Edition Eight

Headlines

Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas made history this month by becoming the first woman to win back-to-back Ballon d’Ors. The midfielder enjoyed the most prolific campaign of her career as Barcelona completed another flawless league season to be crowned Primera Division champions.

"I'm very happy to be back here," said Putellas. "A year ago I was able to win this prize and it pushed me to want to get even better.”

Arsenal and England forward Beth Mead was second, and Chelsea and Australia striker Sam Kerr completed the top three.?

Putellas, Mead and Kerr will all be expected to be in action at next summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand - although the former faces a race to be fit after rupturing her ACL on the eve of Euro 2022 - and they discovered their World Cup opponents on Saturday as the 2023 draw took place in Auckland.

Reigning world champions the USA face a group stage reunion with the Netherlands - the side they beat in the 2019 final - and will also take on Vietnam and either Portugal, Cameroon or Thailand.

European champions England have been drawn alongside China, Denmark and one of Senegal, Haiti or Chile in Group D, while World Cup debutants the Republic of Ireland find themselves in a particularly tough group with hosts Australia, Olympic gold medalists Canada and Nigeria.?

Meanwhile in domestic football, a brand new champion of the Women's Copa Libertadores is guaranteed in the 2022 tournament, with the four semi finalists confirmed as Deportivo Cali, Boca Juniors, Palmeiras and América de Cali.?

Ten of the 13 winners in the competition’s history have been from Brazil - but Palemeiras are the only Brazilian team remaining, while Boca Juniors are vying to become the first ever Argentinian club to win the tournament. The Copa Libertadores final takes place on 28 October in Quito, Ecuador.?

The NWSL playoff finalists were also confirmed this week, as Kansas City Current and Portland Thorns booked their place in Saturday’s showpiece event. Crystal Dunn - just five months after giving birth to her first child - netted a stunning extra time winner as Portland beat Casey Stoney’s San Diego Wave 2-1 to set up Saturday’s final clash.

“We supported her but we never tried to push any limits,” Portland head coach Rhian Wilkinson said of Dunn’s comeback. “And it just turns out that she’s ready for the end of the season. It’s such a unique experience for every mother.?

“I don’t also want other mothers in the league to now think they’ve got to do what Crystal Dunn did. It is incredible what she did. But it was done very carefully with a lot of very, very skilled people supporting her return to play.”

Business corner

In July, it was announced that FIFA 23 would include women’s club teams for the very first time. The WSL and Division One Feminine were added to the game, while Chelsea’s Sam Kerr became the first woman to appear on a global FIFA cover.

At EA Sports’ Women’s Football Summit in London on Tuesday 18 October, it was announced that a new multi-year sponsorship deal had also been agreed between EA Sports and the Women's Champions League, which will see the competition added to FIFA 23 early next year.??

EA Sports have also announced an $11m investment - dubbed the ‘Starting XI Fund’ - to ‘continue elevating the women’s game’. This will incorporate 'in-game, league, club and athlete investments'.

Speaking to 90min at the Women’s Football Summit, former England international Karen Carney emphasised the importance of women’s club sides featuring in FIFA, as this helps to continue normalising and educating people about the women’s game.

"It's massive because some people don't know about women's football as such and that's okay and that's the journey that it's on," Carney said. "But what the game does is bring it into people's homes.”

Lighter Bites

Portland Thorns booked their place in the NWSL playoff finals at the beginning of the week with a 2-1 victory over San Diego Wave thanks to two of the finest goals you could hope to see in a game of such magnitude.

Rocky Rodriguez levelled the scores at 1-1 by sending a outrageous volley from the edge of the area soaring into the roof of the net.

Dunn then crashed home a half volley in stoppage time, finding the top corner with a sweetly-struck effort.?

90min Highlights

With Roma preparing to embark on their maiden Women’s Champions League campaign, 90min IT spoke exclusively with striker Paloma Lazaro. The forward talked about the transformation of the women’s game in Italy after the top flight turned fully professional, her footballing journey, Roma’s ambitions for the season and more.