Not to go full “old man yells at cloud” but I still haven’t quite figured out why women’s leagues around the world have stopped playing due to the men’s World Cup. It seems to me that it would be the perfect time for leagues that are always looking to hook more fans would schedule games for the off-hours of the men’s tournament, giving the sickos even more to watch.

I am glad to see a lot of international women’s soccer during the run-up to the tournament though. I’m even more glad to see that we are seeing teams get out of their comfort zones. Some have to through structured tournaments, like England and Spain facing one another. Some however are choosing a more difficult path. I love that México is challenging itself by going to Australia to face the Matildas.

I also love that the United States is going to Brazil to face A Seleção. This marks a sharp departure for US Soccer, playing its first match outside of the US since November into December 2024, which itself was the first time they had played outside of the country outside of the Olympics and World Cup. At home the US is a dominant force. Since the start of 2022, they’ve won 50 games at home, drawn four, and lost six. Outside of the US, they’ve won 15, drawn four, and lost two. Their win percentage drops from 83.3% to 71.4% - still very good, but not indestructible. And this has hurt them when it mattered most, crashing out of the 2023 World Cup in the Round of 16 (although they did take the gold in the 2024 Olympics).

Of course there are a multitude of factors that go into these results, and something that can’t be ignored is the rising quality of women’s soccer in all corners of the globe. México used to be an easy win for the Yanks, but a 2-0 loss in Carson, California at the 2024 Gold Cup proved that simply showing up wasn’t enough to ensure a US victory anymore. They did beat México 1-0 in a friendly later that year, but even that was a far cry from the pair of 4-0 results they got in July of 2021 against El Tri Femenil.

As much as I have complicated feelings about the USWNT, US Soccer, international soccer, and the US in general, having the US be a women’s footballing superpower is a good thing. It proves that elite fútbol isn’t sole property of the Europeans and gives all of the teams in our region both a guidebook on building a successful program and a villain to relish beating.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go yell at some clouds.

México stunned* Australia, beating the Matildas 1-0 on a late goal from Diana Ordóñez in Newcastle, Australia on Saturday. El Tri Femenil’s next match is against Australia in Sydney on June 9.

*Not everyone was stunned, since México is criminally underrated in FIFA’s ranking system. But that’s another column for another day.

Necaxa Femenil is back in camp after a brief offseason.

Club Tijuana will play a friendly match against USL W side Monterey Bay FC Sirens on July 7th in Seaside, California.

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The stage is set for the final round in the 2025-26 CONMEBOL Women’s Nations League on June 9. As it stands, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Chile are out, Colombia and Argentina are in. Venezuela and Ecuador each have 11 points, with Venezuela playing Uruguay in Montevideo and Ecuador hosting Argentina in Quito. Should one or both of them falter, Paraguay is sitting on 10 points and plays Colombia, while Perú is on 8 points and would need to beat Bolivia and have the stars align for them to advance.

Spain continues to have England’s number, giving the Lionesses a good ol’ fashioned whoopin’ on Saturday.

Congratulations are in order for India, who beat defending South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) champions Bangladesh 3-1 on Saturday. This marks the first time India has won the trophy since 2019.

Brazil beat the US 2-1 in São Paulo on goals from Taina Maranhão and Bia Zaneratto.

Finally allowed by FIFA to field an official team in exile, the Afghanistan Women’s National Team is in Auckland, New Zealand preparing for a match against the Cook Islands.

Really enjoyed this nuanced look at fans in Columbus and how they are grappling with the dichotomy of getting an NWSL team owned by the Haslams and at the expense of a park slated to be for residents with disabilities.

The 2026 NWSL Championship match will be at (rowdy) Audi Field in Washington, D.C.

After the NWSL flirted with changing their competition calendar from spring-to-fall to fall-to-spring, the USL has announced changing its fall-to-spring calendar to spring-to fall.

Also in the US, the NWSL, USL Super League, and WPSL Pro are in talks about having an interleague competition that sounds an awful lot like the men’s US Open Cup.

The Annapolis Blues set a new USL W attendance record with 7,936 in the building for the Blues home opener against Virgina Beach.

Don’t ever let them tell you no one pays attention to women’s soccer.

If you have something that should be included in this segment, please reach out to me via bluesky or email me at [email protected].