We look at the World Sevens Tournament held in Florida this month with eight teams from six countries in the Americas, including AFC Toronto, two NWSL sides and two from Liga MX Femenil. We have an update on the NWSL’s effort to change its salary cap rules to accommodate a record contract offer from the Washington Spirit to U.S. WNT international Trinity Rodman, to keep her in the team and in the league, when things a week ago were decidedly bleak in terms of keeping her.
She still has to accept the offer, but the NWSL’s move was an important step to keep their top players in the league as leagues abroad—particularly in Europe—continue to increase offers to attract top players, particularly those out-of-contact. We finally sum up the first two qualifying rounds for the first FIFA Women’s Champions Cup, with the semifinals set for next January in London.
2025 Northern Super League Playoffs
We last looked at the 2025 Northern Super League season in October, with just a few games left in the regular season (see: The Week in Women's Football: Matt Beard's passing; Mata and Chiellini Bristol City investment - TribalFootball.com). Since then, the new Canadian league has crowned their first champion and named the individual award winners and team of the season. In a very competitive league all season long on the field and at the gate, Vancouver Rise won the first championship title with a come-from-behind 2-1 win in Toronto against AFC Toronto, who won the Supporter’s Shield for finishing first in the regular season.
The Supporter’s Shield winners (regular season top side) AFC Toronto was heavily favored and easily dispatched fourth ranked Montreal 2-0 and 4-1 across the two legs in the semifinals for a 6-1 aggregate win. In the second leg in the Toronto suburb of York, Ontario, Nigerian international Esther Okoronkwo (28)—who won the WAFCON this past summer—scored a natural hat-trick within the first half hour of the match. Okoronkwo came to North America to play collegiately and then played professionally in France, Spain and last season with Changchun Dazhong Zhuoyue of China. The second leg in Ontario was played on a snow-covered pitch at York Lions Stadium, which was delayed a day because of heavy snow in the region.
In the other semifinal, Vancouver won the first leg at home over Ottawa Rapid 2-1 as Latifah Abdu (24), who was capped once by Canada in 2023 and played professionally for a number of clubs in France, scored two goals by the 21st minute in front of 3,533 in suburban Burnaby. In the return leg in Ottawa, the Rapid won 2-1 and after 30 minutes of extra time, the Rise won 5-4 on penalties to advance to the final. DB (Delaney Brae) Pridham (28) scored two of Ottawa’s three goals in the series as well as her team’s first penalty in the shootout (see more below).
In the championship final on November 15 at BMO Field—the Canadian national soccer stadium in Toronto—attracted 12, 429 on a quite cold day. (With a better weather forecast, the game could have attracted 15,000-20,000, according to reads on fan interest and ticket requests, which would have set a league record for single game attendance). The home side took the lead through a goal by Kaylee Hunter (17) in the 20th minute. The Rise stormed back in the second half, starting with an own goal by Toronto goalkeeper Sierra Cota-Yarde, when the defense made a mess of American midfielder Nikki Stanton’s (who played for 10 years in the NWSL and in Norway, Australia and France) corner kick.
Holly Ward (22)—who played collegiately in the U.S. at the University of Texas and tied for sixth in goals during the NSL regular season with six goals—scored the ultimate championship winner in the 68th minute. The game was stopped for 30 minutes because of lighting and a downpour of rain late in the first half. Vancouver Rise’s Ontario-born goalkeeper Morgan McAslan (25) led her defense in the second half and was named the Player of the Match; Toronto led Vancouver in shots (16 vs. 8) and shots on goal (8 vs. 3).
Vancouver Rise thus captured the Diana B Matheson Cup, named after the league’s founder and CEO, who was an iconic former Canadian international midfielder. Toronto hadn’t lost a match since an August 17 1-0 defeat to Vancouver before 7,771 fans at BMO Field, where Vancouver attacker Jessica De Filippo (24)—a Canadian youth international who has played for clubs in the WPSL in the States, in Germany and Spain—scored the lone goal.
