.”
While Rubiales has maintained his innocence, saying the kiss was consensual, Spanish prosecutors have charged him with sexual assault and coercion. They also say Rubiales attempted to put pressure on both Hermoso and her family to say that the kiss was consensual.
Hermoso has maintained that the kiss was not consensual, saying she felt “disrespected” and was left unprotected “as an employee of the federation.”
The 33-year-old midfielder returned to the national team last week for the first time since the World Cup final, scoring the game-winning goal in Spain’s 1-0 Nations League victory over Italy.
Christine Sinclair is retiring from the Canada women’s national team.
With 190 goals in 327 games for Canada, the 40-year-old forward steps away as the all-time leading international scorer. She won an Olympic gold medal in 2021, and she played in her sixth World Cup tournament in 2023.
“Honestly, you can’t play forever,” Sinclair told Reuters. “And this seems like a good time to be done.”
Yet while she is hanging up her boots on the international stage, as she teased in an Instagram post Thursday night before officially announcing her retirement Friday, she plans to play another season for the NWSL’s Portland Thorns.
The Thorns captain is leading her team into the 2023 playoffs. As the No. 2 seed, Portland has a bye into the semifinal round on Nov. 5, where the defending champions will face either the North Carolina Courage or Gotham FC.
Sinclair also will make a few more appearances for Canada as a send-off tour during an upcoming international window, from Nov. 27 to Dec. 5.
“The way the schedule is lining up, it’ll be a nice way to end it,” Sinclair said.
Hours after Nike quietly put Mary Earps’ England goalkeeper kit on sale, the jersey had sold out.
The release came as a surprise to Earps, who said in an Instagram story Monday that she was unaware the jerseys would be going on sale. Still, the 30-year-old goalkeeper thanked everyone for their “incredible support,” noting the jerseys already had sold out.
While Nike would not comment on the number of jerseys sold Monday, the shirts did not appear for sale on its website or through the England Football Association as of Monday night, Reuters reported. In a statement to Reuters, Nike said that “more will be for sale later this season.”
Earps starred for England at the 2023 World Cup, winning the Golden Glove award for the tournament’s top goalkeeper. Last month, she was voted the England Women’s Player of the Year.
Yet her jersey was not available for purchase during the World Cup, which prompted backlash against Nike from fans and from Earps. The Lionesses made their first appearance in a World Cup final this summer, losing to Spain. During their tournament run, more than 170,000 people signed a petition calling on Nike to sell Earps’ and other goalkeepers’ jerseys.
On Aug. 24, Nike announced that it would make women’s goalkeeper kits for the USWNT, England, France and the Netherlands available for sale. Nike did not comment on why Earps’ jersey was released in October, per Reuters.
The “Welcome to Wrexham” docuseries became a global sensation in its first season, highlighting a men’s soccer team owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney that found its way back to EFL League Two after 15 years.
And now the sixth episode of the series’ second season is shining the light on the Wrexham FC women’s team, an amateur team that features stories previously untold. If you ask McElhenney, there’s a reason they decided to feature the women’s team in the new season.
“It’s not just an ethical responsibility, but also a huge business opportunity,” he said.
Women’s soccer has been experiencing an uptick in popularity – particularly in the United Kingdom, as England won the Euros for the first time in 2022 and made it all the way to the World Cup final in 2023.
Upon taking over the club, Reynolds and McElhenney invested in Wrexham’s women’s side to the tune of $60,000. The team won a Tier One license and was promoted to Adran Premier, a semi-professional league that tops women’s soccer in Wales.
While players previously had to buy uniforms and equipment themselves, they no longer have to do so under the new ownership group.
“In terms of change of ownership and what that’s brought, that’s basically given us a platform to be able to increase what we’ve wanted to do, it’s allowed us to reach the ambitions that we set for ourselves,” Gemma Owen, Wrexham’s head of women’s football, told the LA Times.
“Barriers have been commonplace in women’s sport, and particularly women’s football, in the U.K. for many years. We want to get rid of as many of those barriers as possible.”
The women’s club will continue to be covered on the docuseries as it looks to win a playoff and earn promotion. And while some of the team’s players still need to take on second jobs, there is more of a focus on soccer than there was before.
“We’ve had to work harder to kind of get where we are. But I think that adds to the togetherness and the family that we have at Wrexham,” Lili Jones said. “We’ve all got different skills and different things that we’ve learned from having to work. It’s just a part of the women’s game.
“Eventually that will die out and I’m so excited for future generations to get the chance to be professional footballers. That foundation is set now for the future of Wrexham Football Club to be part of something very special.”
Almost all of the players called up to the Spanish women’s national team for its September training camp agreed Wednesday to end their strike after reaching an agreement with their national federation.
More than seven hours of meetings between the players and the Spanish football federation (RFEF) ended with the RFEF saying it would make “immediate and profound” structural changes. Those meetings ended around 5 a.m. local time in Spain.
Of the 23 players selected for the September roster, 21 of them had signed a statement last week demanding action from the federation before they would return to the team. But they still received national team call-ups, and if they refused, they could have faced fines of up to €30,000 and a ban of their federation license for up to 15 years, among other possible sanctions, though officials later said they would not have imposed any sanctions.
While most of the players agreed to play for the national team in the upcoming Nations League matches after the meetings with RFEF, two — Mapi León and Patri Guijarro — decided to leave training camp. Both players were part of “Las 15,” the group of players who refused to play for the national team starting last October and missed the 2023 World Cup.
“They are working on changes. It’s a different situation for us,” Guijarro said. “It’s tough, it’s difficult. Being here, after the way everything has happened, mentally we were not ready to stay. That’s the explanation.”
