We look at some team news and rosters from Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Finland, and look at the anticipated move of 2023 WWC Finals heroine Olga Carmona of Spain, who is leaving Real Madrid on a free transfer, to Paris St. Germain.
We also look at the 2025/26 CONCACAF W Champions Cup’s final ten teams assigned for two groups for the second edition of the regional club tournament to start this fall. We also review the World Sevens Inaugural Tournament in Portugal, with top European clubs playing in a 7 v. 7 tournament over three days.
2024-25 UEFA Nations League Final Two Rounds of Group Matches and Impact on Promotion/Relegation
This week, we look at the fifth and six group matches for each team in the 2024-25 UEFA Women’s Nations League (A, B and C) during the late May-early June FIFA international window, profiling a few of the games, players and teams. The group standings also determined what League (A, B or C) some teams would play in for the Women’s European Qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, running through 2026.
UEFA Nations League May-June Internationals
The four League A group winners—France, Germany, Spain, Sweden—advanced to the semifinals, where all games will be played over two legs, including the third place game and the final. For the 2023-24 tournament, the semifinals, third place and final were all held as single matches at the higher seed for each.
The group winners of Leagues B and C were automatically promoted, while the fourth-placed teams in Leagues A and B, as well as the two lowest-ranked third-placed teams in League B, were automatically relegated. All promotion/relegation playoffs will also be home-and-away ties as the third-placed teams of League A play the runners-up of League B, while the two best-ranked third-placed teams in League B play the two best-ranked League C runners-up. The teams from the higher leagues are seeded, and play the second leg at home.
League A Groups
Group A1: Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Scotland
Friday May 30
Germany 4 Netherlands 0
Lea Schuller (27) of Bayern Munich scored a brace to lead Germany to a 4-0 win over the Netherlands in Bremen. Schuller scored 11 goals in 22 matches for the 2024-25 German league champions, their third title in a row, this season.
Scotland 0 Austria 1
Midfielder Julia Hickelsberger (25) of Hoffenheim in Germany scored the only goal for Austria in a 1-0 defeat of Scotland at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
Tuesday June 3
Netherlands1 Scotland 1
Austria 0 Germany 6
Sydney Lohmann (24) of Bayern Munich scored two goals as Germany overwhelmed Austria, with all of their goals coming in the first half. The game attracted 5,150 fans to Viola Park in Vienna.
At the end of the six game group stage for each team, Germany (16 points) advanced to the Nations League semifinals, followed by Netherlands (11 points), Austria on six points—who must playoff to retain their League A spot—and Scotland, which was relegated to League 2 with one point.
Group A2: France, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland
Friday May 30
Norway 1 Iceland 1
France 4 Switzerland 0
Tuesday June 3
Iceland 0 France 2
Switzerland 0 Norway 1
Vilde Boa Rise (29) of Atletico Madrid in Spain scored the only goal of the match in the fourth minute as Norway assured itself of second place with a 1-0 win over 2025 Women’s EURO hosts Switzerland in Sion in front of a solid crowd of 6,888.
France finished the group perfectly with 18 points from six games, after having clinched first place in the group in the fifth round, followed by Norway on eight points, Iceland with four points—who must play in the League A/League B playoffs—and Switzerland bottom with two points, who will play the next UEFA tournament in League B.
Group A3: Spain (holders), England, Belgium, Portugal
Friday May 30
Belgium 1 Spain 5
Esther Gonzalez—who leads the NWSL in scoring this season with Gotham FC (7 goals in 10 matches—tied with Zambian international striker Barbra Banda of Orlando) and who scored the winner in Gotham’s 1-0 CONCACAF W Champions Cup Final win over UANL Tigres the week before (see: The Week in Women's Football: Reviewing Liga MX, CONCACAF Cup and AFC Champions League - TribalFootball.com)—scored Spain’s first two goals, followed by a brace by forward Athenea del Castillo (24) of Real Madrid, in Spain’s 5-1 victory over Belgium in Heverlee. Cata Coll (24) in goal was denied a shutout by a late Red Devils goal in the 88th minute by Tine De Cagny (27) of Anderlecht, who scored her 42nd goal in 106 internationals.
