Promotion and relegation, does the new Nations League format work for women’s football? (updated)

As we have now reached the end of the Euro 2025 qualifiers, we now know who has qualified directly for the tournament and who will go to the play-offs for a second chance. But something that is quite overlooked is promotion/relegation from Leagues. We now have had two seasons to see if things have been interesting and teams actually progress from C to B to A for example, or they are yo-yoing between Leagues.

Note there were different format for the two seasons with straight relegation + promotion relegation play-offs last season and only straight relegation this season. So let’s have a look at what happened.

Season 2023

Relegated from League A: Portugal, Scotland, Switzerland, Wales

Promoted from League B: Czechia, Finland, Poland, Republic of Ireland

Confirmed in League A/B play-offs: Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Serbia, Sweden

Relegated from League B: Albania, Belarus, Greece, Romania, Slovenia

Promoted from League C: Azerbaijan, Israel, Kosovo, Malta, Türkiye

League B/C play-offs: Bulgaria, Latvia, Montenegro, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Ukraine

The promotion relegation play-offs saw all League A teams save their bacon against League B teams and all League B teams save their place against League C teams.

Season 2024

Relegated from League A: Czechia, Finland, Poland, Republic of Ireland

Promoted from League B: Portugal, Scotland, Switzerland, Wales

Relegated from League B: Azerbaijan, Israel, Kosovo, Malta, Slovakia

Promoted from League C: Albania, Belarus, Greece, Romania, Slovenia

Basically all the teams relegated from League A in the Nations League first season have gone up at the first time of asking, while all the teams promoted from League B have gone down straightaway.

Four out of five teams promoted from League C last season have been relegated with Türkiye the only survivor as Slovakia crashes down being ranked the worse 3rd placed team in League B. They were involved the promotion/relegation play-off in the first Nations League season.

There is no doubt that games are more competitive and more interesting that some 5 to 10-0 scoreline we saw in the past, but clearly staying up does not seem easy at all for promoted teams.

Season 2025

Relegated from League A: Portugal, Scotland, Switzerland, Wales

Promoted from League B: Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine

Relegated from League B: Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina*, Croatia, Greece, Hungary*, Romania

*Two worst League B third-place finishers

Promoted from League C: Israel, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Slovakia

Confirmed in League A/B play-offs: Austria*, Belgium*, Czechia**, Denmark*, Finland**, Iceland*, Northern Ireland**, Republic of Ireland**

*League A third-placed, **League B runners-up

Confirmed in League B/C play-offs: Albania*, Cyprus**, Kosovo**, Türkiye*

*Two best League B third-place finishers, **Two best League C runners-up (not counting results vs fourth-placed teams)

So in season 3 of the Nations League the four promoted teams from League B ended up being relegated back to League B. From the relegated from League A, only Poland went straight back up with Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine going to League A for the first time.

Israel and Malta who were relegated to League C have climbed back straightaway to League B

And we have it, for the first time since the Women Nations League has been implemented by UEFA a League B team has beaten a League A team. Ireland defeated Belgium 5-4 on aggreagte scoring the winner in the 90th in the second leg. Congratulations to Carla ward and her squad. Iceland, Denmark and Austria stayed in League A, while Albania and Turkye stayed in League B.

The WWC 2027 qualifiers will start next year and teams in League A can qualify directly instead of going through a 2 rounds play-off road.

Qualifying draw: 4 November 2025
Qualifying matchdays 1 & 2: 26 February-7 March 2026
Qualifying matchdays 3 & 4: 9-18 April 2026
Qualifying matchdays 5 & 6: 3-9 June 2026
Play-off round 1 and round 2 draw: 24 June 2026
Play-off round 1 (2 legs): 7-13 October 2026
Play-off round 2 (2 legs): 26 November-5 December 2026
Inter-confederation play-offs: February 2027
Finals: 24 June-25 July 2027 (Brazil)

FIFA Women World Cup 2027 tv rights

The tv rights for the upcoming Women World Cup that will take place in Brazil in the Summer 2027 are starting to get awarded and it is interesting to see new entrants getting in the business of the women football rights:

Back in December 2024, FIFA agreed with Netflix to broadcast the tournament in the USA for 2027 and 2031.

Then in June 2025, Telekom Deutschland won the right for Germany with Magenta TV to broadcast the tournament.

In France, free to air tv M6 have won the right to broadcast the tournament, they could possibly re-sell some of the games to other tv channels.

