The five-minute read for dedicated-ish fans of women’s football.

This week: Manchester United start afresh, WAFCON serves up a shock, and a record-breaking transfer takes a City favourite abroad. Plus: that FIFA boycott still won't go away.

– Jo, founder of Twentytwo

🇦🇫 Afghanistan's women's team have played their first matches as a Fifa-recognised side. The exiled squad reunited in New Zealand for two friendlies against the Cook Islands, their first games since Fifa ruled in April that they can represent Afghanistan without approval from the Taliban-run federation. They lost 1-0 and 3-0. Read more

⚖️ UEFA hasn't dropped its threat to boycott Fifa competitions, even after Fifa backed down. Infantino abandoned his plan to sell off a stake in Fifa's tournaments on 1 August, but UEFA says the apology "changes nothing" without guarantees it won't happen again. France have confirmed they'll play September's U20 World Cup; England have not. The first real test is October, when all five home nations play 2027 World Cup qualifiers. Read more

🌍 Nigeria have been knocked out of WAFCON by Cameroon. The 10-time champions lost 1-0 in the quarter-finals, ending their title defence. Cameroon, hosts Morocco, Algeria and Malawi all reach the semis and qualify for the 2027 World Cup. Malawi are the story of the tournament: ranked 153rd in the world, they had never reached a WAFCON before. Read more

⚽ The PFA has run its first pre-season camp for out-of-contract WSL and WSL2 players. The two-week programme in July gives players between clubs somewhere to train over the summer, after WSL2 turned fully professional last season and left more paid players without deals. Read more

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Both Scottish sides are out of Champions League qualifying. Rangers lost to Ajax and Hearts to HB Køge, each beaten by a goal in added time. Eleven teams go through, among them Ajax, Frankfurt and Juventus. WSL clubs enter later, at the third qualifying round, with the draw on Tuesday. Read more

Two Manchester clubs, two very different summers. United have appointed Eva Olid as head coach, and it's a telling hire. With the club reportedly reining in spending and turning towards youth, this was never going to be the job that tempts an established, in-demand name — so it falls to Olid, who won Hearts their first-ever Scottish title last season and now gets a crack at a bigger stage to see how far she can take it. It won't be easy: she has four weeks and an unsettled squad before United open away at London City on 4 September. She's signed to 2028 with the option of a further year.

Getting to know Olid:

City's summer has been simpler: sell high. Kerolin has gone to Barcelona for a WSL-record fee, reported at around €1.2m, a year after her 14 goals drove the double. She didn't report for pre-season while the move was being finalised, so it wasn't the warmest goodbye, but at that price City won't mind.

→ Brighton: defender Gabby George joins permanently from Manchester United, an England international with over a decade in the top flight who adds real versatility across the back line.

→ Burnley: striker Rachel Williams drops into WSL2 from Leicester on a one-year deal. At 38, the 15-cap England forward is pure experience for a newly promoted side.

→ Charlton: midfielder Emily van Egmond arrives permanently from Leicester on a one-year deal. Australia's record cap-holder adds 174 internationals' worth of nous to the Addicks' first WSL season.

→ Crystal Palace: defender Molly Bartrip joins permanently from Tottenham, a centre-back who knows the WSL well.

→ Liverpool: midfielder Natalia Ramos signs permanently from Tenerife, subject to visa. The 27-year-old Spaniard takes the No.6 shirt as the Reds' sixth summer addition.

→ Newcastle: striker Jessie Gale joins on a season-long loan from Arsenal. The 19-year-old England U23 forward scored freely in WSL2 last season and adds to Newcastle's promotion push — she's also in the England U20 squad for next month's World Cup.

→ Wolfsburg are reportedly interested in Chelsea's Mara Alber. The 20-year-old Germany U23 forward spent the back half of last season on loan at Werder Bremen and is yet to make her Chelsea debut.

→ Bay FC are reported to have agreed a deal for Arsenal's Jenna Nighswonger, worth around $200,000, taking the USWNT full-back back to the NWSL after her loan at Aston Villa. Not confirmed by either club.

Nike WSL match balls are here for 2026/27 — a Total 90 throwback in the league's colours, across the WSL, WSL2 and Players Cup.

Adidas x Trinity Rodman F50 Sparkfusion — her second signature boot, off the back of last year's purple edition. This one leans into a loud blue take on zebra print, a nice change from the pink and orange that's dominated boot design lately. Available now

Puma's 'Unseen Brilliance' pack is women's-exclusive across all three boots — the Ultra Nitro 7, Future 9 and King 20 — in white with pink, orange and blue. They’ll be worn by Rölfö, Park and Baltimore. Available now

Johanna Rytting Kaneryd has torn her ACL, weeks after leaving Chelsea for OL Lyonnes. The Sweden winger suffered the injury in training and faces surgery and several months out. The timing is difficult with Sweden's World Cup play-off against Lithuania in October.

Baller FC x WAFCON Final
16 August, 18:30, KO 19:00 · The Victoria Tavern, London, N7 8DL
Join Baller FC for their first-ever WAFCON watchparty
More info

Is there a women’s football event happening near you? Give us a heads-up

Your what-not-to-miss viewing guide (BST)

Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON)

Semi-finals
Wednesday, 12 August

Play-offs
Thursday, 13 August

Third Place Play-Off
Saturday, 15 August

Final
Sunday, 16 August

Foudys x Ted Lasso x WSL2
A big first for Foudys who has partnered with WSL Football to launch a Ted Lasso scarf to celebrate the new series.

👋 Not a subscriber? → Join for free

👀 Follow us on Instagram

✍️ Take our subscriber survey

📮 Tell us what you think of Twentytwo → [email protected]