England 6 Portugal 0
At Wembley, England raced to a 5-0 lead by the 33rd minute, with Agnes Beever-Jones (22) of Chelsea scoring a hat-trick. She scored nine goals in 22 games, with 12 starts. with the reigning league champions this season. A shutout for Chelsea keeper Hannah Hampton (24) certainly has dampened the turmoil over Mary Earps’ sudden retirement, in large part because head coach Sarina Wiegman has preferred Hampton of late. Earps did help England finish second in the last WWC but she was a bit of an attention suck. Many have seen her late retirement—not announcing it until she arrived at camp ahead of the last two Nations League group matches—as the ultimate in selfish behavior.
Tuesday June 3
Portugal 0 Belgium 3
Tessa Waellert (32) scored two goals as Belgium defeated Portugal 3-0 in Funchal in front of 5,675 fans. Waellert now has 92 goals in 144 senior internationals and scored 10 goals in 23 games this season for Inter Milan. She previously played with Manchester City of the WSL, VfL Wolfsburg of Germany and Fortuna Sittard in the Netherlands in addition to clubs at home.
Spain 2 England 1
Reigning Women’s World Cup and Nations League champions Spain fought back from a 1-0 deficit to England in Barcelona with a completely dominating second half performance to win 2-1.
In the last twenty minutes, Spain controlled the ball and the tempo of the game as well as they did in the 2023 Women’s World Cup knockout stages two years ago, reminiscent of their complete 5-1 dismantling of Switzerland in the Round of 16 with their fluid play and ball possession setting them on their way to the World title after losing to Japan in their last group game (4-0). Claudia Pina scored the tying goal in the 60th minute, just shortly after entering the game, and added a second ten minutes later to overturn England. A tie would have been enough for Spain to advance to the Nations League semifinals.
England will be disappointed but their target is to retain their women’s EURO title from 2021 at home in an era-busting event. Alessia Russo (26) of Arsenal scored the first goal for England in the 22nd minute on a breakaway and clever shot past 2023 WWC winner Cata Coll in the Spanish goal.
For Spain, Olga Carmona (24), the scorer of the 2023 Women’s World Cup semifinal winning goal late in their 2-1 win over Sweden and who then slotted home the winner in the 1-0 defeat of England in the final, has been capped 53 times by Spain, including both of the latest Nations League matches (above).
The left back is out of contract with Real Madrid and, according to multiple reports, is joining Paris St. Germain for the 2025-26 season on a free transfer. Carmona arrived at Real in 2020 at the age of 20 and leaves after appearing in 186 matches (a club record for the women’s side) and scored 28 goals with 25 assists. She was an original member of the club branded as Real Madrid for the 2020-21 season after one season as the predecessor CD Tacon, which had been promoted to the top tier after winning promotion in 2018-19.
The captain and raiding left back is a tremendous tackler, ball winner and crosser of the ball from the wing; she clearly also has an eye for goal for club and country. A Real Madrid statement on May 20 said:
“Real Madrid C. F. announces that our captain Olga Carmona has decided to end her career as a Real Madrid player. Real Madrid would like to convey its gratitude and affection for everything you have contributed to our club and for having always represented the values of Real Madrid. For this reason, she will remain in the hearts of Madridistas as one of the most emblematic in our history….Real Madrid wishes her and her family the best of luck in this new stage of her life.”
If the move to PSG is indeed finalized, it will be Carmona’s first time playing outside of Liga F. PSG won the men’s Champions League title for the first time last month. The club is richly financed by Qatar Sports Investments, which has been a stronger backer of the women’s side, though it has had some internal controversies, most notably the attack on former French international Kheira Hamraoui allegedly orchestrated by club and national teammate Aminata Diallo in late 2021, which this column has documented extensively (see our recent update from early this year: The Week in Women's Football: Liga MX season review - top 7 in focus - TribalFootball.com).
This move will boost Carmona’s current salary significantly according to Marca—particularly with a free transfer—and would be a multi-year contract; negotiations with Real Madrid broke down months ago, bringing offers from other clubs. One agent in Europe told me that they thought that she was just moving from one second place side in one country (behind perennial power Barcelona) to a second place side in another country (behind recently renamed OL Lyonnes). I think this move is much more than that. Olga Carmona really came onto the radar internationally with her play at the 2021 (held in 2022) Women’s EURO in England, when Spain played brilliantly but England countered late to defeat them 2-1 in the Quarterfinal.
