Chelsea Make History (Again) 📈

Happy Tuesday, TWG readers!

This weekend, we saw Chelsea finish the WSL undefeated, Kansas City bounce back after two losses in a row in NWSL, and Barcelona win the Liga F for the sixth time in a row. These teams certainly feel like the places to be, but they do all have huge challenges lying ahead. The Blues will face United in the FA Cup final next weekend for their very last game of the season, the Current visit Orlando next for a game that could be peak NWSL, and Barcelona have two finals remaining in the Champions League and the Copa de la Raina. There is so much to play for even as European football winds down.

Michelle Cooper remains injured for Kansas City, but I did have the opportunity to speak with her last week about her time with the club and her recent USWNT success. We also talked a lot about her USYNT teammates Trinity Rodman and Ally Sentnor, and that entire interview is available on YouTube now. Good Vibes FC with Becky Sauerbrunn will drop today – so please make sure you’re subscribed to our YouTube channel and pod feed if you’re not already!

We’ve got some great Chelsea interviews coming out later this week too, with Captain Millie Bright on Thursday and the team’s manager, Sonia Bompastor, on Friday, ahead of the FA Cup final on Sunday. I am actually heading to London for a few weeks to visit my new nephew! I cannot wait to meet him and I think we will certainly be teaching him to cheer for Chelsea this week.

The whole TWG team also wants to send our thoughts and support to Mia Hamant, a fantastic goalkeeper at the University of Washington who was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer last month. You can donate to her GoFundMe here and learn about her courageous fight against a disease that affects all of us at some point in our lives. Courage, Mia! 🩵

Thank you all so much for being here!

Love,

Auntie Sam

Chelsea Complete their Invincible WSL Season 💙🏆

Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool

Chelsea clinched their sixth-straight WSL title (and eighth total) when they beat Manchester United 1-0 on April 30, with two weekends still remaining in the season. But this past Saturday, the Blues went on to achieve even more: after beating Liverpool 1-0 on the final matchday, they became the first team in WSL history to finish a 22-game season undefeated. Chelsea’s 21-year-old English forward Aggie Beever-Jones scored her ninth goal of the year (officially making her the team’s top-scorer) in the 91st minute to secure the win.

With Saturday’s victory sealing 19 wins and three draws, Chelsea also beat their own points record to finish the year with a record-setting 60 on the season. With two trophies in the bag (the WSL title and League Cup trophy), Chelsea have their eye on one more, the FA Cup trophy, which would mean a domestic treble for 44-year-old French manager Sonia Bompastor (the former manager of French giants Lyon) in her first year in charge in London.

More: How Chelsea women made history with unbeaten WSL season

In Other WSL News 🥈

Arsenal 4-3 Manchester United 

The Gunners secured a second-place finish by beating third-place Manchester United on the final matchday in front of more than 46,000 fans. Both teams will have a chance to compete in next season’s Champions League as they enter in the qualification rounds: Arsenal could enter in the third-and-final round thanks to their second-place finish, though a UWCL win at the end of the month would seal their spot, while United enter in the second. With the regular season over, both teams will also turn their eyes toward upcoming trophy battles: United play Chelsea in next week’s FA Cup final, while Arsenal face a tough challenge against the reigning champions of Europe, Barcelona, in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final May 24. 

More: The 2024/25 Golden Boot and Golden Glove awards will both be shared between two players this season. Arsenal’s Alessia Russo finished the season even with Manchester City’s Bunny Shaw on 12 goals to secure a shared top-scorer prize. While Manchester United’s American keeper, Phallon Tullis-Joyce, will share the Golden Glove with Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton after both ended the year with 13 clean sheets.

• Sam’s Take 🗣️: A huge congrats to all the season's winners! Alessia Russo had a really standout year for Arsenal and is taking them into the Champions League final in two weeks. And Bunny Shaw – despite only being available for 14 games due to injury – still tops the goalscoring charts. Lots more to come from Bunny and I know we're all hoping for a healthier Man City next season.

📬 Enjoying The Women’s Game? Check out our other MiB newsletters here.

NWSL Weekend Eight: KC Return to Winning Ways 📈

Kansas City Current 4-1 Bay FC

After losing two weekends in a row (ending their record-setting undefeated streak), Kansas City Current are back in the win column after Sunday’s resounding 4-1 victory against Bay FC. With “Ted Lasso” stars Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt both present at CPKC Stadium — where NWSL’s first-place team are reliably dominant — Sunday’s goal-fest was a display of Brazilian brilliance: three of KCC’s four goals came from the fleet-footed Debinha (now the team’s top scorer with five goals in eight games) and her Brazilian teammate Bia Zaneratto. Temwa Chawinga (who else?) added the fourth.

• Sam’s Take 🗣️: The return of Bia for Kansas City feels almost absurd. Their attack is already so well rounded and effective - now add a powerful No 9 to the most dangerous striker in Temwa Chawinga and the most creative 10 in Debinha? Good luck to everyone else trying to defend KC.