In England, BBC and ITV will carry on working together on women’s tournament. All games will be on free to air tv.

The latest market to be awarded in Canada with Netflix getting the rights, they will broadcast in French and English.

FIFA have also launched the rights for the Indian sub-continent.

Back in 2023, FIFA struggled to sell the rights in Europe with tv channels not wanting to pay the price due to commercial revenues not expected to be great. It seems this time, things will be easier and more money is good news as it can be reinjected in the game and benefits clubs and players.

Arkema Premiere Ligue 2025/26 regulations

The FFF have published the APL regulations for the new season and here are important points:

The title winner: Champion de France Feminin Arkema Premiere Ligue will be the play-offs winner. Not the regular season winner.

The number of players named on the team sheet goes up from 18 to 20 in the Arkema Premier Ligue and to 18 in the Arkema Seconde Ligue.

The FFF has also removed the limit on the number of “foreign” players that could be named on the team sheet. It is now unlimited. Foreign = non EU/EEA or from a country that does not have a cooperation agreement with the EU. It used to be four which was a problem sometimes for some teams.

U15 and U16 players are not allowed to play in the APL and ASL. U17 players are allowed under restrictions.

Postponements: Any club that has two senior players called up on game day can ask for a postponement provided that they have played in the last two League games. This is valid for Senior and youth international call-ups for senior players only.

UWCL/UWEC qualification:

1st UEFA place qualifying for the UWCL League phase 2026/27: play-offs winner

2nd UEFA place qualifying for the UWCL League phase 2026/27 : best ranked team in the regular season (without the play-off winner)

3rd UEFA qualifying for the UWCL League path Qualifying Round 3 : second best ranked team in the regular season (without the play-off winner)

The FFF has introduced the homegrown regulations for the first time in the Arkema Premiere Ligue: the players are called JFL “joueuse formee localement. ” There are two types the JFL Club and JFL Nationale.

JFL club = UEFA club trained player (36 months trained at the club between 15 and 21) JFL nationale = UEFA association trained player (36 months trained at a club registered with the FFF between 15 and 21) Club can register 25 players in the A list and unlimited in the B list.

The FFF are going hard on the JFL concept increasing the number of those players every season. As a reminder UEFA demands 8 locally trained players out of 25 for the UWCL/UWEC with a minimum of 4 club trained players.

Season 2025/26 at least 6 JFL nationales players out of 25

Season 2026/27 at least 8 JFL nationales with a minimum of 3 JFL club

Season 2027/28 at least 10 JFL nationales with a minimum of 3 JFL club

Season 2028-29 at least 12 JFL nationales with a minimum of four JFL club. Basically 52% of the squads in the APL will have to be youth trained in France from that season on.

On this point, it is interesting to point that according to fbref for the 2024/25 season, there were 39 nationalities in the APL 236 French players and 112 foreign players that’s 67%.

But of course some of the foreign players are JFL as they are youth trained in France and a couple of French players might not be JFL.

The reality is certain teams are stacked up with foreign players while others are mainly build with JFL because it is financially cheaper to do that way.

The regulations do evolve as always but the FFF are really good and precise so that clubs know what to expect and there is no surprise.

France WNT qualify for the WWC qualifying Elite Round

The team lead by Pierre-Etienne Demillier and his asssitant Emilie Trimoreau managed to win their qualifying group despite being seeded in pot 4 in the draw. They are the only team outside pot 1 who qualified. Italy, Hungary, Finland, Sweden and Poland also qualified and joined Spain and Portugal who qualified directly for the Elite Round.

As the pot 4 team, France’s first game took place against top seed Ukraine, who were runner-up at the last Euros back in 2023. The French team prepared well and took advantage of Ukraine’s relative rustiness as they did not had a recent training camp for obvious reasons. Therefore France took the lead and their debutant goalkeeper Carre had a fantastic game. Combined with Ukraine lack of sharpness, it led to a huge upset and a 3-1 France win.

For the second group game, host Czechia were the opponent and the French players were under pressure having managed the impossible in their first game. They knew a win would send them through to the Elite Round.

The game was extremely tense and close, with both side defending very well. The game turned when the France captain Atamaniuk was sent off for a second yellow card in the 30th minute. Czechia scored straight into power play and scored another one a minute later.

2-0 down the French team did not look like they could come back. They went into power play and found a bit of creativity and mental strength to score via Pellegry and then an equalizer with Alberbide to come back to 2-2 and win a point.