Spain though announced their arrival on the global stage a year later when they became World Champions in Australia/New Zealand. Carmona captained that WWC side at times and scored those crucial two goals. During the turmoil after the final with Spanish Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales kissing Jenni Hermoso full on the mouth at the Gold Medal award ceremony after the game, Carmona was praised for her grace as she dealt with the death of her father, who died just before the final, but her family did not tell her until after the game. French international Sakina Karchaoui (29), who has extended her contract through the 2027-28 season, previously played in Carmona’s position but was shifted to midfield this season, providing a spot to bring in the Spanish champion.
According to reports, Carmona is intrigued by the potential that PSG has to win domestic titles in France while also competing for UEFA Women’s Champions League glory against top competitors like Barcelona, Wolfsburg, Lyon and this year’s winners Arsenal. In 2024-25, PSG did lose both the championship final and French Cup this year (see our column last month: The Week in Women's Football: A-League & WSL review; examining 2027 Brazil hosting cities - TribalFootball.com); they are likely to progress further in the Champions League next season than Real Madrid has in the past.
Madrid reached the Women’s Champions League quarter-finals this season for just the second time in four campaigns—having to go through the qualifying rounds each year—and had an epic collapse after a 2-0 first leg lead to Arsenal, as the Gunners scored three goals in London within the first 15 minutes of the second half before 22,517 ecstatic fans at the Emirates Stadium. PSG, during that same four year period, made the semifinals twice, the quarterfinals once but were knocked out last season in the second qualifying round to Juventus of Italy (5-2 on aggregate).
Paris St. Germain have finished runners-up to Lyon in the Primiere Ligue in each of the last four seasons and won the top flight for the only time in their history in 2020-21. PSG will play again in next season’s WCL as a direct qualifier into the league stage while Real Madrid advances to the third qualifying round. With the recently modified league championship format in France, the title comes down to one game semifinal matches and a final, which gives PSG or another side an opportunity to win on the day, rather than overcome dominate OL over the season—PSG finished ten points behind undefeated Lyon in 2024-25.
Carmona is a young wingback who has the mind and tactical nous of a 38-year-old veteran on the field. Her scoring ability and success at the highest levels of the international game is unquestioned; she will be a huge boost to PSG and should help the side in their quest to duplicate the men’s side in domestic and UEFA club championships this past season. In addition, there will be further carrots for Carmona and PSG with FIFA’s upcoming World Cup Championship tournaments for women in 2026 and 2028 (see: The Week in Women's Football: Challenge Cup; USL best vs NWSL; Cordova in Belize - TribalFootball.com).
Olga Carmona has inspired other players to perform the left back role as she does, constantly moving up and down the field without being unnecessarily exposed. That is how Spain plays, as we saw in the second half of the 2-1 win over England in Barcelona (above) and she is an integral part of that approach. Carmona, on a free transfer, will not demand the $1 million fee that Chelsea paid earlier this year to San Deigo for defender Naomi Girma, who plays more centrally. I think she could bring that amount as Carmona is a WWC winner while Girma won an Olympic Gold Medal last summer in Paris.
If PSG wins a domestic title or European or World Club title over the next few years, Caroma’s transfer value could skyrocket. If we look ahead and, if she is successful in France, her next move would likely be to either the WSL in England or the NWSL in America, with its capacity to pay salaries exceeding $750,000 a year to international stars. A number of Spanish internationals have gone to play in Liga MX Femenil, notably Jenni Hermoso (35) at Tigres in Monterrey and goalkeeper Sandra Panos (32) at Club America in Mexico City among others, but that probably is unlikely for another ten years or so in Carmona’s case.
I think that, despite the Michele Kang investment and impacting operations at OL Lyonnes, including recently moving her Washington Spirit and former Barcelona head coach Jonathan Giraldez to France for this season (which we will discuss in an upcoming column), replacing new Australian WNT head coach Joe Montemurro, by pursuing Olga Carmona, PSG is announcing that they want to take their women’s side to a new level, both domestically and in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. PSG will need to embrace the culture-building, leadership, experience in high-pressure situations and class that Olga brings and integrate tactics to maximize her top level skills on the left side.
