{"id":376699,"date":"2025-12-30T06:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/376699\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T06:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:16:07","slug":"celebrating-womens-soccer-in-2025-and-previewing-2026-plus-most-clicked-in-full-time-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/376699\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating women\u2019s soccer in 2025, and previewing 2026. Plus: Most-clicked in Full Time this year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Full Time Newsletter \u26bd| This is The Athletic\u2019s weekly women\u2019s soccer<\/a> newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a> to receive Full Time directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Everyone, of course, watched women\u2019s sports in 2025. Relive the\u00a0top moments as chosen by\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0staff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s Full Time:<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd42 Celebrating 2025
\ud83c\udf00 The latest on the \u201cRodman Rule\u201d
\u2328\ufe0f Most-clicked stories of the year<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s begin with the celebrations \u2026<\/p>\n

Looking Back, and Forward<\/p>\n

What a year!<\/p>\n

2025 was a season of growth for women\u2019s soccer at\u00a0The Athletic.<\/p>\n

We\u00a0welcomed Asli Pelit and Tamerra Griffin to the team<\/a>\u00a0in March and expanded our coverage globally under one metaphorical roof with the continued reporting of Charlotte Harpur, Megan Feringa and more in Europe. Our weekly coverage from the\u00a0\u201cFull Time\u201d podcasts increased<\/a>, led by our masterful producer Theo Lloyd-Hughes (nothing would get done without him!) and Jillian Sakovits, who hosted on the feed alongside Tamerra and Meg.<\/p>\n

Oh, and we welcomed TWO new babies, as both\u00a0Meg<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Asli<\/a>\u00a0became first-time moms!<\/p>\n

When I stepped into the role of head of global women\u2019s soccer in January, I imagined the progress we would make this year. Reflecting now, I\u2019m overjoyed with the result and looking forward to sharing more soon. Before we take a look at the biggest stories of the year, here are a few of the ones I personally read over and over again:<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f Watch or listen to \u201cFull Time\u201d with Meg and Tamerra for the\u00a0full recap of the biggest moments of 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What to watch for in 2026<\/p>\n

The year ended on a bit of a cliffhanger as Trinity Rodman\u2019s contract drama continued and the league pushed for more spending \u2014 but with a catch (more on that in a second). There\u2019s plenty to look forward to in the short term. Also ahead, and not to be overlooked, are qualifiers for the 2027 World Cup. Here are Meg and Tamerra\u2019s most-hyped moments for the year ahead:<\/p>\n

Meg\u2019s 2026 watchlist:<\/p>\n

NWSL arms race:\u00a0Gotham FC general manager Yael Averbuch West went out and signed a plethora of big-name free agents after the team\u2019s 2023 championship. What will she do after the 2025 victory with another FIFA competition around the corner? What will Haley Carter do in her new role with the Washington Spirit after leading Orlando Pride to so much success? How will Portland make the most of its year with Wilson? Look for owners to step up their game.<\/p>\n

Vermont Green getting a USL W team:\u00a0As a diehard supporter of my local team, Vermont Green, I cannot wait to watch what the club does with its new lower-division women\u2019s team \u2014 especially after the men\u2019s championship run changed the city of Burlington. On a more personal level, I cannot wait to take my son to games.<\/p>\n

World Cup qualifiers:\u00a0We made it through U.S. head coach Emma Hayes\u2019 experimentation in 2025, and now the serious business starts as the team looks to qualify for the 2027 Women\u2019s World Cup in Brazil. We\u2019ll have to wait a little as the U.S. qualification doesn\u2019t kick off until November.<\/p>\n

Tamerra\u2019s 2026 watchlist:<\/p>\n

NWSL expansion:\u00a0Expectations are high for teams entering the league. Just look at the resources franchises like Angel City, San Diego Wave and Bay FC put into launching their teams (to varying degrees of success). Denver and Boston have the potential to reach the moon and beyond.<\/p>\n

WAFCON 2026:\u00a0The Chawinga sisters and Malawi will be part of this can\u2019t-miss tournament. I\u2019m a little nervous about the March timing as it clashes with UEFA Women\u2019s Champions League and the start of the NWSL season, but there\u2019s no way I\u2019m missing this one.<\/p>\n

The returns: Will we finally be caffeinated again in 2026? I hope so. I\u2019m looking forward to the return of \u201cTriple Espresso\u201d to the USWNT with Rodman healthy and Mallory Swanson and Wilson coming back from maternity leave. I also feel like 2025 was a year of recovery globally, and I can\u2019t wait to see players like England\u2019s Lauren James and Germany\u2019s Lena Oberdorf return to full form and raise the bar even higher.<\/p>\n

Need to Know<\/p>\n

\u2018Rodman Rule\u2019 drama<\/p>\n

We couldn\u2019t end the year without another update on the ongoing saga that is both Rodman\u2019s future and that of the NWSL.<\/p>\n

