@wsoccerexpress.bsky.social
Mostly #USWNT and its youth teams, plus the #NWSL and major international women's soccer tournaments. (by @rd1899.bsky.social) Website: https://wsoccerexpress.com
This account and the wsoccerexpress.com website will be on hiatus for a while.
21.05.2025 22:01 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Racing Louisville FC's home game against Seattle Reign FC — originally scheduled to be played Friday night at Lynn Family Stadium — has been postponed to Saturday due to an increasing threat of severe weather in the area. A new game time is being determined in conjunction with the NWSL.
16.05.2025 21:35 — 👍 41 🔁 9 💬 0 📌 3U-17 WWC Qualifying: Spain is the fifth team from UEFA afer defeating Austria 6:1 in a playoff match earlier today.
The Netherlands and Norway will face off in the final of the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship on Saturday (1:00 p.m EDT, 💻ViX).
FIFA U-17 WWC Qualifying: France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Norway have qualified for this year's tournament. The fifth team from UEFA will be determined on Wednesday when Spain plays Austria (7:00 am EDT, 💻ViX).
Spain lost their final group match today 1:2 to Italy.
Table 4: Potential Pots for a 48-Team WWC Field Note: The rankings (in parentheses) are as of August 2024. Pot 1: Host A Host B USA (1) England (2) Spain (3) Germany (4) Sweden (5) Canada (6) Japan (7) Brazil (8) Korea DPR (9) France (10) Pot 2: Netherlands (11) Denmark (12) Iceland (13) Italy (14) Australia (15) Norway (16) Austria (17) China PR (18) Korea Republic (19) Belgium (20) Colombia (21) Portugal (22) Pot 3: Scotland (23) Republic of Ireland (24) Switzerland (25) Mexico (30) New Zealand (31) Argentina (33) Nigeria (36) Vietnam (37) Chile (38) Phillippines (39) Chinese Taipei (41) Jamaica (42) Pot 4: Finland (26)* Czechia (28)* Wales (29)* Costa Rica (43) Thailand (47)* South Africa (50) Haiti (53) Papua New Guinea (56) Morocco (59) Zambia (62) Ghana (66) Cameroon (69) Based on the above pots, the USA could have a “hard” group with the Netherlands, Scotland, and Thailand, or an “easy” group with Portugal, Chinese Taipei, and Cameroon.
(4/4) And here's the projected pots. (Again, based on the August 2024 rankings.)
The teams in Pot 4 with asterisks (*) are the winners of the inter-confed play-offs.
If Mexico and Costa Rica are co-hosts, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago could qualify. Also, South Africa could move up to Pot 3.
AFC (Asia) Should qualify (5 teams): Japan (7), Korea DPR (9), Australia (15), China PR (18), Korea Republic (19) May qualify (3 teams): Vietnam (37), Philippines (39), Chinese Taipei (41) Play-offs (3 teams): Thailand (47), Uzbekistan (54), Myanmar (54) Honorable mentions: IR Iran (64), India (68) CAF (Africa) Should qualify (4 teams): Nigeria (36), South Africa (59), Morocco (59), Zambia (62) May qualify (2 teams): Ghana (66), Cameroon (69) Play-offs (2 teams): Côte d’Ivoire (71), Tunisia (78) Concacaf (North America plus Caribbean) Should qualify (3 teams): USA (1), Canada (6), Mexico (30) May qualify (3 teams): Jamaica (42), Costa Rica (43), Haiti (53) Play-offs (2 teams): Panama (60), Trinidad and Tobago (77) Honorable mention: Guatemala (80) CONMEBOL (South America) Should qualify (3 teams): Brazil (8), Colombia (21), Argentina (33) May qualify (1 teams): Chile (38) Play-offs (2 teams): Paraguay (49), Venezuela (52) Honorable mentions: Ecuador (65), Uruguay (67) OFC (Oceania) Should qualify (1 team): New Zealand (31) May qualify (1 team): Papua New Guinea (56) Play-offs: n/a Honorable mention: Fiji (72) UEFA (Europe) Should qualify (6 teams): England (#2), Spain (#3), Germany (#4), Sweden (#5), France (#10), Netherlands (#11) May qualify (10 teams): Denmark (12), Iceland (13), Italy (14), Norway (16), Austria (17), Belgium (20), Portugal (22), Scotland (23), Republic of Ireland (24), Switzerland (25) Play-offs (3 teams): Finland (26), Czechia (28), Wales (29) Questionable: Russia (27) Honorable mentions: Poland (32), Serbia (34), Ukraine (35)
(3/4) Based on the above slot allocations, here are the teams expected to qualify (based solely on FIFA rankings, as of August 2024).