In summing up the first season of the Northern Super League, the league office said that more than 275,000 tickets were sold (including playoffs), putting attendance figures in the top-five globally among women’s football leagues, with a regular season average of 3,633. The league also generated CDN$30 million (US$26,100 million) in revenue and established partnerships with 16 organizations, with more than 50 partners involved with the clubs. Over three million people watched league games across traditional broadcast channels and the NSL also had strong viewing rates with digital content.
At the championship final, League founder and former Canadian National Team member Diana Matheson was asked if she felt that the league exceeded expectations in their first year, and she replied: “Yes and no. I would say where we’re ending year one is exactly where we wanted to be. That said, we had high expectations. We knew we were building from scratch, but we’re in Canada—we have one of the best countries (for supporting) women’s sport and which has the highest participation rates out there in putting girls in sport. We set the bar high, but I say we’ve met it in year one.”
Another plus for the league is that, just before the Championship final, the Canadian government pledged up to CDN$5.45 million (US$4 million) to deliver: “transformative upgrades for facilities used by the league,” across the country. Government Ministers confirmed that federal economic development agencies had entered discussions with the League to assess its needs and explore how to support the long-term growth of women’s professional soccer in Canada. Additional opportunities to support regional economic development and community infrastructure tied to NSL expansion will also be explored by government agencies. In Ontario, where AFC Toronto and Ottawa Rapid are based, the Final was expected to generate over CDN$12 million (US8.7 million) in economic activity and the Provincial Government was investing CDN$180,000 (US$131,000) to help break down barriers and increase women’s participation in sport.
Matheson has said that the league intends to have one expansion franchise for the 2027 season, likely in the west—where the league only has two of its six current teams—with Edmonton and Winnipeg the most likely locales to join the league.
One of the founding goals of the NSL was to provide a pathway for young Canadians wanting to play professional football. Of the 148 players on the six sides, 101 were Canadian, with seven subsequently receiving senior international call-ups, including the scorer of the winning goal in the final, Holly Ward, who was capped in April by Canada against Argentina (a 1-0 loss in Langford, a suburb of Victoria, B.C.) and now has seven caps and two goals, including a first ever WNT goal by a NSL player on June 3 in a 3-1 win over Haiti in Montreal. Of the other 47 players, they come from 19 countries, with more than half of these joining the league from Tier 1 leagues.
It will be interesting to follow the discussion of whether people see the NSL as a division 1 or division 2 league. Within the U.S., with Matheson a former NWSL player, it is viewed as a division 2 league, with a number of imports/loan agreements from the NWSL in year one helping to reinforce that impression. A few years ago, I asked former Canadian WNT head coach Bev Priestman (now the head coach of Wellington Phoenix in Australia’s Ninja A-League) how she viewed the, at that time, planned league, and she felt that it would be a developmental league for Canada’s WNT and would eventually feed NWSL teams, where a key core of her WNT players were based at the time. (See below the latest Canadian WNT roster, which still has a core set of players in the American league).
However, in Canada, the Norther Super League is the division one league. Some of their Canadians have played for Casey Stoney’s Canadian WNT this year and, paired with top caliber talent like AFC Toronto’s Nigerian international Esther Okoronkwo, new Canadian national team pool player DB Pridham of Ottawa (see below) and Jackie Sawicki of Calgary and the Philippines WNT captain, more and more people around the world will view the NSL as a division one league. A key benchmark will be how they do in future CONCACAF W Champions Cup tournaments versus top NWSL and Liga MX Femenil sides. Within weeks of the Championship game, AFC Toronto participated in the second World Sevens Tournament in Florida and did well, narrowly missing the semifinals but defeating the 2025 NWSL regular season champion Kansas City Current. We will discuss this tournament in more detail below.