What happened:\u00a0Two days before Christmas, the\u00a0NWSL announced the High Impact Player rule<\/a>, a roster mechanism that allows teams to pay certain players up to $1 million above the current salary cap. It was created, in part, as a way to keep Rodman in the NWSL, but the 23-year-old free agent wasn\u2019t the only motivation for changing the way the league spends.<\/p>\n

To qualify, a player must meet one of the criteria put forward by the league, which include making the Ballon d\u2019Or top 30, appearing on annual lists compiled by sports publications that rank the world\u2019s best players and getting game time for the USWNT.<\/p>\n

The problem:\u00a0The league\u2019s board approved the mechanism earlier this month, but the NWSL Players Association rejected the change. The union\u2019s executive director Meghann Burke told\u00a0The Athletic\u00a0two weeks ago that they did not think the league \u201cclearly thought through all of the practical implementation\u201d of the rule. The NWSL proceeded anyway.<\/p>\n

The sides agree spending on players must increase to compete with the global market, especially after players like Naomi Girma and Alyssa Thompson joined Chelsea in 2025, but they disagree on how to do it. The league and its owners want to limit how the money is spent, whereas the players union wants the decision to lie specifically with the teams and their sporting directors.<\/p>\n

The solution:\u00a0It\u2019s still unclear. There\u2019s no guarantee this change keeps Rodman in the league; she still has not announced a decision on what\u2019s next. What we do know is both the NWSL and the players association are prepared to take legal action if the disagreement over the rule change comes down to it.<\/p>\n

The league office closed for the holidays at the end of last week but opens again this week, so stay tuned.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, read Tamerra\u2019s column on how the league\u2019s criteria\u00a0prioritizes commercial value over on-field contributions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Across the ocean<\/p>\n

In England, the Women\u2019s Super League is in its midseason break for the holidays and will return Jan. 10 when Arsenal hosts Manchester United.<\/p>\n

The FA Cup resumes shortly after that, followed by the Champions League round of 16 in February. Meanwhile, the transfer window opens Friday and closes Feb. 3. Some of the names we are watching include: Catarina Macario, Bunny Shaw (whose contract is up in June) and of course Rodman \u2014 though with her contract ending Dec. 31, she\u2019s free to sign anywhere at any time.<\/p>\n

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, Charlotte Harpur and Michael Cox looked back at what stood out in European women\u2019s football<\/a>\u00a0in 2025: from Arsenal\u2019s Champions League title to England\u2019s second Euros crown and the continued dominance of Spanish midfielders.<\/p>\n

Full Time Wrapped<\/p>\n

It\u2019s always fun to revisit this newsletter\u2019s most-clicked stories as one gauge for what you, the readers, care about most. So here are some from 2025:<\/p>\n

Fond memories:\u00a0A year ago, we said goodbye to one of our long-time WoSo writers when Steph Yang took a job with Boston Legacy. Before she left, Steph and Meg went through years of priceless\u00a0women\u2019s soccer memorabilia with some serious lore<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Smile down the runway: All 14 NWSL teams got a new secondary kit for the 2025 season. With new kits come our favorite type of commentary. We did our best \u201cProject Runway\u201d impression with these,\u00a0judging the cosmic to the concerning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New look:\u00a0Even eight-time Champions League legends need some refreshing. At least that\u2019s what owner Michele Kang thought when she\u00a0rebranded Olympique Lyonnais F\u00e9minin to OL Lyonnes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Do-over:\u00a0Boston will return to the NWSL in 2026 alongside the Denver Summit. But before a ball was even kicked, the team learned a valuable lesson when it came to branding:\u00a0It\u2019s OK to try again<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Building momentum:\u00a0U.S. head coach Emma Hayes\u00a0quickly established a development pipeline<\/a>\u00a0between the senior team and the under-23s. The result was the most debut caps in USWNT history since 1985 (16).<\/p>\n

Watch it again: Before she broke the transfer record this summer with a $1.5 million move to the Orlando Pride, Lizbeth Ovalle was scoring bangers for Tigres in Mexico.\u00a0Watch this \u201cscorpion kick\u201d again<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Money moves:\u00a0The \u201cEveryone Watches Women\u2019s Sports\u201d shirt continued to take over the world in 2025, and now it has\u00a0found its way into England\u2019s top league<\/a>\u00a0as London City Lionesses\u2019 front-of-kit sponsor.<\/p>\n

Hair matters:\u00a0Our best stories are the ones that go beyond the pitch.\u00a0For Black British women footballers,\u00a0hair is a matter of pride and precision<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A WTF moment:\u00a0The story about former president of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales getting egged was just downright bizarre. I think a lot of its popularity had to do with the fact that\u00a0Luis Rubiales was the one who threw the egg<\/a>.<\/p>\n