Women's Soccer - International, Professional, and NCAA

[Just Here]

With the Women's Euro and CONCACAF qualifying for the 2023 Women's World Cup about a month away, I thought that a dedicated women's soccer thread would be useful.

Here are summaries of the tournaments, with TV/streaming details and useful links.

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2022 CONCACAF W Championship - July 4 to 18 (Concacaf.com, Wikipedia, Twitter)

• Group A: United States, Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti
• Group B: Canada, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago

USA TV/Streaming: CBS Sports Network / Paramount+, TUDN/ViX* (Spanish language)

What's at Stake:

• Top 2 teams in each group qualify for the 2023 Women's World Cup.
• The 3rd Place teams in each group qualify for an inter-confederation_play-off tournament (Wikipedia) consisting of 8 teams, with the top 3 teams qualifying for the 2023 WWC.
• Additionally, the winner of the Championship qualifies for the 2024 Olympics, while the runner-up and 3rd place teams will advance to an intra-CONCACAF play-off for the second slot at the 2024 Olympics

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UEFA Women's Euro 2022 - July 6 to 31 (Uefa.com, Wikipedia, Twitter)

• Group A: England, Norway, Austria, Northern Ireland
• Group B: Germany, Spain, Denmark, Finland
• Group C: Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal
• Group D: France, Italy, Belgium, Iceland

USA TV/Streaming: ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN+ (ESPN.com schedule), TUDN/ViX* (Spanish language)

A few teams -- France, Netherlands, and Portugal -- have announced their squads already. Notably absent from France's squad are Amandine Henry, who turns 33 in September and Eugénie Le Sommer, who turned 33 in May (ESPN article).

*ViX is TelevisaUnivision's streaming service and is currently free in the USA.

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Also, two FIFA youth Women's World Cups are scheduled for the second half of this year:  the U-20 WWC in August (10th to 28th) and the U-17 WWC in October (11th to 30th). The USA, Canada, and Mexico have all qualified for both tournaments.

The NWSL (NWSLsoccer.com, Twitter) regular season is currently underway.  Fans outside the USA can watch all matches on Twitch for free.  For those in the USA, some matches are streamed for free on Twitch, while most are streamed via Paramount+(subscription required).  A handful of matches have and will air on CBS Sports Network and CBS.

[Just Here]

USWNT forward Catarina Macario suffered an ACL injury in Lyon's final regular season match, so she'll be out for several months.

The 2023 WWC is over 13 months away, so if there's no complications, she should be cleared to play sometime in February or March, leaving plenty of time to get back to full match fitness.

[Just Here]

The Concacaf W Championship begins now. 

Streaming links for those in the USA:

• https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/concacaf-w-qualifiers/  (The first night's matches and the semifinals will also be shown on CBS Sports Network.)
• If you're in the USA and don't have Paramount+, the matches can be watched via the ViX app for free (Spanish only):  https://vix.com/es-es/deportes

Edit: The promo code "Glory" should be good for a free month of Paramount+

("Attacking Third" is an official podcast of CBS Sports.)

Edited July 4, 2022 by Just Here
added tweet with promo code

[Just Here]

So, the USWNT has qualified for the 2023 Women's World Cup, while Mexico looks like it will miss its second straight WWC, after losing to Haiti 3-nil.

Mexico's poor performance is slightly surprising.  It's also disappointing, given that its development of a domestic leaque (Liga MX Femenil) hasn't translated into noticeable improvements at the senior WNT level, nor really at the U-20 level. And, there's no sense that Mexico's federation has any interest in strengthening the WNT, so Mexico's dark days could continue through the next WWC cycle.

Though, Haiti's rise is not that unexpected, as their U-20 WNT had two strong cycles in 2018 (qualified for its first U-20 WWC by defeating Canada 1-nil in the 3rd place match of CONCACAF's qualifying tournament and only losing to the USA in the semifinals via a penalty shoot-out) and 2020 (lost to Mexico in the semifinals of the qualifying tournament via another penalty shoot-out).  (Wikipedia: CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship)

On the other side of the pond, Group B of the Women's Euros gets underway today.  Spain lost their talisman, Alexia Putellas (current Ballon d'Or Féminin winner), to a left ACL injury just before the tournament began.

[CeeBeeGee]

The Copa America is also airing right now in Fox Sports. So much great women's soccer on TV these days! I love it.

[Just Here]

For those interested in seeing the next generation of players, this year's edition of the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup (Wikipedia) kicks off on Wednesday, August 10th.