For Real, Everton’s Danish international center-back Sara Holmgren (26) is being discussed as a replacement for Carmona. She joined Everton in August 2022 from German club Turbine Potsdam alongside her twin sister Karen Holmgaard. Last season, she played in 19 WSL matches, securing three goals and four assists. Also leaving Real Madrid is Danish international forward Caroline Moller (26), who has been with the club for four seasons and scored 27 goals in 123 matches. Their manager of the past four years and former Real player, Alberto Toril (51), is also leaving. It seems that there will be a lot of turnover at the club over the summer.
Spain made the semifinals for the second Nations League in a row with 15 points while England was second on 10 points, Belgium was third with six points and has to play in the League A/B playoffs, while Portugal was relegated to League B after finishing with four points.
Group A4: Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Wales
Friday May 30
Italy 0 Sweden 0
Denmark 1 Wales 0
Pernille Harder (32) of Bayern Munich scored the only goal of the match just minutes into the second half for a 1-0 win for the Danes over Wales in Odense in front of 3,442 supporters. Harder scored 14 goals in 22 Frauen Bundesliga games this season—finishing tied for third, behind 16 goal scorers Selina Cerci of Hoffenheim (25)—a full German international with five goals in nine senior matches—and Netherlands international Lineth Beerenstein (28).
Tuesday June 3
Sweden 6 Denmark 1
Sweden and Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius (28) scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 defeat of neighbors Denmark, in a win both sides needed to advance to the semifinals, as Italy was expected to win in Wales. Blackstenius is in some tremendous goalscoring form as, the week before, she scored the only goal in the UEFA final as the Gunners stunned Barcelona (1-0). The game attracted 12,428 fans in Solna (suburban Stockholm).
Wales 1 Italy 4
Cristiana Girelli (35) of Juventus scored two goals as Italy scored four times in the first half, with Jess Fishlock (Seattle Reign) scoring a consolation goal late in the second half for Itay’s 4-1 win over Wales in front of 5,964 fans in Swansea City.
Sweden won the group with 12 points, Italy were second on 10, with Denmark a point back in third (9 points) and facing the playoffs to stay in League A, with Wales finishing on two points and was relegated to League B.
League B
Group B1: Poland, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania
Friday May 30
Romania 2 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0
In Ovidiu, Fiorentina Olar (39)—in her fourth season in her current stint with Fortuna Hjorring in Denmark—scored three minutes into first half added time and Cristina Carp (27)—in her third season with Young Boys Bern of Switzerland—scored on the hour mark as Romania defeated 2-0 in front of 1,365 fans in Ovidiu.
Northern Ireland 0 Poland 4
Star forward Ewa Pajor (28), who scored 25 goals in 28 matches in her first season with Liga F champions Barcelona, scored two goals in the first nine minutes to power Poland to a 4-0 victory over Northern Ireland in Belfast in front of 2,482 fans.
Tuesday June 3
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 Northern Ireland 1
Poland 3 Romania 0
Poland’s WNT head coach Nina Patalon (39), who became the first female Polish WNT’s head coach in 2021 and played and coached at local powerhouse Medik Konin, brought in the following 23 players for these final two group matches. They won promotion to League A for the 2027 WWC UEFA qualifiers and are a team to watch this summer at the Women EURO finals.
After five games, Poland—who qualified for the 2025 Women’s EURO Finals this summer—clinched the group and finished the group stage undefeated with 16 points, with only one draw in six matches and won promotion to League A for the next UEFA tournament, while the Irish were second with eight points and go into the League A/B playoffs, Bosnia and Herzegovina had five points and pipped Romania on four points, but both nations were relegated to League C.
Group B2: Republic of Ireland, Türkiye, Slovenia, Greece
Friday May 30
Slovenia 2 Greece 0
Turkey 1 of Republic of Ireland 2
In Istanbul, Ireland overcame a 1-0 lead for Turkey—from Kadar Hankar (25) of Beylerbeyi’s goal just four minutes into the second half—in the last 11 minutes of the match to take a 2-1 win in front of a small crowd of 760. Midfielder Busem Seker (26), who grew up in Germany and plays at Fenerbache, put the ball through her own net on a header that was too high for her goalkeeper in the 80th minute, Selda Akgoz (31) of Fomget of Turkey, who has played 55 senior internationals and entirely with clubs in Turkey during her career.