It set up a final day with three teams still in it. France and Czechia were top with four points and Ukraine in third place with three points. France played Northern Ireland first and then Czechia played against Ukraine. France knew that should Czechia and them win their respective games, they would be tied on points and head to head record, so the tie breaker would be the overall goal difference. Therefore France looked to win by six goals at least.

Unfortunately, France found Northern Ireland a very resilient team that defended really well and it ended France 5 Northern Ireland 2. It meant Ukraine were out before they kicked-off their final game. It also meant Czechia needed a win by a goal to go through.

Ukraine with nothing to play for but pride and some coefficient points, showed why they were runner-ups in the previous Euros. They dominated Czechia with amazing attacking skills and technical ability. They were now so much sharper than against France, they scored two goals in the first ten minutes. Controlled the game and scored another two at the start of the second half.

Then as they were cruising they got two goalkeepers sent off in consecutive play, going down to three players on the pitch. Crazily enough Ukraine had three goalkeepers in their 12 players squad instead of the usual two, so they finished the game with their number one goalie, as she had been rested at some points in the game.

It finished Czechia 1 Ukraine 4 sending the French team through to the Elite Round. This is a fantastic achievement for a team that played their first international game a year ago only. Here is are the French players and staff congratulating themselves at the final whistle.

The draw for the Elite Round will take place on 31st Octobre and France will host one of the group alongside Italy.

Interview with Ouleymata Sarr at Spirit v Arsenal

During the summer pre-season I went to Washington to attend the Washington Spirit v Arsenal Women game and interviewed the French striker. The interview is in French.

Il y a deux mois je suis allé à Washington pour interviewer une des joueuses françaises expatriée en NWSL l’attaquante Ouleymata Sarr.

Son équipe des Washington Spirit a été battue deux buts à un par Arsenal lors d’un match amical qui a réuni 10 952 spectateurs.

Ouley a marqué le seul but de son équipe et aurait même pu en marquer un peu plus, car elle s’est créée de nombreuses occasions de but dans un match très ouvert entre une équipe Anglaise en début de présaison et une équipe américaine sans ses joueuses parties aux jeux olympiques, mis à part sa Colombienne Leicy Santos.

Ouleymata est arrivée à l’été 2023 et la première question que nous avons posée était de voir son bilan après une année entière passée sous ses nouvelles couleurs :

« On progresse bien, on travaille bien, Au début j’ai dû m’adapter, car c’est un autre style de jeu et ça se passe super bien maintenant.

Le Spirit a terminé la saison dernière en huitième position a un point des play-offs et est positionné à la trêve Olympique a la troisième place.

Son avis si le style de jeu en NWSL qui lui convient :

« Par rapport à mes caractéristiques ça me va bien, après on ne fait pas que ça, on arrive quand même à garder la balle. » en effet l’entraineur du Spirit est Jonatan Giraldez l’ancien entraineur du Barca, multiple vainqueur de la Champions League avec la qualité et le jeu incontournable de ce club. « Même s’il y a beaucoup plus de transitions qu’en France, on arrive à faire les deux ce qui est bien »

Le jeu de l’équipe a vraiment évolué en un an puisque Ouley avait été recrutée par Mark Parsons qui a ensuite été remercié en fin de saison par la propriétaire Michelle Kang. Celle-ci est aussi propriétaire de clubs Français, Anglais et Espagnols. Avec son nouvel entraineur Espagnol, le style de jeu a changé : « c’est sûr que la manière dont nous jouons maintenant est diffèrent de l’année dernière, et je préfère la manière dont nous jouons actuellement

Tout le monde connait notre coach, c’est un très bon coach, il va faire progresser toutes les joueuses. . »

On a bien vu que le Spirit essaye de construire le jeu, tout en utilisant la vitesse de ses attaquantes de pointe Rodman, Sarr et Kouassi. La balle passe par sa milieu de terrain Sullivan qui fait le tempo de son équipé et dirige le jeu en position basse comme le fait Walsh au Barca.

Au niveau des statistiques la saison 2014 se passe très bien avec sept buts et deux passes décisives en seize matchs et une quatrième place au classement des buteuses et une sixième aux combines but et passes.

« Oui, j’ai de bonnes stastiques, après je peux faire encore mieux et je travaille pour ça et corriger les petits détails qui sont à corriger »

Son avis sur l’équipé de France qui a encore chute en quart de finale d’un tournoi international.

