WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Countdown to Women’s World Cup: Low in numbers but female coaches thrive at major tournaments
From Pia Sundhage to Sarina Wiegman to Bev Priestman, the ninth Women’s World Cup will be a glittering showcase of some of the game’s most successful coaches but 20 of the 32 teams will still have men barking the orders from the touchline.
Twelve female coaches represents a record number for the global showpiece, and is a significantly higher proportion than in most other sports, but some are questioning why it is still not greater.
Vicky Huyton, founder of the Female Coaching Network, said a lack of success was certainly not a factor.
Since 2000, all but one of the major women’s football tournaments – the Women’s World Cup, Women’s Euros and the Olympics – have been won by female-coached teams, she pointed out.
Norio Sasaki, the man who coached Japan to World Cup gold in 2011, is the sole exception.
“It’s a stat I find fascinating – and it’s a trend across many different sports, but particularly in women’s football,” Huyton said.
Football’s female coaching landscape is a good news/bad news scenario.
Women coaches make up 37.5% at the World Cup, which kicks off Thursday, the same as in 2019 and slightly higher than 2015.
“It’s one of the better sports for female coaches,” Huyton added. “Which is kind of like saying it’s the best of a bad bunch rather than necessarily a positive thing.”
At the other end of the scale are athletics, rugby and tennis. Fewer than 1% of athletics coaches at the world championships or Olympics are women, Huyton said, and only 4% of the top 200 women on the WTA Tour are coached by women.
Huyton also worries about the lack of new faces among the women who have a top job in international football.
“We now know that female coaches can be successful – how novel,” Huyton said with a half-hearted laugh.
“So the narrative has changed to, ‘Well, how do we get more female coaches?’ Because if you look at the list of women at the World Cup, they’re all the same group of women mostly.”
Sundhage, who coaches Brazil, led the U.S. to back-to-back Olympic golds.
Wiegman coached the Netherlands to the 2017 Euro title and World Cup silver in 2019 before leading England on a 30-game unbeaten streak.
Germany’s Martina Voss-Tecklenburg also coached Switzerland for six years.
‘VISIBILITY IS HUGE’
FIFA expects the World Cup to reach a global TV audience of two billion viewers, which would be a 79% increase over the highly successful 2019 tournament.
Canada midfielder Sophie Schmidt said the mere sight of a dozen female coaches pacing the touchlines Down Under could be a big boost to young women looking to take that career path.
“This visibility is huge for inspiring others … it allows people to see the possibilities,” said Schmidt.
“In the past, it’s been predominantly men. But we have very amazing, talented, gifted female coaches out there and I think the opportunities are there and once you start seeing it, you start believing it.
“That’s the beauty of having so many female coaches in these head roles.”
Among the biggest barriers to coaching, Huyton said, is certification. The top-level UEFA Pro License course costs close to 10,000 pounds ($13,090) and applicants must have a full-time coaching position at the senior level.
“So where does that woman go to get that experience to then get the qualification?” Huyton asked.
England’s Women’s Super League has helped pave the way for female coaches, with 20 of the 50 total managers over a span of 10 years being female.
The WSL has boasted some of the best in the game, including Hope Powell, the first woman to be awarded the UEFA Pro License in 2003, and Emma Hayes, who has coached Chelsea to seven of the last nine WSL titles, including this year.
While players’ union FIFPRO does not have an official view on the gender of coaches, Sarah Gregorius said diversity was critical.
“There should be inclusive policies in the way in which coaches are recruited and searched for,” said Gregorius, who directs the union’s global policy and strategic relations for women’s football.
“There needs to be pathways for people from all different backgrounds, genders, identities, whatever it may be, to reach those positions.”
-Reuters
The Iranian women’s soccer team crossed the Turkish border into Iran on Wednesday to complete a fraught return journey from Australia, after five members withdrew asylum claims they had lodged there.
Australia had granted humanitarian visas to six players and one support staff member after they sought asylum, saying they feared possible persecution if they returned to Iran.
Concerns over their safety surfaced when several players failed to sing the national anthem at a women’s Asian Cup match earlier this month after the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran. Iranian state television had labelled them “wartime traitors”.