Then English-born Emily Murphy (22) of Newcastle United in the English Championship (now WSL2) scored in the 89th minute for the winners. Murphy benefited from a mistake by central defender Sejde Abrahamsson (27), who grew up in Sweden, as she slipped as she was going to head the ball forward and it careened backward into Murphy’s path, who took one touch and slammed home a winner. Abrahamsson was a youth international for the Swedes before joining Turkey in 2024 and has played in Sweden, Spain (Sevilla), Italy (Napoli), Czechia (Slavia Prague) and for the past two seasons at Club Brugge (YLA) in Belgium. Murphy played in the States at the University of North Carolina and Wake Forest.
Tuesday June 3
Greece 0 Turkey 1
Republic of Ireland 1 Slovenia 0
Unheralded Slovenia was promoted to League A after tying the Republic of Ireland on 15 points, but had a much better overall goal differential (+10 vs. +4) and the advantage in the second tiebreaker (+3 vs. -3 between the two teams), with Turkey on 6 points facing the League B/C playoffs, while pointless Greece was relegated to League C. The Irish now move onto the League A/B playoffs.
Group B3: Finland, Serbia, Hungary, Belarus
Friday May 30
Serbia 1 Hungary 0
Allegra Poljak (26) of Madrid CFF, where she scored five goals in her first season with the club, scored a 97th minute goal to give Serbia a crucial three points in a win over Hungary (1-0) in front of a tiny crowd of 300 in Stara Pajova.
Belarus 0 Finland 3
Linda Sallstrom (36), in her fourth season with Vittsjo of Sweden, scored two goals in the second half of Finland’s 3-0 win over Belarus in Szeged. Sallstrom played for three seasons at Paris FC from 2018-2021 after four previous seasons at Vittsjo.
Tuesday June 3
Finland 1 Serbia 1
Hungary 0 Belarus 0
For Finland, they only had 22 players because Finland’s WNT manager Outi Saarinen inadvertently called up 51-year-old retired player Stina Ruuskanen, who earned two caps for Finland 29 years ago, instead of 23-year old youth international defender Nanne Ruuskanen, who is in her first season at Djugardens IF of Sweden after two seasons at Brann of Norway. The mistake was caught too late to register Nanne for the UEFA matches.
Saarinen said in a Finnish Football Association statement: “Nanne was, of course, disappointed but took the news very well considering the circumstances. I am very sorry for the mistake.” Stina Ruuskanen joked to Finland newspaper Ilta-Sanomat: “I’m definitely ready if the call comes! Just yesterday I was playing in a hobby (indoor) league match … so my game feel is good”. This wasn’t funny but rather a horrible administrative error—we hope that Nanna Ruuskanen is capped during Finland’s next internationals ahead of the 2025 Women’s EURO finals.
Serbia topped the group with 14 points—undefeated with four wins and two deadlocks—and was promoted to League A, Finland finished second on 11 points, Hungary was third on four points and Belarus was fourth with three points, with both teams relegated to League C for the next UEFA women’s qualifiers, for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. Finland proceeds into the League A/B playoffs which a chance to move up out of League B.
Group B4: Czechia, Ukraine, Croatia, Albania
Friday May 30
Czech Republic 5 Croatia 0
Ukraine 2 Albania 1
Tuesday June 3
Albania 1 Czech Republic 2
Croatia 2 Ukraine 0
Ukraine topped the group with 13 points, even with on points with Czech Republic but with a win and a tie in their head-to-head matches—even though they trailed in total goal differential (+2 vs +13); thus Ukraine advanced to League A for the next tournament while Czech Republic goes into the playoffs for promotion to League A. Albania had six points and go into the League B/C playoffs to remain in League B, with Croatia fourth on three points and was relegated to League C.
League C
Group C1: Slovakia, Faroe Islands, Moldova, Gibraltar
Friday May 30
Slovakia 11 Gibraltar 0
Forward Nikola Rybanska (30) of OFI Crete in Greece scored a hat-trick as Slovakia blasted Gibraltar 11-0, in Presov in front of 3,814 fans, including the first goal of the game in the second minute and Slovakia’s last goal in the 90th minute. Sofia Skerdova (20) had three assists. She plays at Slovacko in the Czech Republic.
Moldova 1 Faroe Islands 1
In Chinsnau, Asia Johannesen (29), in her third season with Pitea of Sweden, opened the scoring for the Faroes in the 23rd minute, which was countered by Iuliana Colnic (20) for Moldova in the 39th minute in Chisinau. Colnic plays with MFA Zalgiris-MRU in Lithuania, scoring 11 goals in 19 games in her first season, including seven goals in one game.