All of the United States' group stage matches, along with some other matches, will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1 and 2:

• Thursday, August 11th at 1:00 p.m. ET - USA vs. Ghana (TV: FS2)
• Sunday, August 14th at 7:00 p.m ET - USA vs. Netherlands (TV: FS1)
• Wednesday, August 17th at 7:00 p.m. ET - USA vs. Japan (TV: FS2)

The USA's roster is available here: U.S. U-20 WYNT Head Coach Tracey Kevins Names 21-Player Roster for 2022 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.  One notable, but not unexpected, absence for the USA is the Washington Spirit's Trinity Rodman (b. May 20, 2002), who already has several senior USWNT caps and thus doesn't need the experience of another youth World Cup.

Mexico and Canada have also qualified for the tournament, with Mexico in Group B (along with Germany), and Canada in Group C (along with France).

[xaxat]

The entire NWSL is a dumpster fire. U.S. Soccer investigation into women's game finds systemic abuse, misconduct.

[Pandora]

On 10/6/2022 at 1:17 PM, xaxat said:

The entire NWSL is a dumpster fire. U.S. Soccer investigation into women's game finds systemic abuse, misconduct.

That report is horrific. Rampant sexual, emotional, and physical abuse and people ignored it. Let’s hope that things change.
 

in happier news, the big England—US match kicks off in a few, I’ve got the popcorn ready.

[DoctorAtomic]

Is there a thread for the World Cup? 

[Salacious Kitty]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Is there a thread for the World Cup? 

This it it, I guess. It indicates "international." Not like there's any interest. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I figured some people have to be watching. It's not like the US team isn't any good. 

[KittenPokerCheater]

If I had been the ref last night, there would have been a LOT of yellow cards in the USA vs Netherlands.

And very happy for Portugal.

[baldryanr]

The US should probably be concerned that the goal post is the main reason they aren't headed home.

[DoctorAtomic]

I couldn't get up that early, but it sounded like they were flat. Seems like they controlled the servos half though. Is that right? 

[JTMacc99]

The article I skimmed through this morning said something like Portugal completed 120 more passes than the US, and that other than a decent chance early in the second half, the US got outplayed. 

It also said that the likely next opponent is Sweden, so they could very well be heading home in the not too distant future based on the way they're playing.

[DoctorAtomic]

Well, they're still holding up defensively. They only conceded once. Completing a lot of passes doesn't mean talking a lot of shots either. 

Sure, they're playing below expectations, which are astronomically high, but Morgan hasn't gotten going yet either. They still advanced. 

The coaches need to take the group stage as a wake up call though. 

[Fukui San]

I’m on the West Coast so I was able to stay up and watch. 

I’d say it was close to a 50-50 game, which is bad news for the US since they’re supposed to be a lot better than Portugal. The US had a hard time just possessing the ball and progressing it through midfield. Portugal just always seemed to have numbers in the middle. There were some chances on both sides, and Portugal of course was the only team to hit the post. 

Rose Levelle got her second yellow card and will have to miss the next game which could be big trouble. It’s not a promising situation for the US team, but hey, they’re still alive. 

[Johannah]

Granted, soccer isn't my sport, but they looked flat and uninspired to me.  Hopefully, they wake up for future games.

And, again, don't know much about soccer, but I have fallen down a few times, so is there a rule that you have to stay on the ground  writhing in pain, before you jump up and run around for another half hour?  These ladies are athletes and not made of glass and I feel they are just being dramatic most of the time.  Someone tell me I'm wrong.

 

[proserpina65]

6 hours ago, baldryanr said:

The US should probably be concerned that the goal post is the main reason they aren't headed home.

Yep, that was a lousy performance.

4 hours ago, Johannah said:

Granted, soccer isn't my sport, but they looked flat and uninspired to me. 

Soccer is my sport, albeit men's not women's.  They were indeed flat and uninspired and if they continue to play like that, they're going home long before the final.

4 hours ago, Johannah said:

And, again, don't know much about soccer, but I have fallen down a few times, so is there a rule that you have to stay on the ground  writhing in pain, before you jump up and run around for another half hour?  These ladies are athletes and not made of glass and I feel they are just being dramatic most of the time.  Someone tell me I'm wrong.

That is often the case in soccer.  Some of it is because things do hurt pretty badly for a moment or two, depending on where the hit is, but some of it is trying to draw a foul call from the ref.  Edited to note that the men do it just as much as the women.