« Je suis déçue pour l’équipé de France. J’ai des amies a moi qui font partie du groupe. On sait qu’il faut continuer à travailler et ça finira par changer au bout d’un moment. Il faut continuer à y croire et travailler. »

A propos d’un retour potentiel en sélection avec le changement de sélectionneur de Herve Renard à Laurent Bonadei. Elle avait été sélectionnée 28 fois par Corine Diacre pour sept titularisations et neuf buts. Mais a complètement disparu du paysage a l’arrivée d’Herve Renard, comme Torrent, Bilbault ou Palis.

« Je suis là pour faire mon travail en club marquer des buts, après l’équipé de France, c’est bien sûr dans un coin de ma tête mais si je suis performante je vais pousser pour essayer de retourner en équipe de France, après ce sera au sélectionneur de faire ses choix. »

La comparaison entre le NWSL et l’Arkema Première Ligue

« Ici c’est un championnat très évolué, très avance, les stades sont quasiment tout le temps partout ou on joue, la Ligue fait beaucoup de choses pour les équipes, c’est vraiment très professionnel. Par rapport à la France il y a un écart très important.

Ouleymata Sarr est l’un des nombreuses joueuses Françaises qui a décidé de tenter l’aventure aux USA. Jusqu’à récemment, elles étaient cinq Ouleymata Sarr et Anaig Butel au Washington Spirit, Amandine Henry aux Utah Royals, Clarisse Le Bihan a Angle City qui est revenue en Europe a Lazio de Rome et Claire Lavogez à Kansas City Current qui est rentrée en Europe a la real Sociedad.

Le Washington Spirit pourrait être un candidat sérieux au titre de champion de NWSL qui se dispute via les play-offs entre les huit meilleures équipes et on espère voir briller notre attaquante lors de la deuxième partie de saison.

Julie Thibaud interview from last season

Here is an interview from last season post game from Arsenal v Leicester with the Leicester defender. It is in French.

Après la victoire d’Arsenal contre Leicester a l’Emirates Stadium nous avons discuté avec Julie Thibaud et de son adaptation au championnat Anglais.

Arsenal s’est imposé trois buts à zéro avec un double de Mead et un but de Russo. Deux des trois buts étant marques dans le dernier quart-d ’heure du match. Leicester a eu plusieurs occasions de buts, mais Zinsberger dans les buts d’Arsenal a fait des arrêts déterminants.

« C’était un match un peu complique pour nous, je pense qu’on a bien tenu la première mi-temps ,on a su garder un peu le ballon sur certaines phases de jeu. On repart a 1-0 à la mi-temps et tout est encore possible. Malheureusement on craque dans le dernier quart d’heure mais je pense qu’on a essaye de montrer un beau visage. En deuxième mi-temps, c’était un peu plus complique car on gardait moins le ballon.

Julie fait partie des nombreuses Françaises qui sont partie jouer de l’autre cote de la manche puisqu’on a compte sept joueuses cette saison : Vivianne Asseyi et Hawa Cissoko ( West Ham), Kenza Dali (Aston Villa), Melvine Malard (Manchester United), Eve Périsset (Chelsea), Sarah Bouhaddi (Arsenal) et donc Julie Thibaud (Leicester). On notera que trois joueuses Françaises ont remporte la Barclays WSL depuis sa création en 2011. Daphné Corboz avec Manchester City, Pauline Peyraud-Magnin avec Arsenal et Eve Périsset avec Chelsea.

Julie fait une bonne saison à Leicester, titulaire 14 fois sur 17 en Championnat. 19 titularisations toutes compétitions confondues avec 4 entrées en jeu.

ʺAu début, ce n’était pas vraiment facile, il fallait s’adapter à l’Angleterre, c’est un championnat bien diffèrent de la D1 Arkema. Je suis venue ici pour jouer contre les meilleures équipes, aujourd’hui on joue contre Arsenal devant plus de 40 000 personnes. C’est l’une des raisons pour laquelle j’ai décidé de venir en Angleterre. Je suis très contente sur ce point-là. ʺ

ʺLa saison pour le club n’est pas aussi bonne qu’elle aurait pu-être.ʺ En effet, à trois journées de la fin du championnat Leicester est à la dixième place avec onze points d’avance sur le relégable Bristol. Le club a été secoue par l’affaire de l’entraineur Willie Kirk qui a été renvoyé pour avoir eu une liaison avec une des joueuses du club, ce qui a amené de l’instabilité. « On a perdu des points en route qu’on aurait pas dû, mais j’espère que l’année prochaine sera encore mieux »