• "Should" and "May" = expected direct qualifiers
• "Play-offs" = expected to qualify for the inter-confederation playoffs
• "Honorable mentions" = last teams out
Table 2: FIFA WWC Slots, 2015 to 2023, Plus Projected 48-Team WWC Slots {table contents omitted} For the most part, the 48-team scenario has double the allocation of the two 24-team editions. The main exception is that the AFC has only 8 full slots, instead of 10. However, the total number of inter-confederation slots is expanded to 4, which is up 1 from 2023’s 32-team allocation, and four-times what it was under 24 teams. The OFC is given two full slots, primarily for developmental reasons, although one could easily see either the AFC or UEFA being given an extra automatic slot, with the OFC’s second slot converted to an inter-confederation slot.
(2/4) This is a projected allocation of slots per confederation, which includes two generic slots for hosts plus four inter-confederation playoff slots.
It's unclear how many hosts there will be for the 2031 WWC. At least three seems to be likely (USA, probably Mexico, plus ???).
In light of FIFA officially expanding the 2031 Women's World Cup to 48 teams, here's a long article from September 2024 on what that could look like regarding slot allocations per confederation, potential teams, and potential pots.
(1/4)
Utah Royals vs. North Carolina Courage
⏰: 10:00 PM EDT / 7:00 PM PDT
USA 📺/💻: ion
Ref: Cristian Campo Hernandez
AR1: Clarence Clark
AR2: Bruno Rizo
4th: James Morgan
VAR: Kevin Broadley
AVAR: Alicia Messer
(2/2)
NWSL: Referee Assignments for Saturday, May 3
Portland Thorns vs. Orlando Pride
⏰: 7:30 PM EDT / 4:30 PM PDT
USA 📺/💻: ion
Ref: Nabil Bensalah
AR1: Fernando Fierro
AR2: Cameron Siler
4th: Dion Coxe-Trieger
VAR: Anya Voigt
AVAR: Kaili Terry
(1/2)
partial screenshot of a post on proreferees.com titled "Please bear with us" and dated May 3, 2025. The full contents of the post: "Thank you for your patience this week while the website has been under maintenance. The website has been relaunched with a reduced number of pages and sections will be progressively restored."
Referee Assignments: PRO's website is back online, however it only has one week's worth of assignment announcements.
proreferees.com/2025/05/03/p...
Seattle Reign vs. Kansas City Current
⏰: 10:30 PM EDT / 7:30 PM PDT
USA
📺: n/a
💻: NWSL+ / Golazo / Paramount+ / Prime Video
REF: Calin Radosav
AR1: Bennett Savage
AR2: Rachel Smith
4TH: Christopher Calderon
VAR: Jamie Padilla
AVAR: Brian Marshall
(4/4)
Houston Dash vs. Racing Louisville
⏰: 8:00 PM EDT / 5:00 PM PDT
USA
📺: n/a
💻: NWSL+
REF: Marie Durr
AR1: Melissa Beck
AR2: Ben Rigel
4TH: Melvin Rivas
VAR: Kevin Terry Jr
AVAR: Tom Felice
(3/4)
Washington Spirit vs. Angel City
⏰: 8:00 PM EDT / 5:00 PM PDT
USA
📺: n/a
💻: Prime Video
REF: Shawn Tehini
AR1: Jacob Little
AR2: Christian Little
4TH: Arman Becan
VAR: Adorae Monroy
AVAR: Kali Smith
(2/4)
screenshot of the website for the Professional Referee Organization, A/K/A "PRO", which for the last few days has just been a page with the "PRO" shield logo and the following message: "PRO's website is currently down for maintenance".
NWSL: Referee Assignments for Friday, May 2
Assignments for Saturday's and Sunday's matches are not yet available. PRO's website has been offline since at least Wednesday. On x.com, PRO has been posting normally, which means that assignments are only posted there on the day of a match.
(1/4)
FIFA U-17 WWC: Qualifying for Africa's four at-large spots concluded today with Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and Zambia all earning spots in this year's tournament.
The spots for the remaining two confederations, UEFA and CONMEBOL, will be decided next month.