While the dispute between the players and their federation stretches back to before the World Cup, Spain’s World Cup win on Aug. 20 deepened the divide. Luis Rubiales resigned as RFEF president as a result of the backlash against his forced kiss of star player Jenni Hermoso at the World Cup final, and controversial head coach Jorge Vilda has been fired. Yet those changes “are not enough for the players to feel safe, where women are respected, where there is support for women’s football and where we can maximize our potential,” players said in a statement Friday.
Victor Francos, president of Spain’s national sports council, helped mediate the meetings.
“A joint commission will be created between RFEF, CSD and players to follow up on the agreements, which will be signed tomorrow,” Francos told reporters. “The players have expressed their concern about the need for profound changes in the RFEF, which has committed to making these changes immediately.”
Amanda Gutierrez, president of global players union FUTPRO, said that the meetings are a start of a “long road” for the players and the federation.
“The players see it as a rapprochement of positions. It is the beginning of a long road ahead of us,” Gutierrez told reporters. “Once again, they have shown themselves to be coherent and the vast majority have decided to stay for the sake of this agreement.”
One of the first measures taken is to remove “female” from the women’s national team’s official brand. From this point forward, both the men’s and women’s teams will be known as the “Spanish national football team.”
“Beyond it being a symbolic step, we want it to be a change of concept, and the recognition that football is football, no matter who plays it,” RFEF president Pedro Rocha said.
Spain is set to make its debut in the Nations League against Sweden on Friday, with another match set for Sept. 26 against Switzerland.
Despite Spain players’ plans to strike, selected players have arrived at their national team camp following threats of a fine or a domestic league ban. But what does it all mean? And how did we get here?
Just Women’s Sports is breaking down the major storylines as Spain players continue to be at odds with their federation.
What has happened so far?
- Spain players reported for national team duty Tuesday despite saying Friday that they would not return to the national team until further changes were made. Nothing about that stance had changed from Friday to Monday, when Spain announced its squad for upcoming UEFA Nations League games against Sweden and Switzerland.
- Of the 23 players selected to the roster, 15 were present at the 2023 World Cup and 21 signed the statement last week demanding action from the Spanish football federation (RFEF). The team has been embroiled in controversy since its World Cup title win on Aug. 20.
- If the players refused their call-ups, they could have faced fines of up to €30,000 and a ban of their federation license for up to 15 years, among other possible sanctions. While they tried to get out of the training camp, saying the RFEF did not inform them in a timely manner per FIFA rules, they did show up Tuesday.
What have players said?
- Asked by reporters Tuesday if the players were in agreement with head coach Montse Tomé’s squad list, goalkeeper Misa Rodríguez simply said: “No.”
- Jenni Hermoso was not called up to the squad, a decision she saw as a manipulative move by the RFEF and a sign that “nothing has changed,” she said in a statement. Hermoso received a nonconsensual kiss from former RFEF president Luis Rubiales at the 2023 World Cup final, which spurred a tidal wave of backlash from Spain’s players and the global soccer community. Rubiales has since resigned.
- Mapi Léon refused a World Cup call-up as one of the original 15 players to protest the federation starting last October, but she was called up Monday. She said Tuesday: “We would have to talk at length about whether the place is safe or not safe when they are forcing us. I believe that my position has been very clear, at no time have I changed my mind.”
What comes next?
- Victor Francos, the president of the supreme council for sports in Spain, confirmed the possible sanctions for players if they did not participate in the camp and ensuing friendlies. The sports council is expected to act as a mediator between players and the federation. “If the players don’t show up, the government will do what it has to do, which is to apply the law,” Francos said. “Unfortunately, the law is the law, but I still hope that there can be a solution. I am going to talk with the players. I am going to try.”
Longtime Ireland defender Diane Caldwell says that the team made their first World Cup “in spite” of former coach Vera Pauw.
The team parted ways with Pauw following the World Cup. Controversy had marred her final months with the team, which included butting heads with team captain Katie McCabe during the team’s World Cup run. Before joining Ireland, Pauw led the NWSL’s Houston Dash. A July report from The Athletic detailed Pauw’s behavior with the club, which players called “abusive” and “belittling,” though Pauw strongly denied the allegations.
Under Pauw, the team made its first appearance at the World Cup. But Caldwell said Tuesday that it wasn’t because of Pauw that the team made it. Instead, she says they weren’t put in a place to succeed by the coach.
“From my position, as a pretty experienced player, I don’t think it was up to the standard expected at international level,” Caldwell said. “I think the results and performances that we got were in spite of Vera being our coach.”
Instead, she says that a group of players who were “destined for success” happened to come together at the right time. She says players voiced their concerns about certain conditions following the 2022 European qualifying campaign, which was unsuccessful. Instead, Pauw was offered a contract extension.
“After the European campaign [in 2021], myself and Katie [McCabe] also reflected with Ruud Dokter [then the FAI’s high performance director] about certain aspects that needed to be improved and changed, but ultimately that fell on deaf ears and she got a contract extension,” she said.
“I think preparation for games could have been better, physical preparation, opponent analysis, match tactics, in-game match tactics, changes, systems of play,” she continued, noting that players had asked Pauw to “professionalizing” elements of the team’s preparations but that it “was hard to get change.”
Eileen Gleeson was tasked with leading the team in the interim as FAI looks for a new coach. Caldwell said Tuesday that the change has been welcomed, as well as additional investment from their FA.
“I’m very happy there is change and it gives us all a new lease of life,” Caldwell said. “Straight away, the level of professionalism. There are three new roles that have been introduced that we haven’t had before. That is a massive sign of intent from the association that we want to raise the level.
“It is a new beginning, and with the changes the FAI has made with the new roles, it just shows intent and standards are going to be raised. They have listened to the stakeholders in this team and realized that these girls are good but we can be getting even more out of them. They can be performing at a higher level and be achieving more success than what they have been.”