Edited August 1, 2023 by proserpina65

[Fukui San]

Man, a lot of big name teams are out in group stage. Olympic champs Canada, Brazil, Italy, China and now Germany. Don’t know my history enough to know if this is unprecedented in Women’s or either version of the the World Cup. 

Soccer podcast I listened to pointed out that the schedule was set up for the winner of the US’s group to have their knockout games aired in times that worked for the US market. Because the US finished second in their group their games will not be aired during good times going forward. 

[DoctorAtomic]

On 8/1/2023 at 12:54 PM, proserpina65 said:

That is often the case in soccer.  Some of it is because things do hurt pretty badly for a moment or two, depending on where the hit is, but some of it is trying to draw a foul call from the ref.  Edited to note that the men do it just as much as the women.

Or to milk a minute or two off the clock. Sometimes you get a whack to the shin or the knee and you do need to shake it off. 

 

[proserpina65]

24 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Or to milk a minute or two off the clock. Sometimes you get a whack to the shin or the knee and you do need to shake it off. 

 

Yep, that too.

I tend to think of it like when I stub my toe really hard.  For a few moments, it does hurt like hell, but it usually goes away pretty fast.  If I were playing in an important soccer match, though, I'd milk it like crazy.

[DoctorAtomic]

Keepers do legitimately get wailed on as well. Most of the time, the guys get tagged in the junk. That's 90 seconds minimum. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by DoctorAtomic

[mojoween]

I’m surprised (not really) at how many in the media are piling on Carli Lloyd.  If it’s too harsh, waah.  She wasn’t wrong.

[JTMacc99]

I just read a pro-Carli Lloyd article. Sounds like she was a bit of an outlier, doing her own thing towards the end of her run with the team.

Which makes her a perfect analyst. She says what she thinks, and it comes from a person with a ton of experience to back it up. 

[baldryanr]

On 8/1/2023 at 10:40 AM, Johannah said:

And, again, don't know much about soccer, but I have fallen down a few times, so is there a rule that you have to stay on the ground  writhing in pain, before you jump up and run around for another half hour?  These ladies are athletes and not made of glass and I feel they are just being dramatic most of the time.  Someone tell me I'm wrong.

There's a reason why clips like this exist

 

[proserpina65]

7 hours ago, mojoween said:

I’m surprised (not really) at how many in the media are piling on Carli Lloyd.  If it’s too harsh, waah.  She wasn’t wrong.

Yep, based on how the US team played their 1st 3 games, she's 100% right.  They went in thinking it was their World Cup to lose and the other teams would have to do all the work.

2 hours ago, baldryanr said:

There's a reason why clips like this exist

 

It's Cristiano Ronaldo!  😁

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't think she was correct in saying that the team thought they would walk out there and deserve the win, but I think that might have been by design. The technical analysis was fine. 

To be fair, they've only allowed one goal. However, the offense isn't really getting going. I also didn't think that they were going to walk through either. It's a young team overall, and it's a new game. There's more teams and the level of competition is better than it's ever been. 

[baldryanr]

Kind of ironic that the US loses after playing its best game of the Cup.  PKs remain both the most exciting and frustrating way to end a match.

[proserpina65]

The US team came into this World Cup acting like it was already theirs and the other teams were the ones who had to work for it. They played like they didn't have to really try and rightfully are going home. This was their best game but that's not saying much. ¹

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't think they were playing like it was already theirs, but the offense just didn't get going in the group stage. Win the group, you avoid this match. The 0-0 against Portugal did them in. 

The team was young overall and lacked mental experience. 

[CheshireCat]

I think one of the expert panel (I believe it was Carli Lloyd) said it best after the Portugal game: the US played not to lose and not to win. Although, there were plenty of other teams who did as well. (Many of the veteran teams, actually. The others went out there and seemed to think we have nothing to lose and that's how they played).

I'd say the US team needs a new coach or at least a tactical coach. There is so much talent on that field and the technical ability that they displayed during the game against Sweden was impressive. But there is no coherent strategy and the finish (if that's the right term) is lacking. They need someone who can make a team out of them and this coach does not seem to be the right person for the job. (Then again, Macedonia isn't exactly known for its soccer players and MLS isn't the soccer league to beat either. I find it rather puzzling why a renowned team like the US would hire such an internationally inexperienced head coach).

