Despite the international break, the world of women's football brought a lot of stories in the last week of November that you may have missed.
During the international break, it wasn’t only friendlies that took place. France and Sweden faced each other for the bronze medal, while Germany and Spain played for gold. However, neither match — with the return legs scheduled for next week on Tuesday, 2 December — gave fans a clear favourite.
We’ll start with the final, the clash of the very best. The first leg was played in Germany, where the captain’s armband returned to Giulia Gwinn, who due to injury played only a few minutes at the Euros. Despite the match featuring a total of 22 shots on target, Ann-Katrin Berger and Cata Coll stopped everything. The game ended 0–0, meaning the second leg in Spain will decide the winner.
France do go into the bronze-medal match — which will be hosted at Stockholm’s 3Arena — with a one-goal advantage, but Sweden can easily erase that at home with the backing of their renowned Soft Hooligans supporters.
During the international break, the Lionesses hosted China at a sold-out Wembley. In a match that ended in a complete demolition of the opposition, 8–0, several storylines emerged. Let’s start with Georgia Stanway. The English midfielder, currently playing for Bayern Munich, is widely rumoured not to be extending her contract with the Bavarian club and to be heading for a new destination in the spring. What we do know, however, is that in the match against China she managed something that only Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones had done before her — scoring a hat-trick at Wembley.
During the match there was also a farewell ceremony for Fran Kirby, who ended her international career before the Euros. In goal, Anna Moorhouse made her debut for the national team. Before the end of the international break, the Lionesses still have a friendly against Ghana ahead of them.
The Swedes are no longer accompanied on their path to bronze by former captain Magdalena Eriksson, who recently ended her career. The upcoming match will also be the last for Linda Sembrant, who announced her retirement from the Swedish national team before the Euros. The 38-year-old defender has more than 150 international appearances to her name, along with four World Cups, two European Championships, and two Olympic Games.
This year undoubtedly belonged to Chelsea and Lionesses goalkeeper Hannah Hampton. The girl who was born with an eye condition and was advised by doctors not to pursue sport — let alone become a goalkeeper — was named the BBC Footballer of the Year. It’s the perfect conclusion to her successful season both at club and international level. With Chelsea she won the domestic treble, became the Lionesses’ first-choice keeper, and played a major role in England’s Euro triumph, saving two penalty shootouts. She also won the Yashin Trophy at the Ballon d’Or and finished tenth overall — the only goalkeeper in the rankings.
A Cinderella story was also written in the American NWSL. NY Gotham entered the playoffs from eighth place, which meant their opponent was the dominant KC Current — a team that hadn’t lost a single home match all season and rightfully sat at the top of the table. But NY Gotham, with Ann-Katrin Berger in goal, showed that in football you should never give up, knocking out the title favourites in the very first round of the playoffs.
In the final, they narrowly edged out the Washington Spirit and claimed their second title in three seasons. Rose Lavelle secured it for them with the match’s only goal.
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