Au niveau du nombre de spectateurs, le championnat d’Angleterre s’est développé de manière spectaculaire depuis la victoire de l’Angleterre à l’Euro 2022. Par exemple cette saison, il y a eu neuf matchs a plus de 30 000 spectateurs. Arsenal avec ses six matchs à l’Emirates Stadium a totalise 312 016 spectateurs. Les deux derbys de Manchester joués à l’Etihad et à Old Trafford on fait respectivement 40 086 et 43 615 et Chelsea à Stamford Bridge a atteint les 32 970 spectateurs. On en est très loin pour la D1 Arkema avec ses meilleures a 21 764, 15 899 et tous le reste a moins de 5000 spectateurs.

ʺles anglais ont vraiment cette passion au niveau du footballʺ moi-même j’ai pu constater au cours de ces dernières années il y a une vrai culture club avec les fans qui supportent toutes les équipes masculines, féminines et jeunes. ʺmême ceux qui viennent d’un tout petit village, ils vont aller au match, ils vont aller au stade. Le fait que l’équipe nationale ait également gagne des titres, ça aide et les gens

veulent voir du football féminin. C’est la grosse différence avec la France. Je suis très contente de pouvoir jouer dans des grands stades. Nous jouons tous nos matcha à domicile au King Power Stadium, le stade de Premier League. C’est un plaisir pour moi de jouer devant tous ces fans. J’espère que ça va continuer et que ça va montrer l’exemple à la France. ʺ

Les joueuses Françaises que je croise en zone mixte tout au long de la saison sont très contentes de jouer en Angleterre et prennent du plaisir. Il est très clair que la LPFF devrait prendre exemple sur certains points pour développer sa ligue professionnelle.

u-23 European friendly League season 2

National associations have decided to carry on organising their own friendly u-23 League as a way to pressure UEFA to introduce an official tournament for that age group in the future. It does make sense as the gap between u-19/u-20 international football is too big nowadays and players need another step before moving to senior football

Now in the second season, there has been a tweak as the 10 teams tournament is split into two groups of 5 teams. Group A is Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Germany. Group B is England, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden.

Those games are played in the same international windows as the senior teams. There will be a knock-out stage with the semi-final, final and placement games in the Spring 2025.

Here are the first block of games for October 2024.

Group A 24 Oct 24

Germany v France and Spain v Italy

28 Oct 24

France v Belgium and Italy v Germany

Group B 24 Oct 24

Netherlands v England and Portugal v Norway

28 Oct 24

England v Portugal and Sweden v Netherlands

Petit bilan des JO de Paris 2024 pour l’Equipe de France

Herve Renard quitte son poste d’entraineur de l’Equipe de France féminine avec un bilan très proche de ses prédécesseurs. Deux éliminations en quart de finale des Jeux Olympique et de la coupe du monde et une qualification en finale de la Ligue des Nations.

On peut rappeler le bilan des sélectionneurs précédents depuis 2009 :

Bruno Bini 4eme place à la Coupe du monde 2011 et aux JO 2012, quart de finale à l’Euro 2009 et 2013

Phillipe Bergeroo quart de finale a la Coupe du monde 2015 et aux JO 2016

Olivier Echouafni quart de finale à l’Euro 2017

Corinne Diacre demi-finale à l’Euro 2021,  quart de finale a la Coupe du monde 2019.

Peut-on donc parler d’un échec du sélectionneur ? Si l’on regarde les résultats purs, il n’a pas réussi à passer le cap des quarts de finale d’un tournoi à l’exception de la Ligue des Nations puisque l’on se qualifie directement pour les demi-finales.

Si l’on regarde le jeu propose par l’équipe de France, on n’a pas beaucoup avancé. On peut quand même signaler une progression sur le plan de la préparation physique, de l’utilisation de la data. Le sélectionneur a fait passer un palier a son équipe sur ce plan-là c’est certain.

Mais on a constaté une stagnation sur le plan du jeu avec une période de plusieurs mois ou 70% des buts marqués par l’équipe de France venaient des coups de pieds arrêtés. On peut dire que le jeu Français a évolué selon le profil des joueuses sélectionnées par Herve Renard

Sur le tournoi Olympique lui-même, le bilan parle de lui- même : quatre match deux victoires et deux défaites. Une victoire au forceps contre la Colombie avec une équipe de France aux deux visages, une défaite sur le fil contre le Canada. Une victoire logique contre la Nouvelle-Zélande et une défaite en quart de finale contre le Brésil ou la France a retrouvé ses vieux démons.