Australia impressed me against Canada. Sure, they're not the best team technically but the way they played in that game brought back 2006 Germany memories. I like the fast "one-touch" soccer as I think it makes the game really exciting to watch. I'm really hoping they can repeat that against Denmark (sorry Denmark).

[DoctorAtomic]

The Portugal game was the critical failure. The US needed to win the group to avoid Sweden. That's really their sole nemesis. 

I also don't understand taking out Morgan in the 99th minute and not being there for potential PKs if not to get a winner in extra time.

I agree about better tactics though. The time of just picking players and rolling the ball out have passed, and they should have known that. 

I don't know if it was here, but someone commented that this is like the men's basketball team only getting the bronze. Basketball worldwide caught up, and the days of just picking 10 guys was over.

14 of the 22 players were in their first world cup, no? 

[CheshireCat]

On 8/7/2023 at 11:43 AM, DoctorAtomic said:

The Portugal game was the critical failure.

I'd argue it was missing those penalty kicks 😉

Quote

I don't know if it was here, but someone commented that this is like the men's basketball team only getting the bronze. Basketball worldwide caught up, and the days of just picking 10 guys was over.

I'm not sure it's comparable. Some European basketball teams like Spain, Greece and France have always had good national teams and, I believe, have beaten the US team at international competitions in the past. I think the difference is that for US players winning the NBA is still more prestigious than winning internationally. (As far as I know, the rules are slightly different and the NBA is still on a different level). Therefore, the motivation to send the best players is not the same and the motivation for the players is not the same, both when it comes to playing for the national team and winning.

[Carey]

You know, sometimes I hate the media & pundits, along with some of those so-called fans out there.  To elaborate, of course people were going to get mad at Carli Lloyd for her comments early.  It didn’t matter if she was right or wrong; I think she knows more than most of everyone else.   As mentioned, she wasn’t wrong, it’s her current job to call it as she sees it.  And then rather than apologize to Lloyd, the media/pundits/fans got it wrong again by saying or blaming Megan for missing a PK as if the 90 minutes PLUS didn’t count.  TBH, I didn’t expect anyone to tell Carli that they were sorry for being mean, but at least they could’ve come to the conclusion that this wasn’t the United States’ year.  Instead, it’s scapegoat time.

None of it was surprising, but ITA with Carli Lloyd; it did feel like they were there for a celebration, and people on the outside thought they could just turn it on.  There was still optimism, but it would’ve been a backdoor route for their third consecutive title, which is really unprecedented.  Scoring 4 goals throughout the tournament isn’t a recipe for success.  I think they score over 3 times as many in one game alone back in 2019!

As mentioned, the best of the best like Brazil, Messi, Rinaldo, Pele, Neymar, etc never won 3 straight World Cup titles, so it was doubtful from the start.  The team is young, though I currently agree that the coach isn’t the one to lead them to the title in the future.  Finally, I don’t think I had an issue with Alex exiting at the end, for a couple of reasons.  I think 2027 is the curtain call, and this team was not close to winning it all.  If it’s the semis or the final, that would be a different story

[DoctorAtomic]

Look how long it took Messi to get the one. None of the back to back women's champs won a third so far either. The 12 year span is just too arduous. 

The closest decade long dominance imo was the Spain team that won Euro-WC-Euro. And that's only one world cup. I don't think they advanced out of the group stages in the next one. 

6 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

I'm not sure it's comparable.

The US mens hoops had got beat before, and there were three or four teams that were good, but (not counting the Soviet scam and when they didn't go), they won the gold medal literally all the time since 1936. They started playing with pros in 1992 and demolished everyone. 2004 was a sea change that led to a major restructuring of how the mens team was put together. 

The women got beat before, but it's basically been the US and three or four teams, really until now. Yes, the US didn't play well for a lot of reasons, but there's a lot more teams that may not be better, but the level of competition is certainly elevated. Going in with a very green team isn't going to work. 

Sure, they probably should have beaten Sweden in the 120 minutes, but you get inexperienced players into PKs and look what happens. 

So maybe not directly comparable, but I think as an organization, they need to look how they're assembling a squad and what they can do to develop this young talent. 

Edited August 9, 2023 by DoctorAtomic

[meep.meep]

Last night's Spain Netherlands match was incredible!  Spain deserved to win and did.  I was worried about it going to PK's but they pulled out a real goal in overtime.

[proserpina65]

57 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

Last night's Spain Netherlands match was incredible!  Spain deserved to win and did.  I was worried about it going to PK's but they pulled out a real goal in overtime.

There goes my prediction for the final (Netherlands v either England or France).  Guess I'll go with Sweden v England or France.

On 8/9/2023 at 11:03 AM, Carey said:

As mentioned, the best of the best like Brazil, Messi, Rinaldo, Pele, Neymar, etc never won 3 straight World Cup titles,

Pele's the only one who's come close.  It's just that England won one in between his 2nd and 3rd titles.  Of course, Pele is the best ever to have played the game, so . . . 

On 8/9/2023 at 11:59 AM, DoctorAtomic said:

The women got beat before, but it's basically been the US and three or four teams, really until now. Yes, the US didn't play well for a lot of reasons, but there's a lot more teams that may not be better, but the level of competition is certainly elevated. Going in with a very green team isn't going to work. 

Going in with a mostly green team and veterans who seem to have had the mindset that they don't have to play up to their best to win definitely isn't going to work, and that's how they played their group round matches.  Development of young players is definitely an issue, though.  As is the coaching at the moment.

[Fukui San]

Wow. With Japans surprising loss to Sweden, we’re now guaranteed to have a new champion for the WWC as all of the past champions have been eliminated. (US, Japan, Norway, Germany.)

[proserpina65]

Well at least one of my picks for the final made it.  Although I was enjoying Australia's surprising advance through the competition.

[Pandora]

13 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Well at least one of my picks for the final made it.  Although I was enjoying Australia's surprising advance through the competition.

I’m a little disappointed Australia didn’t make it to the final. That would have been glorious. And Tony Gustavsson is so fun to watch, he’s one of the most animated coaches around. But they had a good run, I’m glad they had so much success on their home turf.

[Fukui San]

Congrats to the World Cup Champions 

Spoiler

Spain. Judging from the highlights, it looks like a just result as Spain could have had more if not for some good saves from Mary Earps and a missed Spain PK. 

Spain did have 15 players leave the team last year in protest of the Manager. When the confederation supported the manager only 3 of the 15 returned. Which, firstly, doesn’t seem great for the players but also illustrates the deep talent pool there if they could still field such a talented team. 

 

[wanderingstar]

Watched the first half. Carmona's goal was beautiful. But at some point, I realized I wasn't terribly invested in either team, so I turned it off and followed the rest via The Guardian live blog.

I couldn't hang with the time difference, so I saw very few matches. Of the little I saw, really enjoyed watching Columbia play. I was bummed when they lost. Hoping to see them come back strong at the next tournament.

Congratulations to the Spanish players. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I couldn't hang with the time difference either, unfortunately. I wanted to watch more. 

 

[Pandora]

Carmona’s father died shortly before the match. Apparently she wasn’t told until after the game and celebration.
 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38229486/spain-winning-goalscorer-carmona-learns-father-death-women-world-cup-final

[Fukui San]

The aftermath of the Spanish women’s team victory is quite something. 

In the victory celebration, Spanish federation President Rubiales kissed player Jenni Hermoso on the lips out of nowhere, claiming later that it was consensual which was forcibly denied by Hermoso. This has led to a FIFA suspension, the Spanish players vowing not to play again unless he’s ousted, the coaching staff stepping down, and Rubiales digging in defiantly.

https://apnews.com/article/spain-rubiales-womens-world-cup-hermoso-903f414821882c82bb8de64b2b65cdaa

[DoctorAtomic]

Obviously, the guy shouldn't have done that, but I don't get why he's doubling down either. 

[Jeddah]

2 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Obviously, the guy shouldn't have done that, but I don't get why he's doubling down either. 

Yeah, the way he’s doubling down is just ridiculous. He probably would have gotten away with it if he had just said it was the excitement of the moment and he realizes it was wrong. It’s pretty clear now that he doesn’t think it was wrong at all. He needs to go.

[Black Knight]

13 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Obviously, the guy shouldn't have done that, but I don't get why he's doubling down either. 

Because he's always gotten away with it in the past, and so he doesn't think this time will be any different.

And it's easy to see why he thinks that. The entire women's World Cup championship team plus all of the coaches except the head coach have resigned, FIFA has suspended him, athletes all through Spain and around the world are protesting, the incident was on camera for everyone to see, and yet the Spanish soccer federation is still defending him and threatening Hermoso with legal action.

I do think eventually the Spanish soccer federation will face reality and push him out, but it's unbelievable (and yet sadly not) the amount of pressure and the length of time that has already gone by without that happening. So one can see why he thinks he can just tough this out.