Tuesday June 3
Gibraltar 0 Moldova 4
Faroe Islands 1 Slovakia 2
Ludmila Matavkova (27), in her second season with Anderlecht, scored the winning goal in the 88th minute for the win as Slovakia clinched promotion to League B.
Slovakia finished the group undefeated with 18 points from 6 wins as they won promotion to League B, with Faroe Islands (3-1-2—W-D-L) second on 10 points. Moldova was third with seven points and debutants Gibraltar finished with no points with no goals scored and 30 allowed. The other three sides remain in League C for the next tournament.
Group C2: Malta, Georgia, Cyprus, Andorra
Friday May 30
Andorra 1 Georgia 2
Malta 1 Cyprus 0
Malta striker Haley Bugeja (21) of Inter Milan (ex-Orlando Pride in the NWSL) scored the only goal of the game in the 42nd minute for Malta in a 1-0 defeat of Cyprus, at home in Ta’ Qali in front of 1,205 fans.
Tuesday June 3
Andorra 0 Malta 0
Georgia 1 Cyprus 2
In this very competitive group, Malta won the group and promotion to League B after finishing the group with 13 points, Cyprus was second on ten points and made the League B/C playoffs, Georgia had six points for third and Andorra finished with five points at the foot of the table.
Group C3: Luxembourg, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein
Friday May 30
Kazakhstan 4 Lichtenstein 0
Midfielder Karin Berikova (20) of BIIK Kazygurt scored two goals in Kazakhstan’s 4-0 defeat of Lichtenstein in Almaty in front of only 282 fans.
Luxembourg 2 Armenia 0
Amy Thompson (30), who scored 19 goals in 18 matches this season with Swift Hesperange in Luxembourg, scored the winner in the 14th minute as Luxembourg bested Armenia 2-0. Joana Lourenco (20), who plays with Young Boys Diekirch at home, finished the scoring in the 36th minute.
Tuesday June 3
Liechtenstein 2 Armenia 2
Kazakhstan 1 Luxembourg 3
In the battle for the group title and promotion to League B, Kazakhstan lost Kazyna Norbayeva (20) of BIIK Kazygurt to a red card in the 6th minute, but still took the lead in the 15th from Karina Zhumabaikyzy (28), who plays in Russia with Ryazan. Luxembourg came back with second half goals from Laura Miller (23) of Standard Liege of Belgium in the 51st minute, Kimberley Dos Santos (27) of Racing Fussball Club Union Luxembourg in the 59th minute and Anna Miny (18) in the 93rd minute in Almaty, in front of a slightly larger crowd of 342 than the previous match.
Luxembourg won the group and promotion to League B with 16 points after finishing undefeated with five wins and one tie, Kazakhstan was second with 10 points, Armenia was third with seven points and Liechtenstein had one point, with five goals scored and 26 allowed for a -21 goal differential. The other three teams besides Luxembourg remain in League C.
Group C4: Azerbaijan, Montenegro, Lithuania
Friday May 30
Azerbaijan 0 Lithuania 5
In Baku, Lithuania overwhelmed the Azerbaijan side at home 5-0, with Rimante Jonusaite (21), in her second season at Servette in Switzerland, scoring a brace within the first 30 minutes of the match.
Tuesday June 3
Lithuania 0 Montenegro 1
In another tight League C group, Montenegro (8 points) finished undefeated with two wins and two ties to win promotion to League B. Azerbaijan (5 points) and Lithuania (three points) will remain in League C.
Group C5: Israel, Bulgaria, Estonia
Friday May 30
Estonia 0 Israel 3
Tuesday June 3
Bulgaria 0 Estonia 1
Israel won the group undefeated with ten points and promotion to League B while Estonia finished second with four points, ahead of Bulgaria who had two points.
Group C6: Kosovo, Latvia, North Macedonia
Friday May 30
Latvia 1 North Macedonia 1
Tuesday June 3
Latvia 2 Kosovo 2
Latvia used a Kosovo own goal by Lumbardha Misni (22), who plays with KFF Vizioni of Kosovo, in the 17th minute and a Karlina Miksone (25) penalty kick goal in first half added time to offset Kosovo goals by Blerta Mali (23) in 20th minute—she has played in Sweden and Switzerland in Germany and is now with Clube de Albergaria of Portugal and was a youth international with Germany—and Erelata Memeti (25) of TSG Hoffenheim in Germany in the 31st minute, with all the scoring coming in the first half. Memeti was born in Germany and was also a youth international for Germany before joining Kosovo in 2019. Memeti has 10 goals in 31 WNT games for Kosovo.