On a vu du très bon par séquence, par exemple au niveau offensif contre la Colombie, il y a avait de la vitesse du mouvement autour du porteur de balle. Mais ça n’a pas duré, on peut dire que sur huit mi-temps, on n’a vu au total que quatre bonnes mi-temps.

On a également vu une équipe timorée par moment, qui manquait de leadership sur le terrain. On a aussi vu par moment une équipe incapable de garder un bloc équipe compact.   Et quand on est arrivé aux match couperets, l’incapacité à marquer est revenue comme un boomerang

Les joueuses classées par temps de jeu croissant

Solène Durand (réserviste) 0 minute. La troisième gardienne n’a pas eu de temps de jeu pendant le tournoi.

Léa Le Garrec (réserviste) 0 minute. La milieu de terrain n’a pas eu la chance d’être placée sur la feuille de match.

Estelle Cascarino 0 minute. La 7eme défenseure du l’EDF n’a pas foule les pelouses. On peut de demander pourquoi Herve Renard l’a sélectionné dans les 18 aux dépens de Vicki Becho qui aurait pu amener une présence offensive supplémentaire.  

Vicki Becho (réserviste) 0 minute.  Elle aurait été utile pour amener de la fraicheur offensive pendant ce tournoi, en particulier en fin de match contre le Brésil. Mais son statut de réserviste ne lui a pas permis de s’exprimer.

Eve Perisset (réserviste) 7 minutes. Le choix d’Herve Renard de lui préférer deux arrières polyvalentes  Lakrar et De Almeida depuis son arrivée à la tète de l’équipe de France est certainement l’un des plus étonnant.

Eugenie Le Sommer 13 minutes. Arrivée courte physiquement en raison de sa blessure en court de saison contre la Suède, elle n’a pas pu apporter grand-chose avec trois entrées en jeu.

Amandine Henry 99 minutes. Entrée en jeu deux fois et titulaire contre la Nouvelle-Zélande ou elle a fait un bon match.

Constance Picaud 117 minutes. Elle a commencé le tournoi comme deuxième gardienne et l’a fini comme titulaire contre le Brésil. Elle a aussi pris part au match contre le Canada après la blessure de Pauline Peyraud-Magnin.

Sandy Baltimore 178 minutes. A gagne sa place de titulaire au long du tournoi, entre contre la Colombie puis titulaire contre la Nouvelle-Zélande ou elle a excellé et le Brésil ou elle parut plutôt éteinte.

Maelle Lakrar 198 minutes. Deux titularisations et une entrée en jeu. Sa polyvalence lui a permis de trouver du temps de jeu dans le tournoi.

Kenza Dali 208 minutes. Titulaire en début de tournoi, elle l’a fini sur le banc comme remplaçante contre la Nouvelle-Zélande et le Brésil 1 but marque, le seul d’ailleurs par une joueuse autre que Katoto.

Kadidiatou Diani 219 minutes, comme Kenza Dali titulaire lors des deux premiers matchs ou elle n’a pas convaincu, elle a fini remplaçante lors des deux derniers matchs.

Pauline Peyraud-Magnin 243 minutes, titulaire lors des trois premiers matchs, blessée lors du match contre le Canada, elle a cédé son poste lors du match contre le Brésil à cause de performances moyennes.

Wendie Renard 252 minutes titulaire trois matchs sur quatre, sortie sur blessure contre le Canada ce qui lui a fait manquer le match contre la Nouvelle-Zélande, elle a assumé son rôle de leader de l’équipe

Elisa De Almeida 269 minutes absente sur blessure lors du premier match contre la Colombie, elle a été titularisée lors des trois matchs suivants. Malheureuse sur le but brésilien qui élimine la France

Selma Bacha 273 minutes   remplaçante au première match et titulaire lors des trois suivants, elle a essayé d’apporter son Energie et son envie sur le flanc gauche.

Sakina Karchaoui 278 minutes  titulaire trois matchs sur quatre et baladées sur plusieurs postes tout au long du tournoi. Elle a amené du mouvement et de la volonté de créer, l’une des rares joueuses a oser.

Sandie Toletti 281 minutes titulaire trois matchs sur quatre dans un milieu de terrain qui l’a souvent laissée isolée  face aux vagues adverses.