In addition, the NSL has been groundbreaking with its player payment philosophy in year one, with a minimum wage of CDN$50,000 (US$36,500) and an average salary across the league of CDN$75,000 (US$54,500), which has been reported as the highest for a women’s league in the world. As mentioned above, they are among the top five leagues globally for attendance, with a 3,633 per game average. At the team level, the attendance averages were:
Vancouver Rise 4,245
AFC Toronto 4,058
Halifax Tides 3,915
Calgary Wild 3,366
Montreal Roses 3,221
Ottawa Rapid 3,042
2025 Northern Super League Award Winners
Delaney Baie (DB) Pridham of Ottawa won the regular season Golden Boot title with 18 goals. She grew up in the U.S. but qualified to play for Canada and was called into her first camp in November. NSL Rookie of the Year Kaylee Hunter of Toronto (17) was second on 14 goals, with Latifah Abdu of Vancouver (though she started the season with Montreal) was third with 9 goals.
Fourth was Nigerian international Esther Okoronkwo of AFC Toronto with eight goals and fifth was Canadian international Jessica De Filippo of Vancouver with seven goals. Okoronkwo led the league in assists with seven while Pridham scored the only hat-trick in the regular season in a 4-0 win over Toronto in Toronto on June 7. Goalkeeper Morgan McAslan of Vancouver led the league with nine shutouts, followed by Quebec native Melissa Dagenais (25) of Ottawa Rapid with seven.
Pridham was named the league’s Player of the Year and Forward of the Year. Canadian international Emma Regan (25) of Toronto was named as the Midfielder of the Year. American Jylissa Harris (25) of Ottawa was named Defender of the Year and Halifax’s Canadian-born Slovakian international Anika Toth (23) was selected as the Goalkeeper of the Year.
One of Pridham’s teammates at the Rapid, Jyllissa Harris, was named NSL Defender of the Year. She led the league with 1,734 passes and 2,141 touches and started play frequently out of defense. She grew up in New Jersey and spent parts of the past two seasons with the Houston Dash. Harris was selected by the Dash in the second round of the 2023 NWSL Draft following a five-year career at the University of South Carolina.
2025 NSL Team of the Season (voted by players)
Goalkeeper:
Anika Toth of Slovakia and Halifax Tides
Defenders:
American Colby Barnett of AFC Toronto
American Jyllissa Harris of Ottawa Rapid
Canadian Stephanie Hill of Montreal
Canadian Olivia Scott of Ottawa
Midfielders:
American Meggie Dougherty Howard of Calgary
Korea Republic Lee-Min-a of Ottawa
Canadian Emma Regan of Toronto
Forwards.
Canadian Kaylee Hunter of Toronto
Nigerian Esther Okoronkwo of Toronto
Canadian Delaney Baie Pridham of Ottawa
Pridham was among the Canadian WNT call-ups for Japan friendlies
DB Pridham (28) was called up by Canada for the first time for their last two internationals of the season in Japan (in which Japan won 3-0 and 1-0). She said at the time: “Being called up to the Canadian National Team is an incredible honour and something I’ve worked towards throughout my entire career. The opportunity to represent Canada on the world stage is one I value deeply. I’m grateful to the trainers and coaches who’ve believed in me, and to my family, whose unwavering support means everything. This truly is a dream come true.” Pridham previously played for clubs in Sweden and Iceland.
The American-born Pridham, whose mother and father are Canadian, ultimately ended up training with Canada’s WNT team but was not able to play as she has not yet secured her passport.
Canada’s WNT assistant coach Natalie Henderson said about Pridham’s passport issue: “She was aware of this before she came into camp. We were aware of it. We tried our very best to get it over the line as quickly as possible, but unfortunately we haven’t been able to do that. So, she won’t be eligible for selection (against Japan). However, she has been in (camp) as a training player and has done very well so far.” Henderson, a native of Newcastle in England, joined head coach Casey Stoney’s staff in April; she previously was the head coach of England’s under-17 women’s team and coached at Newcastle United’s men’s academy. She was in charge of the latest Canada camp as Casey Stoney was away in England with her ailing mother.
