Kick It Like A Girl

Goalkeeper Hope Solo played for the United States National Football Team. She had an amazing career with her team with 202 caps, 2 Olympic gold medals and winning the Women's World Championship. She was also the first goalkeeper - man or woman - in history to achieve 100 clean sheets (to not concede any goals in a match) in international competition. What an amazing achievement! Hope said that it "speaks to a lifetime of work, of staying committed and determined, no matter what the challenges". She was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2022. 

Group A Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Finland Group B Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy Group C Germany, Poland, Denmark and Sweden Group D France, England, Wales and Netherlands Group Stage - Matchday 1 2 July  Iceland vs Finland 17:00 Switzerland vs Norway 20:00 3 July  Belgium vs Italy 17:00 Spain vs Portugal 20:00 4 July  Denmark vs Sweden 17:00 Germany vs Poland 20:00 5 July Wales vs Netherlands 17:00 France vs England 20:00 Group stage - Matchday 2  6 July Norway vs Finland 17:00 Switzerland vs Iceland 20:00 7 July Spain vs Belgium 17:00  Portugal vs Italy 20:00 8 July Germany vs Denmark 17:00  Poland vs Sweden 20:00 9 July England vs Netherlands 17:00 France vs Wales 20:00 Group Stage - Matchday 3 10 July Finland vs Switzerland 20:00 Norway vs Iceland 20:00 11 July  Portugal vs Belgium 20:00 Italy vs Spain 20:00 12 July Poland vs Denmark 20:00  Sweden vs Germany 20:00 13 July England vs Wales 20:00 Netherlands vs France 20:00

Play-offs -  2nd round Serbia 0-2 Sweden Poland 1-0 Austria Ukraine 0-2 Belgium Northern Ireland 0-4 Norway Wales 1-1 Republic of Ireland Scotland 0-0 Finland Portugal 1-1 Czech Republic Play-offs - 3rd December - 2nd part of 2nd round Czech Republic 1-2 Portugal Norway 3-0 Northern Ireland Austria 0-1 Poland Finland 2-0 Scotland Sweden 6-0 Serbia  Belgium 2-1 Ukraine Republic of Ireland 1-2 Wales Qualified for the Euros Switzerland England Germany Spain Iceland Netherlands  Denmark  France Italy Portugal Norway Finland Poland Sweden Belgium Wales The draw for the Euros will be on the 16th of December. There will be four groups of four from the 16 teams. The tournament will take place in July 2025. 

Congratulations to Aitana Bonmatí on winning the Ballon d'Or Féminin! This is her second time winning the Ballon d'Or, last year in 2023 and now in 2024. Aitana Bonmatí plays for Spain and Barcelona. After receiving the Ballon d'Or and being shown a picture of her younger self playing football she said:  "Today I hope to be a role model for many girls starting out, I hope that this can reach many households and that many girls and boys see themselves in me. I hope to be able to inspire many young girls and boys too. Like the Aitana in the photo, who definitely needed female role models and did not have any at the time."  Other women to win the Ballon d'Or are Alexia Putellas from Spain who also won the award twice, Megan Rapinoe from America and Ada Hegerberg from Norway.  Like Aitana Bonmatí,  Alexia Putellas also plays for Barcelona making this Barcelona's fourth time winning the women's Ballon d'Or.  The Ballon d'Or Féminin started in 2018. ...

On the 25th of October the first round of the play-offs began. These are the results:  Azerbaijan 1-4 Portugal Bosnia and Herzegovina  2-2 Serbia Albania 0-5 Norway Montenegro 0-1 Finland Turkey 1-1 Ukraine Slovakia 2-1 Wales Georgia 0-6 Republic of Ireland Greece 0-0 Belgium Romania 1-2 Poland Slovenia 0-3 Austria  Hungary 0-1 Scotland Croatia 1-1 Northern Ireland  Luxembourg 0-4 Sweden Belarus 1-8 Czech Republic On the 29th of October they played each other again: Czech Republic 0-0 Belarus  Ukraine 2-0 Turkey  Finland 5-0 Montenegro  Austria 2-1 Slovenia  Poland 4-1 Romania  Norway 9-0 Albania  Serbia 4-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina  Sweden 8-0 Luxembourg  Northern Ireland 1-0 Croatia  Belgium 5-0 Greece  Wales 2-0 Slovakia  Republic of Ireland 3-0 Georgia  Scotland 4-0 Hungary  Portugal 4-0 Azerbaijan  Round 2 will be on the 28th and 29th of November  On the 28th of November Serbia vs Sweden...