Delphine Cascarino 307 minutes titulaire lors des quatre matchs, a montré de bonnes choses a touché les poteaux, mais aurait pu être plus décisive

Marie-Antoinette Katoto 332 minutes cinq buts. Elle termine meilleure buteuse du tournoi et a justifie la confiance de Herve Renard.  Quelques occasions manquées mais un tournoi réussi pour la buteuse Parisienne.

Grace Geyoro 333 minutes titulaire lors des quatre rencontres, elle n’a pas réussi à apporter offensivement autant qu’elle pourrait le faire en club.

Griedge M’Bock-Bathy 353 minutes titulaire lors des quatre matchs, elle a enchainé comme l’ensemble de ses partenaires de bonnes et de moins bonnes prestations.

A noter que Herve Renard a fait tourner ses joueuses tout a long du tournoi puisque personne n’a joué l’intégralité des quatre matchs disputes sous une chaleur de plomb.

UEFA Women’s Champions League eligibility rule season 2024/25

There is a chapter in the UEFA circular 21-2024 named players list quotas and guidelines. This is very interesting when we look at the three English teams that will take part in the competition: Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal.

It is important to note that the Barclays WSL and UEFA Women Champions League rules are different, it means you can have a 25 players squad list in the WSL that is different from the WCL one as seen with Chelsea last season as they had players eligible to play in one competition and not in the other one like Maika Hamano.

What are the rules saying ?

3.1.
“List A – Goalkeepers and locally trained players
Each club may have a maximum of 25 players on List A at any point during the season.

3.2.
“List B – Youth players
An unlimited number of youth players who fulfil the conditions set out in the competition regulations may be registered on List B at any stage during the 2024/25 season. A National Association must register these players with the UEFA administration by 24:00 CET on the day before the match in question. A player may be registered on List B if she was born on or after 1 January 2003 and, since her 15th birthday, has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years, or a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year by the time the player is registered with UEFA. Players aged 16 may be registered on List B if they have been registered with the participating club for the previous two years without interruption. “

So clubs can have 25 players plus an unlimited numbers of youth players who fulfil the conditions. The main conditions for the list A are very important as the English teams might not all be able to register 25 players in the end.

“Clubs must respect the following rules when registering players on this list and may have to remove players if the requirements are not met:

Clubs must include at least two goalkeepers on List A (and at least three in total across List A and List B).
➢
8 places out of the total of 25 are reserved exclusively for “locally trained players’ as defined below: A ‘locally trained player’ is either a ‘club-trained player’ or an ‘association-trained player’.”

It is basically a free for all for 17 players in the squad with no restrictions. And then the locally trained regulations kick-in. Unlike the FA, UEFA has a distinction among homegrown players aka locally trained players.

“A ‘club-trained player’ (‘ACT player’) is a player who, between the ages of 15 (or the start of the season during which the player turns 15) and 21 (or the end of the season during which the player turns 21), and irrespective of the player’s nationality and age, has been registered with the player’s current club for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons (i.e. a period starting with the first official match of the relevant national championship and ending with the last official match of that relevant national championship) or of 36 months. In the context of this paragraph, the season immediately preceding a player’s 15th birthday may be counted if the player’s birthday is after the last match of the relevant national championship but before or on 30 June (winter championships) or 31 December (summer championships), and the season immediately following the player’s 21st birthday may be counted if the player’s birthday is on or after 1 July (winter championships) or 1 January (summer championships) but before the first match of the relevant national championship. “

So clubs need to have players who have been playing for their youth teams between 15 and 21 for three years to be considered as club trained. They are a rare breed in England.

“An ‘association-trained player’ (‘AAT player’) is a player who, between the ages of 15 (or the start of the season during which the player turns 15) and 21 (or the end of the season during which the player turns 21), and irrespective of the player’s nationality and age, has been registered with a club or with other clubs affiliated to the same National Association as that of the player’s current club for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons (i.e. a period starting with the first official match of the relevant national championship and ending with the last official match of that relevant national championship) or of 36 months. In the context of this paragraph, the season immediately preceding a player’s 15th birthday may be counted if the player’s birthday is after the last match of the relevant national championship but before or on 30 June (winter championships) or 31 December (summer championships), and the season immediately following the player’s 21st birthday may be counted if the player’s birthday is on or after 1 July (winter championships) or 1 January (summer championships) but before the first match of the relevant national championship.“

Association trained players for UEFA is the same definition as homegrown players for the FA.

The main regulation is: If a club has fewer than eight locally trained players on its List A, the maximum number of players on this list is reduced accordingly.