The team, which flew into Istanbul on Tuesday, took a flight to Igdir in eastern Turkey on Wednesday morning.
The players emerged from Igdir Airport, pulling their luggage and chatted in front of the terminal before boarding a bus to the border. One of them briefly smiled and waved at a TV camera before the bus departed. After a trip of around two hours to the frontier, they went through passport control at the Gurbulak border gate before crossing over into Iran.
A bus carrying members of the Iranian women’s national soccer team arrives at the Gurbulak Border Gate, a crossing point between Turkey and Iran, as they travel to their home country after five players withdrew the asylum claims they had lodged in Australia over safety concerns about returning due to not singing the national anthem at a women’s Asian Cup match earlier this month, in the eastern Agri province, Turkey, March 18, 2026. REUTERS/Ali Ihsan Ozturk
The team’s Asian Cup campaign began just as the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated from the tournament more than a week ago.
Five of those who had sought asylum in Australia subsequently changed their minds and decided to return home, with Australian media reporting the latest withdrawal on Monday.
They rejoined the rest of the squad in Kuala Lumpur, where the team had been staying since leaving Sydney last week.
The Iranian Football Association (FFIRI) said last week that those who had changed their minds would travel home with the rest of the team “to once again be embraced by their families and homeland.”
Two players are still in Australia and have been pictured training with a local A-League club.
-Reuters
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The two players from the Iranian women’s soccer squad who chose to remain in Australia after seeking asylum have been pictured training with a local A-League club as they begin their new lives in the country.
Midfielder Fatemeh Pasandideh and defender Atefeh Ramezanizadeh were among seven members of Iran’s delegation granted humanitarian visas amid fears of possible persecution if they returned home after competing in the women’s Asian Cup in Australia.
Concerns over their safety emerged after the players failed to sing their national anthem before their opening match on the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland. Iranian state media labelled them as “wartime traitors”, with the team’s campaign beginning as the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on Iran.
Five members of the group, however, subsequently changed their minds about Australia’s asylum offer and decided to return home.
Queensland-based A-League club Brisbane Roar announced on social media the remaining two players, Pasandideh and Ramezanizadeh, had joined a training session with its women’s team on Monday.
“Brisbane Roar officially welcomed both Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanizadeh to the club’s training facilities…and remain committed to providing a supportive environment for them whilst they navigate the next stages,” CEO Kaz Patafta said.
Photos posted by the club showed the two players meeting the Brisbane Roar squad and taking part in shooting drills.
“Thank you for everything,” wrote Ramezanizadeh, 33, under the post on Instagram.
Pasandideh, 21, also posted on her Instagram story on Monday a photo with FIFA Chief Football Officer Jill Ellis in Brisbane with a caption saying “everything will be fine”.
While the pair began their new lives in Australia, their former teammates made their way home to Iran from Malaysia.
The team was seen at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday evening, checking in on an Oman Air flight, although their destination was unclear.
-Reuters
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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Three Iranian women soccer players to return home after seeking asylum in Australia
Three members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who had sought asylum in Australia have decided to return to Iran, Australia’s government said on Sunday.
Australia granted humanitarian visas to seven Iranian footballers last week after they sought asylum, saying they feared persecution if they returned home after they failed to sing the national anthem at a Women’s Asian Cup match.
Four of the seven members have decided to leave Australia so far. Another member changed her mind last week.
“After telling Australian officials they had made this decision, the players were given repeated chances to talk about their options,” Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
“While the Australian Government can ensure that opportunities are provided and communicated, we cannot remove the context in which the players are making these incredibly difficult decisions,” he added.
The Iranian Football Association (FFIRI) named the players as Mona Hamoudi, Zahra Sarbali and Zahra Meshkehkar.
“After arriving in Malaysia and joining the rest of Iran’s women’s national football team, the three players will travel to Tehran in the coming days to once again be embraced by their families and homeland,” FFIRI added in a statement.
The Iranian team’s campaign in the Asian Cup started just as the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on Iran, killing the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated from the tournament last Sunday.
-Reuters
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