The Canadian women, entering the Japan matches, had lost three straight games: 1-0 to No. 24 Switzerland and No. 11 Netherlands in late October after a 3-0 loss to the second-ranked U.S. in July. After the 3-0 and 1-0 defeats to Japan away on November 29 and December 2, respectively, Canada has now lost five games in a row. The success of the NSL in its first season and some talented young players offsets the concerns with the recent WNT results.
Other than Pridham, the 23-player Canadian roster for the Japan games was essentially the same as the 24-player squad called up for the October international window games in Europe. Veteran defender Vanessa Gilles of Bayern Munich in Germany returned from injury, while defender Zara Chavoshi (23) of the Orlando Pride and teenage striker Kaylee Hunter (17) of AFC Toronto were not called in. Canada was also without forward Olivia Smith, at Arsenal’s request. The Gunners did not want Smith, who suffered a hip injury playing for Canada during the October international window, to make the long trip to Japan. Her absence led to Pridham’s call-up.
Utah Royals forward Cloe Lacasse, while back from a knee injury suffered in October 2024, is not expected to be rejoin Canada until next year. Kadeisha Buchanan from Chelsea FC, Gabrielle Carle of Washington Spirit, and Lysianne Proulx from Juventus FC were all unavailable for selection due to injury. Annabelle Chukwu of the University of Notre Dame and Kayla Briggs of Michigan State University were unavailable for selection by mutual agreement with their colleges. The camp for the Japan games included three NSL players, nine from NWSL clubs in the U.S., five from clubs in England, four from France, and one each in Germany and France:
Goalkeepers:
Sabrina D’Angelo—Aston Villa (ENG)
Kailen Sheridan—San Diego Wave FC (USA)
Emily Burns—FC Nantes (FRA)
Defenders:
Ashley Lawrence—OL Lyonnes (FRA)
Shelina Zadorsky—West Ham United FC (ENG)
Vanessa Gilles—FC Bayern Munich (GER)
Jade Rose—Manchester City WFC (ENG)
Sydney Collins—Bay FC (USA)
Jayde Riviere—Manchester United WFC (ENG)
Marie Levasseur—Montpellier HSC (FRA)
Midfielders:
Simi Awujo—Manchester United WFC (ENG)
Jessie Fleming—Portland Thorns FC (USA)
Marie-Yasmine Alidou—Portland Thorns FC (USA)
Julia Grosso—Chicago Red Stars (USA)
Emma Regan—AFC Toronto (CAN)
Florianne Jourde—Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Forwards:
Jordyn Huitema of Seattle Reign FC (USA)
Adriana Leon of San Diego Wave FC (USA)
Nichelle Prince of Kansas City Current (USA)
Delaney Baie Pridham from Ottawa Rapid FC (CAN)
Janine Sonis from Racing Louisville FC (USA)
Evelyne Viens of AS Roma (ITA)
Holly Ward of Vancouver Rise FC (CAN)
2025 December World Sevens Football Tournament in Ft. Lauderdale 2025 Review
The San Diego Wave won the World Sevens Football second tournament earlier this month in Florida, after the international seven-a-side tournament for women’s club sides debuted this summer in Portugal (see: The Week in December 2025 Women's Football: Carmona leaves Real Madrid; World Sevens; reviewing Nations League - TribalFootball.com). This was the first event held in North America, for which globally the organizers hope to stage 3-4 a year around the world. This was a feast for club teams from CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, with six nations represented.
In the final on December 7, San Deigo Wave defeated powerhouse UANL Tigres of Monterrey, Mexico in the championship (3-1). In the third-fourth place match, Club America of Mexico City defeated Flamengo of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1-0). San Diego earned the right to lift the second-ever W7F championship trophy and take home the US$2,000,000 prize, a hefty payday in any sports, out of a total prize package of US$5 million. The games were held at Beyond Bancard Field in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on the campus of Nova Southeastern University, which holds only 2,000 spectators.
