Women’s football in 2024: seven big stories to look out for across the year

Last year was a historic one for women’s football and it shows no sign of letting up in 2024. Here are seven things to watch out for over the coming months, from first-time finals to a World Cup host at last, while Chelsea bid farewell to their legendary six-times Women’s Super League-winning manager.

Olympic title up for grabs

The headline tournament of the year is the women’s football competition at Paris 2024. Sixteen teams will compete for the gold medal in the tournament, which runs from 24 July to 10 August. The holders, Canada, have already qualified alongside the USA, Colombia, Brazil and the hosts, France, but there are still 11 places up for grabs. The Nations League finals involving the Netherlands, Spain and Germany will decide the two remaining Uefa spots. Australia and Japan will be favourites to claim the two Asian places in February while Samoa will host the final Oceania qualification round (one place) in the same month. There are also two spots for African nations to be decided in April.

Who will make Nations League history?

The inaugural Nations League will conclude in February with four teams vying for the title. After a fascinating conclusion to the group stage last month, Spain and France will host the Netherlands and Germany, respectively, as they seek a place in the final. The Dutch dramatically pipped England on goal difference to seal their progress while Germany outfoxed Denmark, France eased through Group A2 and Spain condemned Sweden to missing out on Olympic football for the first time. As mentioned above, the final two European places for Paris 2024 will be decided as the tournament concludes on 28 February.

Inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup

More history will be made in February and March as the USA stages the first ever W Gold Cup. The hosts will be joined by Canada as the Olympic playoff winner, while Costa Rica and Mexico came through Concacaf qualifying. Panama will also take part after topping a qualification group that contained Jamaica and Guatemala, the former being without many of their first-team players after a well-publicised dispute with their federation. In addition, there are spots for the top four finishers at 2022’s Copa América – Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Paraguay – while the three remaining Concacaf places will be confirmed with three single-leg playoffs in Carson on 17 February.

Will there be a new European club champion?

Bilbao will take centre stage for the conclusion of the 23rd Women’s Champions League in May but there is still so much football to be played. The group stage will conclude towards the end of January with only Barcelona and Lyon having secured places in the quarter-finals so far. Chelsea have put themselves in a good position in the hunt for the one trophy that has eluded Emma Hayes in her more than decade-long tenure at the club. Meanwhile, Group C is shaping up to be the one to watch with only three points separating all four contenders: Ajax, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Roma.

Euro 2025 finalists to be decided

Following the conclusion of the Nations League, European qualification will begin in April as teams look to seal places in Euro 2025. Despite relegation to League B, Switzerland claim an automatic place as hosts and they will be joined automatically by the top two of each group in League A. Two rounds of playoffs will then determine the final seven nations. After a strong Nations League campaign, the Republic of Ireland will be hoping to reach their first ever European Championship, but Scotland and Wales face an uphill task. Stalwarts Sweden and Norway, meanwhile, will have to go through playoffs in February, as do Northern Ireland, as they jostle for the best possible position to begin qualifying.

World Cup host to be named

While the next two host countries of the men’s World Cup have already been decided, Fifa has bizarrely not yet confirmed the location for the 2027 women’s edition. The bidding process was only launched last year, and the host is eventually set to be announced at the Fifa congress in May. After the withdrawal of South Africa, there are three bids in contention. USA and Mexico have put in a joint application, as have Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Brazil have also thrown their name into the hat.

Hayes takes over the USWNT

Chelsea hearts were broken in October when it was announced that Hayes would be leaving for pastures new on the conclusion of the 2023-24 season. Shortly after, it was confirmed that she would become the next manager of the US women’s national team. It will be a baptism of fire for the highly acclaimed manager as she takes the USWNT to the Olympics only weeks after the conclusion of the Women’s Super League. Turning the team’s waning fortunes around will be no easy task but it will surely be a challenge that a coach of her calibre will relish.

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