Saturday
Spirit/Gotham: Abdou Ndiaye (VAR: Kevin Broadley)
Courage/Current: Shawn Tehini (VAR: Greg Dopka)
Stars/Wave: Danielle Chesky (VAR: Jamie Padilla)
Bay/Reign: Katja Koroleva (VAR: Greg Dopka)
Sunday
Thorns/Racing: Corbyn May (VAR: Danielle Chesky)
(2/2)
NWSL: Referee Assignments for the rest of Week 6
Friday
Pride/ACFC: Matt Thompson (VAR: Alexandra Billeter)
Dash/Royals: Adorae Monroy (VAR: Corbyn May)
(1/2)
NWSL: Week 6 continues this weekend with a full slate of seven matches.
• Friday on Prime: The #2 Pride host #6 Angel City (8pm EDT)
• Saturday on CBS: #3 Spirit vs. #4 Gotham (1pm EDT)
• First vs. Last: The Current at the Courage (Saturday, 7pm EDT, NWSL+)
NWSL: Referee assignments for tonight's Portland Thorns vs. Gotham FC match
REF: JC Griggs
AR1: Salma Perez
AR2: Bennett Savage
4TH: Kelsey Harms
VAR: Katherine McCormick
AVAR: Brian Marshall
⏰: 10:30 pm EDT
📺: CBS Sports Network
(assignments for this weekend matches to be published Wednesday)
United States Under-15 Women's Youth National Team April 2025 Training Camp Fayetteville, Georgia Head Coach: Vanessa Mann Goalkeepers (3): Gaffney, Molly Hasan, Olivia Saunders, Avellina Defenders (9): Clement, Nina Damron, Ally Guerrero, Kylie Hanson, Natalia Li, Reece Shaeffer, Tilly Travers, Cassie Zuniga, Gigi Midfielders (6): Bott, Ella Brickwood, Reese Ortiz, Isabella Thompson, Carson Walbruch, Avery Yoshimura, Kiyomi Forwards (7): Dietz, Ella Ekra, Kylie Orrico, Elan Rountree, Riley Siedel, Sadie Steil, Rhea York, Isabelle
U-15 USWYNT: The third Under-15 camp of this cycle gets underway today in Georgia.
• Only 9 of the 24 players attended a previous U-15 camp
• 4 apparent first-timers
• First camp under new head coach Vanessa Mann
wsoccerexpress.com/2025/04/22/u...
Specifically, current U-16 head coach Ciara Crinion will transition with this cycle's U-16 group (2009 birth year) to the U-17s later this year.
Meanwhile, current U-17 head coach Katie Schoepfer will switch to the U-16s (2010 birth year) after this year's FIFA U-17 WWC.
(2/2)
USWYNTs: Former Utah Royals assistant coach Vanessa Mann is now the head coach for the U-15s.
Also, U-23, U-20, and U-18 head coach positions expected to be "filled in the coming weeks".
Additionally, U.S. Soccer's press release detailed two-year coaching cycles for the U-16/U-17 WYNTs...
(1/2)
U-16 USWYNT: Earlier today, the USA drew 1:1 with Spain via a late equalizer (87') from Lilah Helwig, who was a 78th minute substitute. Spain scored their goal just before halftime (45'+2).
Helwig also scored in Saturday's match (a 3:4 loss).
Match Highlights:
U-16 USWYNT: Earlier today, the USA fell 3:4 to Spain in their first of two friendlies.
USA goals: Lilah Helwig (5'), Mia Corona (45'+2 PK), Daphne Van Der Wiede (87').
Spain's goals were scored at 7', 13', 58', and 65'.
The two teams play again on Monday at 5am. EDT.
Replay of today's match:
Saturday, April 19
• Racing/Wave: Jamie Padilla (VAR: Kevin Broadley)
• Pride/Spirit: Elton Garcia (VAR: Greg Dopka)
• Courage/Bay: Iryna Petrunok (VAR: Kevin Broadley)
• Current/Dash: Katja Koroleva (VAR: Edvin Jurisevic)
(2/2)
NWSL: Week 5 Referee Assignments
Friday, April 18
• Royals/Stars: John Matto (VAR: Shawn Tehini)
• Reign/Thorns: Jeremy Scheer (VAR: Corbyn May)
• ACFC/Gotham: Danielle Chesky (VAR: Edvin Jurisevic)
(1/2)
NWSL: USA TV/Streaming Schedule — Week 5
• 3 matches on Friday, 4 on Saturday, none on Sunday
• Cascadia Rivalry: The Reign host the Thorns (Friday, 10:00 pm EDT, Prime)
• Last year's #1 and #2, the Pride and the Spirit, meet once again (Saturday, 5:05 pm EDT, ION)
