QB weekly: 3. 8. - 9. 8. 2026

This week was dominated mainly by the change in the Manchester United dugout, where Marc Skinner left after six years. Unfortunately, we also have a sad injury new from OL Lyonnes. But there’s good news too: WAFCON has moved into the playoffs, and Brighton Women gonna enter the season not only with some interesting new signings, but also with a brand new sponsor.

Managerial change at Manchester United

Let's start with the biggest news from the last week. On Monday 3rd August Manchester United Women announced the departure of the head coach Marc Skinner after six years with the Red Devils.

Skinner was repeatedly criticised for the club’s results, as despite some interesting signings, he failed to deliver results, even though United reached cup finals several times. In the 2025/26 season, Manchester United lost to Chelsea in the Subway Cup final, then finished fourth in the WSL, missing out on European competetions.

Skinner will be replaced by Eva Olid, who led Hearts to their historic first title in Scotland. Her arrival also increases the percentage of female coaches in the WSL to 60%. The longest-serving coach in the league is now Chelsea’s Sonia Bompastor, who has been with the team since the start of the 2024/25 season.

Brand new sponzor for Brighton Women

Brighton are showing that their women’s team is a major priority for the club. The good news started at the end of last season, when the club announced that the women’s team would get their own new modern stadium. The good news continued during the transfer window, with a number of interesting new signings arriving at Brighton. Now, there is even more good news, with the announcement of a new sponsor: Pinterest, which is now a partner of the women’s team. The deal is for four years.

Zambia is out of WAFCON

We can’t forget about what’s happening in Morocco rignt now. The 2026 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations has moved into its second half and we’re now in the playoffs. The most intriguing situation was in Group C, where strong teams Malawi, Nigeria and Zambia all finished on the same number of points. In the end, Zambia failed to make the playoffs despite some excellent performances from Barbra Banda, who scored five goals and provided one assist during the group stage. We’ll know the winner on 16 August.

Nightmare for Johanna Rytting Kaneryd

Swedish winger Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, who recently left Chelsea to join OL Lyonnes, is living through a nightmare. Unfortunately, it will be some time before she can play a competitive match for her new club. She tore her ACL during training and will therefore miss a large part of the season, including the battle to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2027, where Sweden will first face Lithuania, followed by the winner of Scotland/Czechia. Given how important Kaneryd is to the team, this is sad news for Tony Gustavsson as well.

Lucy Bronze supported UEFA's boycott

We informed you last week about the situation surrounding the 2027 FIFA World Cup and a potential boycott by UEFA over the actions of FIFA president Gianni Infantino. In the event of a boycott, European countries would not take part in the tournament, which for Lucy Bronze, for example, would probably mean that she would no longer have a chance to play at a World Cup in her career. The Lionesses defender herself, however, backed UEFA’s actions. “I think the players who play in those competitions, the European players, we stand by our beliefs and what the right thing is for our game. And if that means boycotting competitions, then that has to happen,” Bronze told ESPN.

Ted Lasso season 4 is out now

We’ve had some bad news, so let’s end with something nice. Season 4 of Ted Lasso came out on Apple TV last week. For the first time ever, the popular coach will take charge of a women’s team, and who else but Leah Williamson consulted on the script. Women’s football is still not that common in pop culture, so having a women’s team featured in such a popular series is definitely great news.