Get to know the main national and continental women’s football leagues to continue honoring the sport after the end of the 2023 World Cup

By Heloisa Fahl

With the end of the Women’s World Cup just hours away, the sadness of not being able to watch the world’s leading teams on the pitch on a weekly (or even daily) basis is starting to kick in. The bright side, however, is that many domestic and continental championships will be repeated and so we will be able to see our favorite stars back on the pitch. Some of them here in Brazil including. So jot down the leagues and dates below to continue watching and honoring beloved women’s football even after the World Cup is over.

Brazil Championship

Already in its home stretch, the Brasileirão Feminino Neoenergia 2023 returns with the semi-finals just one week after the end of the Cup. As published by the CBF last Tuesday (15), the games will look like this:

one way games

Sunday – 08/27

Santos x Corinthians – at 10:30 a.m. – Vila Belmiro – Santos (SP)
São Paulo x Ferroviária – at 10:30 a.m. – Bruno José Daniel Stadium – Santo André (SP)

back games

Sunday – 9/3

Corinthians x Santos – at 10:30 a.m. – Parque São Jorge – São Paulo (SP)
Ferroviária x São Paulo – at 10:30 a.m. – Fonte Luminosa – Araraquara (SP)

On the pitch, we can expect to see up to 6 names who have defended the Brazilian team in the Cup: Tamires, Duda Sampaio, Luana and Letícia Izidoro for Corinthians, Camila for Santos and Aline Gomes for Ferroviária (keeper Bárbara plays for Flamengo, a club that did not qualify for the semi-finals). However, the list of players who have participated in the World Cup and played in the Brasileirão does not stop there! According to a survey by @amantesdofutebolfeminino, the other names are: Reina Bonta (plays for Santos and represents the Philippines), Adriana Sachs and Eliana Stabile (Santos players representing Argentina), Yamila Rodríguez and Lorena Benitez (speakers representing Argentina ), Lady Andrade and Lorena Bedoya (Colombian athletes who play for Real Brasília), Agostina Holzheier (Grêmio player who represented Argentina), Mônica Ramos (Colombian defender who represents Grêmio), Catalina Perez (Avaí player Kindermann who represented Colombia) and Jorelyn Caraballí (Colombian player who plays for Atlético Mineiro).

National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – United States

Another league to watch is the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the North American league that can also be considered one of the strongest on the planet. Already in its 16th round, the “regular season” (regular season) stopped during the Cup, however, a parallel competition called “UKG NWSL Challenge Cup” continued as normal, and its final will be held on September 9.

There, you can follow a lot of stars, mainly from the US national team. Some names are: Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Julie Ertz (Angel City FC) and Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC). We cannot fail to mention, of course, our Brazilians, such as Marta, Adriana and Rafaelle (Orlando Pride), Debinha and Lauren (Kansas City Current), Angelina (OL Reign), Kerolin (North Carolina Courage), Bruninha (Gotham FC) and Ary Borges (Racing Louisville FC). For the teams that will be vying for third place, we have Australians Alex Chidlad (Racing Louisville FC) and Emily van Egmond (San Diego Wave FC) and Sweden’s Sofia Jakobsson (San Diego Wage FC).

Women’s Super League (WSL) – England

There’s been a lot of talk about the English league now that the country’s side have secured their place in the 2023 World Cup final and it’s not for less: with teams like Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, the league is going from strength to strength . The matches for the 2023/204 season start on the weekend of August 26 and many high-quality names will be playing there. Some of them are Australians Sam Kerr (Chelsea), Caitlin Foord (Arsenal) and Mary Fowler, Englishmen Jess Carter (Chelsea), Beth Mead (Arsenal), Millie Bright (Chelsea), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City) and Mary Earps (Manchester United), Sweden’s Zećira Mušović (Chelsea), Canada’s Ashley Lawrence (Chelsea), Holland’s Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal) and Ireland’s Katie McCabe (Arsenal). On August 18, Brazilian Geyse was confirmed as Manchester United’s new signing (the player was at Barcelona).

Primera Division of the Liga de Fútbol Femenino (Liga F) – Spain

As in England, women’s football is gaining more and more strength in Spain and this is reflected in the Spanish national team’s standings for the 2023 World Cup final, despite all the behind-the-scenes issues. Many Spanish national team players play in the country, such as Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmatí and Irene Paredes, who represent Barcelona. Spaniards Olga Carmona and Teresa Abelleira play for rivals Real Madrid, and Alba Redondo plays for Levante. Other big names from these two teams are Fridolina Rolfö (Sweden), Lucy Bronze (England), Ingrid Engen (Norway) and Linda Caicedo (Colombia). Now let’s talk about the Brazilian players, we can see there: Kathellen (Real Madrid), Antônia and Gabi Nunes (Levante) and Mônica (Madrid CFF).

Matches for the 2023/2024 season start on September 8.

Division 1 Women – France

Another championship of great importance and which has great stars in its composition is that of France, known as Division 1 Féminine (D1 Féminine or D1F). French teams, like Lyon and PSG, are used to performing very well in the UEFA Champions League and therefore always attract the attention of football fans. Names like the French Wendie Renard, Delphine Cascarino (injured in this Cup), Le Sommer and Amel Majri, the Australian Ellie Carpenter, the Norwegian Ada Hegerberg, the Dutch Daniëlle van de Donk and the North American Lindsey Horan play for Lyon . In the rival Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), we see names like Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Estelle Cascarino (France), and more recently, the Brazilian Ana Vitória. Brazilians Luana and Formiga have also had important stints with the club in the past.

Matches for the 2023/2024 season start on September 15.

Frauen Bundesliga – Germany

The German league also has its place in the women’s football scene. Wolfsburg, for example, is a club with an excellent record in the UEFA Champions League. Currently, the Germans Lena Oberdorf, Svenja Huth and Alexandra Popp play there, in addition to the Dutch Dominique Janssen. In this same championship, we find teams like FC Bayern Munich, which includes the Brazilian Tainara, the Swede Magdalena Eriksson and the English Georgia Stanway.

Matches for the 2023/2024 season start on September 15.

Other leagues around the world

Besides the main leagues mentioned above, it is always important to keep an eye on the Japanese, South Korean, Australian and Swedish leagues. It was in Sweden, for example, that Marta played most of her career (about 10 years between Fotboll Club Rosengård, Umeå IK and Tyresö Fotbollsförening). The Australian league, which has already been growing in strength in recent years, has everything to become even more important after the success of the World Cup on home soil now in 2024. Teams like Sydney FC compete in the A-League Women.

Last but not least is the UEFA Women’s Champions League, which pits the best European teams against each other. The qualifying matches start on September 6 and the group stage on October 20. The famous Libertadores of America, which brings together the major South American teams, begins on October 5.

Pick your favorite league, check out the streaming channels (many matches will be streamed on YouTube) and keep following and honoring women’s football even after our beloved World Cup is over.

Text produced in collaborative cover by NINJA Esporte Clube