Blair Newman

With one year to go before the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup kicks off, now is the time to assess the contenders. We at The Equalizer went through the favorites earlier this week, so here we shall take a look at the outsiders: Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands and Sweden.

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The Boston Legacy have shown a clear preference for operating with a back three in their inaugural campaign. Head coach Filipa Patão typically sets the team up with three center-backs, wing-backs on each side, two central midfielders and a fluid front three. But there is a case for them to alter their system.

The Portland Thorns may not become harder to beat when they go down to 10 players, but they are about as tough a nut to crack as it gets for any opponent with a numerical advantage.

How the off-field recruitment work of Sporting Director Kelly Cousins has paid off in Utah

“We practice on our…finishing phase, how do we want to score goals,” Lind confirmed in his introductory press conference after being appointed head coach of the Courage earlier this year. “We want to create those behaviors…so we have been practicing a lot of that.”

The 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations must surely go down as one of the most exciting continental competitions in recent memory. It all culminated on Sunday with a 3-0 win for Cameroon over Malawi. The outcome looked straightforward on paper, but the journey was utterly compelling.

Malawi's run to the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations final was one of the great surprises of recent times — the lowest-ranked side at the tournament coming within 90 minutes of winning it. At the same time, this performance was a confirmation of sorts for Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chawinga.

The North Carolina Courage have finally found their cutting edge, following several years of sterile possession. After 20 games, they have already scored 36 goals, which is more than they scored over 22 games in 2023 and over 26 games in 2024. They are just two goals away from besting last season's tally with six games still to play.

And adding an extra centerback improved their attack After their 2-0 defeat at home to Bay in July, Racing Louisville sat at the bottom of the National Women's Soccer League table.