The WSL summer transfer window is heating up, with a number of big names on the move. 

One of the biggest stars on the market is Dutch international Vivianne Miedema. The storied striker's contract with Arsenal — her team of seven years — expired on Sunday, with the Gunners choosing back in May not to offer the WSL’s leading scorer a new deal. 

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At the time, former England star Ellen White called the decision "shocking that [Arsenal] haven't shown her the love to want to keep her at the club… she's still got records to break. It's just outrageous."

Manchester City is reportedly in the market to land Miedema, who doesn’t appear to be leaving the WSL despite prior interest from outside of the UK.

Meanwhile, 2023 World Cup Golden Glove winner Mary Earps officially left Manchester United for a two-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain, the club announced on Monday.

And in other speculative news, five-time Champions League winner Lucy Bronze is reportedly set to sign with WSL side Chelsea, departing Barcelona after two seasons with the decorated Spanish team. The potential move follows ex-Barcelona coach Jonatan Giraldez's departure for the NWSL’s Washington Spirit, while Chelsea brought on former Lyon boss Sonia Bompastor following Emma Hayes’s departure. 

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.

Aitana Bonmatí took home the Golden Ball award Sunday after Spain won their first-ever Women’s World Cup title.

Together, the individual and team trophies are the biggest she has won in her career. But she also believes La Roja deserved the championship.

“We deserve it. We deserve it,” the 25-year-old midfielder said after the match. “Everyone knew the goal at the beginning of the preparation of the tournament. Everyone is competitive. Everyone has a strong mentality to win. We have been working a lot of years for this moment and we have it. We have the trophy.”

Spain put on a clinic both offensively and defensively in an all-around performance to claim the 1-0 win against England. Former U.S. women’s national team star Carli Lloyd called it the “most complete, beautiful team performance I have ever seen in a World Cup final” — and that would include the USWNT’s victories in 2015 and 2019.

England goalkeeper Mary Earps took home the tournament’s Golden Glove for the best goalkeeper. Lloyd noted that both Earps and Bonmatí being recognized was “well deserved.”

Spain’s Salma Paralluelo was named Young Player of the Tournament after scoring in the quarterfinal and again in the semifinal. Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa took home the Golden Boot for the most goals scored in the tournament with five.

Just Women’s Sports is here with your daily World Cup Digest, breaking down all of the biggest storylines from each day of action in Australia and New Zealand.

Today’s top World Cup news: Close games highlight group play

With the Women’s World Cup field expanding from 24 teams to 32 ahead of this year’s tournament, some people questioned whether the inclusion of less experienced teams would result in huge, lopsided wins (à la the USWNT defeating Thailand 13-0 in 2019).

But after three days of competition in Australia and New Zealand, that concern hasn’t panned out. Five of the eight nations making their World Cup debut this year have played so far (Ireland, Zambia, Haiti, Vietnam and the Philippines), with only one of those games coming close to “blowout” status: Japan’s 5-0 win over Zambia on Saturday.

Ireland managed a 1-0 loss to host nation Australia, the Philippines lost 2-0 to Switzerland, Vietnam conceded just three goals to the top-ranked USWNT, and No. 53 Haiti held No. 4 England to a 1-0 result.

Ahead of the U.S.-Vietnam matchup, American captain Lindsey Horan was asked if the USWNT was going to “crush” Vietnam, like her team’s 13-0 result vs. Thailand four years ago.

“There are not easy games that before you were just like, oh, this is going to be 6-0, 7-0 or whatever,” Horan said. “It’s not how it is anymore.”

Haiti’s World Cup debut against England, the 2022 Euros champions, was an especially close game. England’s only goal came in the 29th minute after a VAR review showed the ball grazed the fingertips of Haiti’s Batcheba Louis inside the box. Georgia Stanway took the penalty and Haitian goalkeeper Kerly Théus initially pulled off a dramatic save — but was called for encroachment as she left the line before Stanway made contact with the ball. The penalty was re-awarded, and this time, Stanway found the back of the net.

While England controlled 75% of the possession throughout the match, Theus made one save after another to keep her team in the game. Haiti nearly found the equalizer in the 81st minute, with Haitian forward Roseline Eloissant forcing English goalkeeper Mary Earps to make a sprawling save.