The participants were: Flamengo (Brazil), Club América (Mexico), Deportivo Cali (Colombia), Tigres (Mexico), Toronto (Canada), Kansas City Current (USA), Club Nacional de Football (Uruguay), and San Diego Wave FC (USA).
UANL Tigres’ forward Maria Sanchez, who joined Tigres from the Wave earlier this year (see: The Week in Women's Football: Looking at top 7 teams of NWSL - TribalFootball.com) won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player while also winning the Golden Boot award as the top scorer, with six goals and two assists. The other two award winners came from the Wave, with German youth international Gia Corley (23) winning the Breakout Player award and American-born goalkeeper DiDi Haracic (33), a full international in the past with Bosnia and Herzegovina, winning the Golden Glove award as the best goalkeeper in the event.
For the Wave, who scored 14 goals and allowed only three in five matches with five wins, Makenzy Robbe (31), who has been with San Diego since their first season in 2022 and joined the NWSL in 2016, winning a league title that season with the Western New York Flash and two years later with the Carolina Courage, led the team with four goals, while Canadian international Adriana Leon scored three goals and an assist—with a brace in the final against Tigres. Haracic had two clean sheets and surrendered only two goals, making 12 saves in 5 games.
Match Day 1 Results
Flamengo 3, Kansas City Current 2
San Diego Wave 3, Deportivo Cali 1
UANL Tigres 3, AFC Toronto 2
Club America 5, Club Nacional 2
San Diego started strong in their first match, finishing with a 3-1 win over Deportivo Cali as French international midfielder Delphine Cascarino scored within the first minute. Cali tied it up through Leidy Cobos (24) but, just before the break, Nya Harrison set up Makenzy Robbe to score and restore the Wave’s lead. French international Kenza Dali crossed for Swedish international Hanna Lundkvist (23) to volley the ball home for the final goal. Lundkvist is out of contract and, as a free agent, Manchester United of the WSL is pursuing her signature. She played the last two seasons with the Wave after three seasons with Atletico Madrid in Spain’s Liga F.
In UANL Tigres of Mexico’s first game, Mexican international forward Maria Sanchez scored a hat-trick against AFC Toronto of the NSL, countering goals by Nigerian international Esther Okoronkwo and Canadian youth international and team captain Nikayla Small (22) from Kaylee Hunter’s pinpoint cross, which gave Toronto a 2-1 lead shortly after half-time. But Sanchez scored twice more for the win for Tigres.
Match Day 2—Second Set of Games Results
Flamengo 2, AFC Toronto 2 (2-1 Shootout)
Kansas City Current 2, Tigres 2 (2-1 Shootout)
Nacional 0, Deportivo Cali 4
San Diego Wave 0, Club America 0 (1-0 Shootout)
Match Day 2—Third Set of Games Results
Kansas City Current 2, AFC Toronto 3
Flamengo 0, UANL Tigres 3
San Diego Wave 3, Nacional 1
Deportivo Cali 0, Club America 3
In the last game of group play, AFC Toronto—which won the NSL Supporter’s Shield for topping the regular season table—defeated 2025 NWSL Shield regular season winner Kansas City Current 3-2 in a game that indicates the quality of play in the NSL during the league’s first season and was a fine end of season result for the Canadians. Kylee Hunter had two goals and an assist. Alex Pfeiffer of KC also had a brace. Okoronkwo had a goal ruled out of play but, in the last minute, Hunter found Okoronkwo with a perfect cross for the Nigerian international to score from close range. Earlier in the day, AFC Toronto tied Flamengo 2-2 but lost on penalties 2-1, with Kaylee Hunter scoring on Toronto’s first goal on an assist from Nikki Small.
