February 5 – At last year’s World Cup in Russia FIFA president Gianni Infantino said that it would be “difficult to think about the World Cup without VAR”, but it remained unclear if he was also referring to the women’s game.
January 22 – Former England women’s team manager Mark Sampson has apologised “unreservedly” to internationals Eniola Aluko and Drew Spence for comments he made during his tenure, saying he will “forever regret” the situation following his sacking.
December 12 – World champions the United States have another mouth-watering clash with old rivals Sweden at next year’s women’s World Cup in France following the draw held at the weekend.
December 6 – UEFA Women’s Football has signed a landmark seven-year sponsorship with Visa that will run until 2025.
By Samindra Kunti
December 3 – Nigeria retained their stranglehold on African women’s football, winning a ninth Africa Cup of Nations with 4-3 penalty shoot-out win against South Africa in the final. In the third-place playoff, Cameroon claimed Africa’s last ticket for next year’s Women’s World Cup in France.
December 3 – Spain claimed their first-ever U-17 Women’s World Cup after defeating Mexico 2-1 in Montevideo. They succeed North Korea as world champions.
November 30 – Spain and Mexico will lock horns on Saturday to decide who takes gold at the U17 Women’s World Cup in Uruguay.
November 26 – Mali progressed to the knockout phase of the women’s African Cup of Nations for the first time in seven attempts at the expense of hosts Ghana in group A. Reigning champions Nigeria, South Africa and Cameroon complete the semi-final line-up.
November 23 – Defending champions Korea DPR progressed to the quarter-finals, but the United States were among the casualties as the U-17 Women’s World Cup in Uruguay reached the knockout phase.
November 19 – Hosts Ghana kicked off the 2018 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations with a 1-0 win against Algeria in Accra on Saturday. South Africa provided the first major upset of the finals defeating powerhouse Nigeria 1-0.
November 15 – The Netherlands sealed Europe’s last ticket for next year’s Women’s World Cup in France with a 1-1 draw away to Switzerland. The reigning European champions had won the first leg 4-2.
November 12 – The Netherlands defeated Switzerland 3-0 in the first leg of the Women’s World Cup play-off final on Friday to take full control of the tie as Sherida Spitse, Lieke Martens and Vivianne Miedema all got on the scoreboard in the second half. The second leg is set for Tuesday.
October 30 – Funding the women’s game is still a battle for equality. FIFA announced a boost to the Women’s World Cup prize fund last week and president Gianni Infantino said that he hoped the women’s World Cup would soon generate similar income levels as the men’s competition.
October 29 – The world players’ union FIFPro says the huge increase in prize money announced last week by the FIFA Council for the women’s game is not enough to redress gender inequality.
October 29 – Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz attracted the biggest crowd for a women’s game in Europe at the weekend with 3,914 watching the World Cup qualifiers play Nottingham Forest Ladies at The City Ground.