Women's football has become increasingly popular since the ban on women's football was released in England in 1971. The highest attendance for a women's match was Barcelona vs Wolfsburg, in the semi final of the Women's Champions League on the 22nd April 2022. It was a record breaking 91,648 and the game ended 5-1 to Barcelona.  Although women's football is now supported, not everything is equal. Male footballers earn millions of pounds, the average annual income of a Premier League player is £3,000,000. A female footballers' average annual salary in the Women's Super League is around £47,000. Although this is a good wage, it is in stark contrast to the men's salary. The highest-earning female players only earn 1% of the highest-earning male player. This stat really puts the unfairness of wages in football into perspective. In non-playing roles in football the earnings are similarly unfair. England Women's coach Serena Wiegman earns around £400,000 a...

Unfortunately, women's blind football won't be played in the Paralympics. But you can still watch the men's blind football tournament starting on the 1st of September at 10:30. There are also other women's blind football tournaments such as The Women's Blind Football World Championship which took place last year in Birmingham, England. You can watch highlights on Youtube. It is important to support this sport, as while all costs for traveling and accommodation are covered, for both women and men players, there is no salary or prize money. Hopefully, if the sport gets bigger and more popular, there will be. 

Qualified Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland (hosts) Play-offs Round 1 23-29/10/2024 Romania vs Poland Greece vs Belgium Montenegro vs Finland Georgia vs Republic of Ireland Slovenia vs Austria Luxembourg vs Sweden Belarus vs Czech Republic Albania vs Norway Türkiye vs Ukraine  Croatia vs Northern Ireland Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Serbia Azerbaijan vs Portugal  Hungary vs Scotland  Slovakia vs Wales   Round 2 opponents will be decided through the round 1 play offs and will be played between the 27th of November and the 3rd of December.

United States 1-0 Brazil USA's head coach Emma Hayes lead the team to victory just 76 days after her first training session with the team. USA take gold with a goal from Mallory Swanson in the right bottom corner. The final was shown on TV but in case you didn't catch it you can watch highlights on Youtube and BBC iPlayer.  

Germany 1-0 Spain  Germany take third place and the Olympic bronze medal with a goal from a penalty kick by Guilia Gwinn and a late save from Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany's goalkeeper) from a penalty kick.

Semi-Final Results Brazil 4-2 Spain United States 1-0 Germany Bronze Medal Match 9/8/24 Germany vs Spain Final 10/8/24 Brazil vs United States Watch on Eurosport, Discovery+, BBC and Peacock and watch highlights on BBC iPlayer and Youtube.

Irish footballer Amber Barrett plays for the Republic Of Ireland's national football team and Standard Liège. She was born on January 16th 1996 and plays as a forward. Barrett scored the winning goal against Scotland. This meant the Republic Of Ireland qualifying for the 2023 Women's World Cup. This was their first time in a major tournament. Although they didn't get past the group stages they did get their first goal in a Women's World Cup scored by Katie McCabe. This is what Amber Barrett said in an interview before the Women's World Cup Play-offs "We have a role to play for a lot of young girls and boys that are starting out in their footballing journeys that we have to set the standards now. In 10, 15 years we can say well those girls are playing football because of us, because we pushed and we bettered the conditions in Ireland for them". 

6/8/24   United States vs Germany 17:00 Brazil vs Spain 20:00 Watch on Eurosport, Discovery+ and Peacock and watch highlights on BBC iPlayer and Youtube.

Brazil 1-0 France Germany 0-0 (4-2) Canada Spain 2-2 (4-2) Colombia United States 1-0 Japan 

I have said on my blog post that you can watch the tournament on BBC. Unfortunately now most of the games for the women's and men's olympic football tournament will only be shown on Eurosport, Discovery+ and Peacock. If you don't have any of these platforms I will still be updating you on the results. You can also watch the highlights after the game on Youtube and and BBC iPlayer.  

3/8/2024 United States vs Japan 14:00  Spain vs Colombia 16:00 Canada vs Germany 18:00  France vs Brazil 20:00 Watch on BBC iPlayer, Discovery Plus, Eurosport or BBC Channels 

Spain 2-1 Japan Canada 2-1 New Zealand  Germany 3-0 Australia Brazil 1-0 Nigeria  France 3-2 Colombia United States 3-0 Zambia Colombia 2-0 New Zealand Japan 2-1 Brazil Spain 1-0 Nigeria Australia 6-5 Zambia United States 4-1 Germany Canada 2-1 France Spain 2-0 Brazil  Japan 3-1 Nigeria  United States 2-1 Australia  Germany 4-1 Zambia  France 2-1 New Zealand Canada 1-0 Colombia   

England vs Germany 25/10/24 7:30pm in Wembley Stadium Watch on ITV1, STV, ITVX or STV Player England vs South Africa 29/10/24 7:45pm in Coventry Building Society Arena Watch on ITV4 or ITVX  England vs USA 30/11/24 5:20pm in Wembley Stadium  Watch on ITV1, STV, ITVX or STV Player England vs Switzerland 3/12/24 7:45pm in Bramall Lane, Sheffield Watch on ITV4 or ITVX   

Mary Earps was born on the 7th of March 1993. She is an English goalkeeper, born in Nottingham. She plays for the England National Football Team and is on a two year contract at Paris Saint-Germain F.C also known as PSG. Earps has a MBE and is a two time winner of the Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper in 2022 and 2023. In the history of the award she is the first two-time winner.  At the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2023 she received the Golden Glove award for best goalkeeper of the tournament and also served as England's vice captain.  Mary Earps said in an interview for Children In Need "The advice I'd give teenage me is that, yeah, it's gonna be alright and that it's alright to be exactly who you are. And don't be afraid of being yourself".  