Match Day 3-–Semifinals and Championship matches
Semi Finals
Match 13 —Tigres UANL 2, Club América 1 (after extra time)
Match 14 — San Diego Wave 5, Flamengo 1
Third Place Match
Club America 1, Flamengo 0
Championship Game
UANL Tigres 0, San Diego Wave 3
This reporter’s take is that there were some strong positives to take from this first World Sevens Football tournament for women’s club teams that was held within CONCACAF (in the U.S.). I watched a number of games on television and the San Diego Wave was well worth their championship win, while Tigres of Monterrey was also fantastic to watch, with Mexican international forward Maria Sanchez again stellar, making me wonder why she is so underappreciated in North America; I think could be a huge star in Spain or France, though at Tigres in Monterrey she has high visibility and proximity to WNT camps. With seven players on the shorter field (half the size of a regulation pitch and 2 meter tall by 5.5 meter wide goals), unlimited substitution and no offside rule, the 30 minute games were vibrant and competitive.
I do worry about the financial viability of the events and the organizers, including Bay FC co-founder and former U.S. WNT international midfielder Aly Wagner, has talked this summer about staying the course and that this tournament is a long-term investment. Gotham FC minority owner Jennifer Mackesy (and part of the capital group that owns Chelsea FC in England) and her husband, Scott, have made a personal investment of US$100 million over five years.
The payment of $10 million in prize money across the 16 teams in the two tournaments this year is great for the clubs and the players but represents 10% of their investment alone, before other costs—stadium rental, team expenses and the like are accounted for. I think the prize money attracts the top clubs and their players or else it would be just another exhibition played in front of low three or four figure crowds, as we have seen earlier this year in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup (see: The Week in Women's Football: Speaking with Samya Hassani; A-League preview - TribalFootball.com). However, can the Sevens event exist playing in a small stadium (2,000 capacity) with a decided lack of fans that was nowhere near a sellout on any day? I like the concept and it is good football, but is television and some sponsor revenue enough for the prize money and other event costs?
I do understand brand and product building from my market research activities but I’m skeptical and will probably stay that way if W7F only comes to each Confederation one or two times a year. They could be onto something here and it could break through to be popular as a new version of the women’s game, but without a Sevens league in any market to complement it and keep the code alive for longer than three days, it could struggle for viability. The women’s game have seen so many international club events this year—a dizzying amount to try to keep up with—that I just worry about this concept sticking among a plethora of competitive events.
The constant loud music and other razmataz features at the recent W7F were so typically American, and the multiple announcers talking over each other (including former USWNT players Julie Foudy and Shannon Boxx, as well as former Colombian international Melissa Ortiz, former New Zealand international Ali Riley, former NWSL players and NWSL announcers Lori Lindsey, Darian Jenkins and Jordan Angeli, and current U.S. internationals Olivia Moultrie (20) of Portland and Avery Patterson (23) of Houston). It was just too many people trying to talk and it didn’t work; quite frankly it was the reason I watched the last two games with the sound on mute. It must be said that it was an impressive list of networks televising the event, including DAZN in Europe, TNT and Tru TV in the U.S. and HBO Max, ESPN and Disney+ to their subscribers.
These W7F events have set a precedence by involving top tier clubs and the money which they are competing for. The idea of these clubs’ creating seven-a-side teams to go with their main 11-a-side is almost ludicrous to think about—though indoor soccer replaced outdoor soccer in the U.S. on the men’s professional club side in the 1980’s and 1990’s (with ice hockey dasher boards). The fans—few that there were who attended—want to see the top players and right now, it is viewed as an off-season set of games and more of an exhibition event.
Trinity Rodman and the NWSL’s effort to keep her in the league—an update
Last week we discussed the NWSL’s stated wish to keep out-of-contract Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman (23) with the Spirit and in the league, and while the Spirit put together a $1 million a year contract offer for her, the league officials initially were not willing to alter its strict salary cap rules per team to allow her and other top contract earners to play in the league (see our column last week: The Week in Women's Football: Gotham FC win NWSL title; Berman interview; Futsal World Cup - TribalFootball.com).