As per the UEFA document, if a club wants to register 25 players they have multiple ways from eight club trained players plus no association trained players. Down to four club trained players plus four association trained players. Basically anything from 8-0, 7-1, 6-2, 5-3 and 4-4 combinations guarantee 25 players. Any other combination means less than 25 players elected down to 17 if a team has no club trained and no association trained players.

Let’s have a look now at the three English teams to see if they fulfil the criteria first for association trained players:

Chelsea 17 : Bright, Ingle, Carter, James, Charles, Hampton, Watson, Fox, Claypole, Orman, Beever-Jones, Wardlaw, Akpan, Brown, Humphries, Aspin, Potter.

Arsenal 9: Wubben-Moy, Williamson, Mead, Little, Russo, Goldie, Williams, Godfrey, Agyemang

Manchester City 9 : Greenwood, Coombs, Kelly, Hemp, Park, Pritchard, Blinkilde-Brown, McIver, Keating

All three English teams will be therefore be able to register four association trained players and therefore get to 21 players. Now to get to 25, the clubs need four club trained players as per the regulation stated above.

Chelsea: Beever-Jones, Orman, Wardlaw, Akpan, Potter, Claypole, Fox Chelsea can therefore register 25 players in their squad by selecting four of those players.

Arsenal: Williamson, Wubben-Moy, Little, Goldie, Williams Arsenal can therefore register 25 players in their squad by selecting four of those players.

Manchester City: Keating, Hemp, Park Manchester City will have up to 24 players registered in their A list.

It is also important to note that a good number of those English players can actually be registered in the B-list as they are born after 1 January 2003 and have been registered long enough with their club.

The deadline for registration is as follows for the Qualifying rounds 1&2

29 August 2024 24:00 CET for Round 1

12 September2024 24:00 CET for Round 2

Teams can actually add more players in case of late transfers as follows:

For the preliminary round, round 1 and round 2, a club may register a maximum of two new eligible players on List A for each round after the relevant round’s player registration deadline. Such registrations have to be made by means of the A2 Excel form (and not through the TIME platform) and must be completed by 24:00 CET on the day before the start of the mini-tournament or relevant first-leg match. The club’s National Association must also have confirmed in writing that the new player is eligible to play at domestic level at that time.

Considering the transfer windows will still be open by the end of the registration deadline, it makes sense to allow extra signings to be registered.

Chelsea have currently 40 professional contracts, so they will have a tough choice selecting 25 players. As of today, Arsenal have 28 players, so they will have to put some of them in the B-list to register every player. Manchester City have currently 20 players so will have no problems entering their whole squad.

FIFA Club Women World Cup 2026

The long wait is over. The inaugural FIFA Women’s Club World Cup will be contested by 16 teams in January-February 2026. The tournament will be held every four years.

It took FIFA so many years to finally organise it. Of course, there were many obstacles to creating that tournament including the international calendar. The 24-25 calendar was just a temporary solution and finally having the 26-29 calendar done allows for the tournament to find its place. We are now waiting to see the confederations allocation but considering it is a 16 teams tournament, the odds are stacked towards the usual 3 teams for every confederation except Oceania with one team.

FIFA wanting to please the stakeholders therefore created another tournament:
“To facilitate the continued global development of women’s clubs and based on requests from the confederations to provide ample playing opportunities on a yearly basis, it was further proposed that an additional FIFA women’s club competition be organised in non-FIFA Women’s Club World Cup years as from 2027″. I would not be surprised if UEFA does not send any team to that yearly tournament.

One of the reason for the implementation delay was not all confederation had set-up a Champions League or equivalent tournament. This is now the case for all six confederation, so we can have a look at how many teams will try to qualify for the first ever Club Women World Cup.

CONCACAF Women Champions League 24/25: 11 teams will take part in the tournament

AFC Women Champions League 24/25: 22 teams will take part in the competition

UEFA Women Champions League 24/25: 72 teams will take part in the tournament

CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores Femenina 2025 : tbc 16 teams usually participate

OFC WCL 2025: tbc 8 teams usually participate

CAF WCL 2025 : tbc around 30 teams usually participate

So around 160 teams will attempt to qualify for the 16 spots available in the inaugural tournament. We now have to wait and see what qualifying mode will be used. For example, they could do top three teams from each tournament, or make it as complicated as it is for the men’s tournament.

We are still waiting for FIFA to clarify the qualifying mode, while UEFA, CAF and CONCACAF have started their tournament.