Marta was born on the 19th of February 1986 in Dois Riachos, Brazil. Marta is widely considered the greatest female footballer ever. She has won the FIFA World Player of the Year award six times from 2006-2010 and 2018. At her first Women's World Cup in 2003 she was 17 years old. It was Brazil vs South Korea and 14 minutes into the match she scored a penalty for Brazil. The game finished 3-0 with two other goals from Kátia Cilene Teixeira da Silva.  This is what Marta said in a press conference ahead of her side's match with Jamaica: "When I started playing, I didn't have an idol, a female idol. You guys didn't show any female games. How was I supposed to see other players? . . Today, when we go out on the street, people stop. The parents stop and say, Oh my daughter loves you, she wants to be just like you. . . This wouldn't have happened if we had stopped at the first obstacles we faced. So it's a continuous persistency and it didn't just start with m...

FIFA first banned the hijab in 2007 and released the ban in 2014. FIFA's original reason for not allowing the hijab was religious symbolism, but that would mean also banning religious tattoos, the signing of the cross and multiple goal celebrations made a lot by prominent male players. Because of this they used health and safety as a reason for banning the hijab saying that the hijab was unsafe. Asmahan Mansour was Canadian. It was 2007 when she stepped onto the football pitch in Laval. She wore a hijab because of her Islamic faith but the referee said it was unsafe and told her she could still play but she couldn't wear her hijab on the pitch. Her team, from Ottawa withdrew from the event and did not play that match. Mansour went to the Canadian Soccer Association but they agreed with the rule and so did the FIFA officials.  In 2011, the Iranian women's football team were facing Jordan in the Olympic qualifiers but they were banned from playing because of their hijabs. The...

Record Breaking Women It's the first day of the Women's Olympic Tournament today and the first match is Canada vs New Zealand. I've decided to write about one amazing Canadian football player, Christine Sinclair. Christine retired in 2023 but she definitely left a legacy behind. She holds the record for the most international goals scored by a female or male football player worldwide. What an amazing woman! Her record is 190 goals in 331 appearances.  Most international goals in women and men's football Rank Name Country  Goals Appearances 1 Christine Sinclair Canada 190 331 2 Abby Wambach USA 184 256 3 Mia Hamm USA 158 276 4 Maysa Jbarah Jordan 137 133 5 Carli Lloyd USA 134 316 6 Kristine Lilly USA 130 354 6 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal  130 212 7 Birgit Prinz Germany 128 214 8 Alex Morgan  USA 123 222 9 Marta Brazil 119 184 10 Julie Fleeting Scotland 116 121

 Japan vs Nigeria (Group C) 16:00 Brazil vs Spain (Group C) 16:00 Zambia vs Germany (Group B) 18:00 Australia vs United States (Group B) 18:00 New Zealand vs France (Group A) 20:00 Colombia vs Canada (Group A) 20:00 Watch on BBC iPlayer, Discovery Plus, Eurosport, BBC Sport or a BBC channel

 New Zealand vs Colombia (Group A) 16:00 Brazil vs Japan (Group C) 16:00 Spain vs Nigeria (Group C) 18:00 Australia vs Zambia (Group B) 18:00 United States vs Germany (Group B) 20:00 France vs Canada (Group A) 20:00 Watch on BBC iPlayer, Discovery Plus, Eurosport, BBC Sport or a BBC channel

Canada vs New Zealand (Group A) 16:00 Spain vs Japan (Group C) 16:00 Nigeria vs Brazil (Group C) 18:00 Germany vs Australia (Group B) 18:00 United States vs Zambia (Group B) 20:00 France vs Colombia (Group A) 20:00 Watch on BBC iPlayer, Eurosport, Discovery Plus, BBC Sport or a BBC channel

Hi everyone, my name is Ava Hussein, I'm 13 years old and I love football. I love playing it and watching it. I love the competitiveness of it but also how it brings people together. It's an amazing feeling watching your team play, cheering them on with friends and family. I want everyone to be able to have that moment, I want everyone to feel accepted and safe playing or watching football. Not everyone might enjoy it but I want everyone to have the chance to enjoy it. Being a girl playing football isn't always easy. Boys sometimes steal our ball or shout things at us. Sometimes they assume we don't know how to play football. All of those times have just made me more determined to play football and to prove them all wrong but it does sometimes put me off. I don't want anyone to ever be put off of doing something they love just because other people think they shouldn't do it.  In this blog I'll write posts about the history of women's football and amazing...