Miksone finished the group with three goals, with a brace coming on matchday three in Latvia’s 2-1 win over North Macedonia away. She plays in Poland with Czarni Sosnowiec and has also played in Iceland and Kazakhstan.
Latvia won the group with eight points with two wins and two ties in four games to win promotion to League B, edging Kosovo with seven points, while North Macedonia is at the bottom of the group with one point. Kosovo did advance to the playoffs between League B and League C teams for promotion as one of the two best League C runners-up, not counting games against fourth-placed teams).
2025/26 CONCACAF W Champions Cup Groups are set
After a largely successful first CONCACAF club championship finishing up a few weeks ago (see: The Week in Women's Football: Reviewing Liga MX, CONCACAF Cup and AFC Champions League - TribalFootball.com, from earlier this month), the draw has been set for the second edition to start this fall:
Group A: Club America Femenil, Orlando Pride, CF Pachuca Femenil, LD Alajuelense (Costa Rica), Chorrillo FC (Panama)
Group B: NJ/NY Gotham FC, Washington Spirit, CF Monterrey Femenil, Vancouver Rise FC Academy, Alianza Women FC (El Salvador)
Again, as in 2024-25, each team will have two home matches and two on the road.
Group Stage Week 1: August 19-21, 2025
Group Stage Week 2: September 2-4, 2025
Group Stage Week 3: September 16-18, 2025
Group Stage Week 4: September 30-October 2, 2025
Group Stage Week 5: October 14-16, 2025
At the conclusion of Group Stage play, the top two clubs from each group will progress to the Semifinals of a final four centralized event. The event will include Semifinals, Third Place Match, and Final.
Finals (Semifinals, 3rd Place match, and Final): May 20-23, 2026
Inaugural World Sevens Football Review
World Sevens Football (W7F), which we previewed last month, is a new high investment women’s seven-on-seven tournament for global clubs (see: The Week in Women's Football: A second division in US; bizarre Wolves; Minnesota to go pro - TribalFootball.com). The inaugural tournament was held in late May with eight top women’s sides from Europe in Estoril, Portugal.
In Group 1 on May 21-22, Bayern Munich of Germany—the three time reigning outdoor German Frauen-Bundesliga champions—was undefeated with three wins for three points, with Manchester City second on two points, followed by Ajax of the Netherlands (one point) and Rosengard (0 points).
In Group 2, Manchester United won the group with three wins for three points, with Paris Saint-Germain of France second on two points, while AS Roma of Italy (one point) was third and host nation side Benfica of Portugal finished bottom with no points.
In the semifinals on May 23, Bayern blasted PSG 5-0 while Manchester United won their city derby 2-0 over Man City. Both English sides lost their respective last matches, United to Munich 2-1 in the championship game while PSG defeated City 3-1 for the third place bronze medal.
Japanese international Momoko Tanikawa (20), who joined Munich in 2024 and won a Damallsvenskan title on loan with Rosengaard during the 2024 season in Sweden, won the Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards, with four goals. The top goalkeeper and Golden Glove award winner was also from Bayern Munich—Ena Mahmutovic (21)—who joined Munich in 2024-25 from Duisburg and won one cap with Germany’s WNT in December of 2024 in a 2-1 loss against Italy in a friendly.
Bayern Munich took home a very nice payday of US$2.5 million for a few day’s work from this first World Sevens Football event, about six times more than Arsenal earned from winning the 2024-25 Women’s Champions League (nearly $400,000). Runners-up Manchester United took home US$1 million; a significant sum as they have reportedly spent $12 million on their women’s team this year, finishing third in the WSL and qualifying for next season’s UEFA WCL while finishing runners-up in the FA Cup, so this prize money was a huge gain for the club.
The total prize money on offer in Portugal was $5 million for the eight teams, with the goal of a 60/40 split for club and players. Third-placed PSG earned a handsome $650,000 while City won $350,000. The four teams that didn’t qualify from the group stages earned $125,000 each.
