The growth of the women's game has manifested in the biggest (32 teams), most audacious (co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand) World Cup yet. The individual talent pool, as evidenced by our following best players at the Women's World Cup list, has also never been more exciting.
There are some household names looking for one last legacy-defining tournament, but there's also an emerging next generation taking things to another level.
Former Japan striker Kazuyoshi Miura added yet another achievement to his age-defying career on Saturday, making his debut for Portuguese second-tier club Oliveirense at the age of 56.
Miura, who joined Oliveirense on loan from Yokohama FC earlier this year, came on in the 90th minute of a 4-1 win at Académico de Viseu.
According to a report on the Portuguese league's website, Miura's appearance made him "the oldest footballer ever to play in Portuguese football, with 56 years, one month and 24 days."
There was a standout moment during Crystal Palace's incredible 5-1 victory over Leeds United on Sunday that I failed to notice — I think I was too busy trying to comprehend Leeds' total capitulation — but now register as one of the best goal celebrations of the 2022-23 season.
PARIS - Hervé Renard has been named France women's coach until 2024 and will lead the team at this year's World Cup, the French federation (FFF) said on Thursday.
The 54-year-old Frenchman resigned as coach of the Saudi Arabia men's team this week after leading them to last year's World Cup in Qatar where they pulled off a shock group-stage win over eventual champions Argentina.
NEW YORK - With a blockbuster 2023 that shows no sign of slowing down, United States forward Mallory Swanson has shed her early "wunderkind" image and unveiled what she calls a "Mal 3.0" version of herself ahead of this year's Women's World Cup.
The 24-year-old flicked her seventh goal of the year into the net at the SheBelieves Cup last month in an astonishing run that underlined her claim to a spot in the squad when the U.S. seek an unprecedented third straight World Cup title.
Pepis rule.
Last Friday, Ricardo Pepi (age 20) made his triumphant return to the USMNT by scoring a brace against Grenada — his first international goals dating back to October 2021, a drought that ultimately cost him a place on the World Cup roster.
Goalscoring has been an awfully bleak exercise for the Republic of Ireland since all-time leading scorer Robbie Keane announced his international retirement in 2016. The team only scored seven goals in nine matches during a failed qualifying cycle for Euro 2020, and things didn't get much better on the road to Qatar where Ireland only scored 11 in eight games (the majority coming against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan).
With a 2-1 victory over Chile on Wednesday in Auckland, Haiti made history by securing qualification for their first-ever Women's World Cup finals. It's a remarkable achievement that highlights the growth of the team after not even reaching the final stage of Concacaf qualifying during the previous cycle, although there's one clear star of the show: 19-year-old phenom Melchie Dumornay.
The World Cup is just 160 days away, so the 2023 SheBelieves Cup takes on added significance with teams looking to lockdown tactics and players battling to make an impression ahead of the final roster announcements for Australia and New Zealand.
France defender Raphaël Varane is retiring from international football, ending a 10-year career with Les Bleus in which he won the World Cup in 2018 and was a runner-up four years later.
The 29-year-old, who has 93 caps after making his debut in 2013, and also helped Didier Deschamps's side win the UEFA Nations League in the 2020-21 season.