This week it seems that the league has approved a new mechanism to allow at least one high priced salary player for each team while competing against European teams who can pay high six figures or low seven figure annual salaries. It will mirror the Designated Player Rule that was developed for David Beckham for 2007 by Major League Soccer and now MLS teams can sign three DPs and offer unlimited funds to any player (such as Leo Messi with InterMiami). The NWSL is implementing a similar system but calling it a mechanism for “High Impact Players” and specifies a set amount of money beyond the salary cap that can be spent on star players, reportedly up to $1 million.
It is assumed that a team could use that amount on multiple new players. The NWSL would set parameters for players who qualify for that status—including performance and marketing benchmarks—which could result in another NWSLPA complaint. According to ESPN, the cap hit per team would be 12%. The marketing aspect is interesting as international agents at times are critical of signings by North American leagues, as they seem to prioritize players with large social media presences over their playing records. I admit I am a purist and feel that it should all be about a player’s record with past clubs and international teams (if applicable), which should drive knowledgeable fans to their games. I understand marketing potential as a factor to analyze, but some general managers get the balance wrong. This will be an interesting aspect to analyze for future “High Impact Players” signings, if this indeed is implemented by the NWSL. Of course, now we need to wait to see if Trinity Rodman will sign the contract or move elsewhere.
Note: At press time, the NWSL’s Player Association opposed this new plan, with their executive director, Meghann Burke saying: “The league is trying to control and interfere by trying to dictate which players get paid what with this pot of funds. Our position is that teams—GMs, soccer ops, business folks at the team level—are uniquely positioned to make judgment calls about how to structure their rosters, how to negotiate deals. We genuinely believe that how you measure a player’s value, both in terms of sporting merit and business criteria, is nuanced. It is more complicated than a handful of bullet points.
It is within the purview of the teams to make those judgement calls, and in a system of free agency like we all agreed to, that’s how it works. It’s a free market.” Burke’s initial counter plan is that the NWSL raise the salary cap by $1 million per team starting with the 2026 season (currently at $3.5 million for the 2025 season)—the same amount that this new HIP rule would allocate. While the league and Player Association argue this, Trinity Rodman’s future is on hold. We will keep the reader apprised of how this situation all works out.
FIFA Women’s Champions Cup Semifinals are set
The Final Four is set for the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup for club teams, to be held in January of 2026, with the finals in England.
On October 8 in Round 1, 2024-25 AFC Women’s Champions League champions Wuhan Jiangda of China defeated Auckland United, the 2025 OFC Women’s Champions League, 1-0 in front of 32,318 fans at the Wuhan Sports Center. In Round 2 on December 14, in Berrechid, Morocco, in front of a much smaller crowd of 2,689, AS FAR of Morocco defeated Wuhan Jiangda 2-1 after extra time, with Sanaa Mssoudy (25), a full international for Morocco, scoring the winning goal in the 104th minute. Mssoudy has won nine league titles with AS FAR since 2016 and two Women’s Champions League titles in Africa with the club in 2022 and 2025, the latter qualifying them for this tournament (see our column from earlier this month: The Week in Women's Football: Asian and African Champions League focus - TribalFootball.com).
On January 28, the semifinals will be held in London at Brentford Community Stadium, with Corinthians—who won the 2025 Copa Libertadores Femenina this fall (see our column from last month: The Week in Women's Football: Isabelle Kadzban exclusive on Chilean development; Copa Libertadores review - TribalFootball.com)—facing Gotham FC of the NWSL, the 2025-25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup winner in May of 2025. London-based Arsenal, who won the 2024-25 UEFA Women’s Champions League by defeating Barcelona 1-0 on May 24 in Lisbon, faces AS FAR.
The third-fourth place match and the championship final will be held at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in London, setting up Arsenal to potentially host the first FIFA club world championship match.
The Women’s Champions Cup will be staged in years when the FIFA Women’s Club World Cup is not scheduled; the latter tournament is set to start in 2028 with 19 teams—including a play-in tournament.
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