The next event will be in the U.S. later this year, due to some of the investors being American, including former U.S. internationals and Bay FC founder Aly Wagner and now podcaster Tobin Heath, as well Gotham FC minority owner Jennifer Mackesy and her husband, Scott, who also hold an ownership in Chelsea. The plan is to have four editions held around the world, similar to tennis’s Grand Slams every year, with a fifth Champions of Champions edition.
The games had rolling subs and no offsides—common in 5-a-side futsal—and, to break ties, five minutes of golden goal play followed by sudden-death penalties if needed. The games also had a fun atmosphere for fans, like we have seen with the Kings and Queens League (7-a-side football) in Spain and Mexico that Gerald Pique started in 2022.
Bayern captain Glodis Perla Viggosdottir said: “We’re used to playing with a lot of pressure on our shoulders, so coming here, it was just nice to enjoy it.” The stadium was rapidly constructed inside one half of Estoril’s Estádio António Coimbra da Mota, about half an hour west of Lisbon, in order to cater for a number of VIPS (and potential investors), who could watch the games along the pitch with their favorite beverage. What they didn’t have was large crowds. Attendance on the first day was around 150, with one report likening it to games during COVID, but the tournament was staged and started in a smaller city on a midweek afternoon. Total ticket sales for the tournament were 3,500.
For these types of new launch events, the most important benchmark is viewership figures. For the World Sevens Football in Portugal, the first two days attracted a viewership of 800,000 across broadcaster DAZN’s channels, which does not include impressions on social media clips, video on demand or highlights. By comparison, last year’s Champions League final between Barcelona and Lyon attracted an average viewership on DAZN of about 3.6 million.
This first tournament was clearly not a money maker but involves a huge investment to try to establish smaller side football in the same year that FIFA is finally holding a women’s futsal World Cup in the Philippines (see: The Week in Women's Football: A-League & WSL review; examining 2027 Brazil hosting cities - TribalFootball.com).
I think the World Sevens Football needs to show sharp increases in attendance and viewership in future events, though there are concerns that the huge prize money could further disrupt competitive balance in women’s football, which is so important to get right as the game is still developing around the world. Christina Philippou, an associate professor in sport finance at the University of Portsmouth, told The Athletic: “We are already seeing massive rifts which could be detrimental to the long-term sustainability of women’s club football as a whole.”
Adrian Jacob, former general manager for Chelsea Women and the head of football at W7F, explained: “Women’s football doesn’t need to compete against itself. The reality is the Champions League, the FA Cup, the championships are the bread and butter of a professional footballer. We’re not saying we’re going to be bigger than you. We’re trying to create a different space to help amplify the movement together. Let’s give people something else to really enjoy. Let’s put more money into the women’s football ecosystem.”
I think competitive imbalance from the prize money is a concern for a year or two down the line, if the World Sevens continues to grow and attract the top club teams in the world.
A concern for clubs is, if a player sustains a serious injury during these events, which—despite the large prize money—is still viewed as a friendly tournament. A few players did not participate in Portugal while Manchester United’s English international Ella Toone felt some tightness during the tournament and decided not to play, ahead of the UEFA EUROs next month.
The U.S. has had an indoor 7-a-side tournament for men’s and women’s teams called The Soccer Tournament for the last few years in the summer in North Carolina, with the men’s and women’s side each winning $1 million, attracting teams with former internationals and even stars from the entertainment industry.
All of these new soccer tournaments are focused on internet content and was as coverage from broadcast media. They want to connect with traditional soccer fans while aiming for an audience with a large percentage of Gen Z and younger generations who watch sports on their phones in short highlight segments. The Kings and Queens League had team owners and even players who are influencers and was very focused on internet views.
Ally Wagner, when talking about W7F, said: “The opportunity really is to have a solution that is incrementally beneficial, that is additive to the current women’s football landscape. You think about the way that fans fall in love with teams and sports and players, it is really through those high entertainment moments.”
The World Sevens Football was the first to use current outdoor teams and their top players, while these other formats have built around former players, or current players who are not as well known or even recently out-of-contract.
The money is attractive for teams entering the World Sevens Football and these tournaments will be interesting to follow in the further editions, particularly in its relationship with futsal, which it thus far is distinguishing itself from with their outdoor teams and using two extra players on each side. We should have a better assessment for both at the end of the year, after one of two more W7F and the first FIFA Women’s Futsal World Cup is held.
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey