Every day—seemingly 365 a year—there’s something happening in the world of The Beautiful Game (that would be football). And between the restart of the Champions League 2025/26, the recent Club World Cup (CWC) in the USA, and countless domestic leagues well under way, we now find ourselves deep in the midst of the Women’s Euros in the beautiful country of Switzerland (not to mention the Women’s African Cup of Nations in Morocco, too—I did say football is utterly relentless, didn’t I?).
At the time of this issue, the mini-leagues section is done and dusted—we’re now into the knockout stage.
So far, aside from the matches themselves, we’ve had quite the spectacle: the most internationally capped European footballer ever; a team bus crash; a Dutch and English couple facing off competitively; Spain seemingly out to hammer every opponent; the Team of the Week (TOTW) for three weeks running dominated by Spanish and German players; prize money doubled to €16 million; England—the current holders—beaten 2-1 by France in their opening group game; Germany, eight-time champions, suffering their heaviest defeat since 1991 against Sweden; the official ball made from recycled materials; the final two group games overlapping with the CWC final—featuring England and France on the same day Chelsea (English) faced PSG (French); and 50 European countries having entered the qualifiers, even though the United Nations says there are only 44.
Now, only seven matches remain—including the final on 28th July at 18:00 CET. After the non-stop onslaught of group-stage games, it’s no surprise that Spain are the bookies’ favourites to lift the trophy.
Fan support has been phenomenal (somewhat unexpectedly from 114 countries), and 22 of the 31 matches were already sold out before the tournament even began—though a handful of tickets are still available, should you feel inclined to jump on a plane.
Looking beyond this year’s tournament, UEFA has set several ambitious targets for 2030: to make women’s football the most-played team sport by women in every European country, to grow the number of fully professional players to 5,000, and to establish the sport as the most investable and sustainable in women’s athletics. Strides are certainly being made—but only time will tell how achievable those goals are, and what more needs to be done.
Funding—and its availability—remains at the heart of the issue. Case in point: the CWC final, where Chelsea beat Paris Saint-Germain 3–0, earning prize money of nearly $144 million.
They played seven games.
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