Haitian midfielder Melchie Dumornay, 19, was especially impressive in her World Cup debut. The rising star is set to join club team Lyon after the World Cup concludes.

Today’s World Cup results

  • United States 3, Vietnam 0
  • Japan 5, Zambia 0
  • England 1, Haiti 0
  • Denmark 1, China 0

More World Cup news

  • ICYMI: The USWNT, the two-time defending World Cup champs, opened its title defense with a 3-0 win over Vietnam. Sophia Smith notched a historic brace in her World Cup debut.
  • Denmark — competing in its first Women’s World Cup in 16 years — defeated China 1-0 to join England at the top of Group D. Danish substitute Amalie Vangsgaard notched the game-winner in the 89th minute, her bouncing header sneaking past Chinese keeper Xu Huan.
  • Japan defeated Zambia 5-0, with a brace from Hinata Miyazawa. Zambian star Barbra Banda found herself marked by three Japanese defenders for much of the game, a tactic that paid off.

As the U.S. women’s national team prepares for the 2023 World Cup, Just Women’s Sports is taking a look at its opponents — including its three group-stage adversaries and its likely matchups in the knockout rounds.

Next up is a recent foe and potential opponent in the 2023 World Cup final: England.

Manager: Sarina Wiegman

Fans of women’s soccer know the name Sarina Wiegman. The 53-year-old joined the club from the Netherlands, where she had been head coach from 2016-21 after a long international career as a player. Since taking over as manager in September 2021, Wiegman has led the club to its first-ever Euros title — a year after also winning it with the Netherlands — and to victory over Brazil in the first-ever women’s Finalissima. The 2022 Best FIFA Women’s Coach’s first loss as England coach came just this year, a 2-0 defeat in a friendly against Australia.

Key player: Mary Earps

England has a multitude of offensive and defensive weapons, but perhaps no player is more important than goalkeeper Mary Earps. The 30-year-old Manchester United keeper is the glue that holds the Lionesses together as they look to win their first-ever World Cup. Earps is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, becoming the first to reach 50 clean sheets in the WSL in May, and England will rely on her all tournament.

World Cup history

England has advanced to the knockout stage of every World Cup they’ve played in, including three quarterfinals appearances in 1995, 2007 and 2007 and a third-place finish in 2015. The Lionesses followed that up with a fourth-place finish in 2019 after the USWNT knocked them out of the semifinals, 2-1. England then lost to Sweden 2-1 in the third-place match.

Group stage schedule

England will play in Group D alongside Denmark, China and Haiti. Take a look at the schedule below, or check out the full World Cup schedule.

  • Saturday, July 22 – 5:30 a.m. (FOX)
    • England vs. Haiti
  • Friday, July 28 – 4:30 a.m. (FS1)
    • England vs. Denmark
  • Tuesday, Aug. 1 – 7 a.m. (FOX)
    • England vs. China

Keys to beat the USWNT

This England squad looks vastly different from the one that won Euros a year ago and beat the USWNT 2-1 in a friendly at Wembley last October. Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Fran Kirby are all out with injuries sustained in the last year, with Williamson perhaps the team’s biggest loss.

Despite the injuries, England is considered one of the favorites to win the World Cup title. And based on the bracket, if the USWNT is to meet England in the tournament, it will be in the final.

This is a team full of stars who have come into their own since winning the Euros title last year. Ella Toone and Georgia Stanway are dangerous midfielders, while Rachel Daly, Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo and Chloe Kelly provide England with a well-balanced attack up front. The team is anchored by Lucy Bronze, Millie Bright and Lotte Wubben-Moy on the backline and in front of Earps.

England has struggled to find its footing of late, taking a 2-0 loss to Australia and 0-0 draw with Portugal into the World Cup as their latest results. To beat the USWNT once again, they’ll look to follow a similar playbook as their win in October: strike early and attack often. They’ll also need to contain Sophia Smith, who had the USWNT’s lone goal in that game. The speed of the USWNT’s other attackers — Trinity Rodman, Lynn Williams and Alex Morgan — could also pose problems for England.

But if England can get rolling early, they’ll put the USWNT into a vulnerable position they don’t often find themselves in, needing to respond rather than attack.