North Carolina Courage 1-1 Orlando Pride

Second-place Orlando traveled to North Carolina on Saturday hoping to regain momentum, after losing two of their last three matches. But until the 93rd minute in Cary, it looked like they would lose yet again – the 10th-place Courage (who’ve shown signs of resurgence after beating Kansas City in week six) were winning 1-0 most of the match. But the reigning champs pulled off a point at the death: 25-year-old Zambian midfielder (and Copper Queens teammate to Orlando’s top-scorer, Barbra Banda) Prisca Chilufya brought them level in the third minute of stoppage time, marking a momentous first goal for her new club. Orlando finally heads home next weekend, where they’ll host first-place Kansas City in one of the biggest games of the year. 

More: Angel City’s 20-year-old defender Savy King was stretchered off the field in Friday’s 2-0 win against Utah Royals and is reported to be in stable condition following the “medical event.” While both teams prayed for King together after the final whistle, some fans and players have criticized the decision to proceed with the match, including U.S. and Washington Spirit star forward Trinity Rodman.

A Few Other Excellent Goals from Around NWSL 🚀

Got a favorite we missed? Email us at [email protected].

🥤 Olipop power everything we do here at The Women’s Game. You can use code TWG20 for 20% off your first order at drinkolipop.com/TWG20.

Elsewhere in Europe 🌍

French Final Sets Up Rivalry Battle Between Lyon and PSG 🇫🇷

The most dominant top team in France, Lyon, beat Dijon 4-1 on Sunday to secure their spot in the Première Ligue’s May 16 season finale. U.S. captain Lindsey Heaps scored the second of the team’s goals, which is her 12th this season, as Lyon’s second-highest scorer. In Paris, PSG beat Paris FC 2-0 to ensure a final with numerous USWNT players on either side. Lyon’s Lindsey Heaps and right-back Sofia Huerta will face PSG’s American trio of Crystal Dunn, Korbin Albert, and Eva Gaetino. 

Barcelona Claim Sixth-Straight Liga F Title 🇪🇸

They’re the team to beat in Champions League, and they dominated Spain’s Liga F for yet another year. Barcelona beat Real Betis 9-0 on Sunday, clinching their sixth-straight Liga F title and 10th in club history. Just look at what it means.

More: Barcelona clinch sixth-straight Liga F title with Real Betis rout

Weekend Matches Worth Setting Reminders For 📺

FA Cup Final 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Chelsea vs. Manchester United, (Sunday, 8:30 a.m. ET, ESPN+)

A re-match of the 2023 FA Cup final (which Chelsea won 1-0) is set for this Sunday at Wembley Stadium. The Blues will look to secure the last remaining domestic trophy (after winning the League Cup and regular-season titles) by beating the reigning champions, Manchester United, who beat Tottenham 4-0 in last year’s final. 

NWSL 🇺🇸

Gotham vs. San Diego Wave (Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET, NWSL+)

Two of 2025’s other strongest teams will also meet this Friday, as the third-place 2023 champs, Gotham, and fourth-place 2023 Shield winners, San Diego Wave, go head-to-head in New Jersey. Expect some fireworks in this one.

Orlando Pride vs. Kansas City Current, (Friday, 8 p.m. ET, Prime Video)

NWSL’s top two teams face-off this Friday in their first big clash of 2025, marking their first meeting since last year’s riveting semifinal which ended 3-2 in Orlando’s favor. Both teams started the year undefeated, but picked up disappointing results at the end of April, so this should be a great watch.

News and Notes 🗞️

• Ahead of the 2025–26 season, the Barclays Women’s Super League is getting a fresh new look with a full rebrand, while the second division will return to its former branding as WSL2.

• FIFA has confirmed the host cities for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil. South America's first Women’s World Cup will be played in: Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and São Paulo.

• More exciting Women’s World Cup news: the 2031 tournament (which is on track to take place in the United States after the U.S. submitted the lone bid) will expand to 48 teams.

• Legendary alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin is joining the NWSL Denver ownership group. Shiffrin is a Colorado native (as well as the most decorated alpine skier in history), and had this to say about the decision to be a part of NWSL’s 16th team: "I'm beyond thrilled to join the ownership group of Denver NWSL and support something so meaningful in the community I call home. The sports culture in Colorado is rich and deep, and – most notably – the growth of women's sports is one of the most exciting movements in our culture today."

What’s the Story? 🗣️ KC Current and USWNT’s Michelle Cooper on her USYNT journey with friend and teammate Ally Sentnor

Sam Mewis: I know that you were also joined on one of your very first youth national teams by Ally Sentnor. What are your early memories of Ally and did you have kind of that feeling like, “Oh, this could be the start of a long journey for us together”?

Michelle Cooper: I definitely had that feeling, yeah, I would say that. I actually have a photo of Ally and I. It's me in the background, at like 14, and Ally is so tiny, she's like just 12. To look back at that and see us playing each other now professionally and together on the national team is insane. And I'm happy that we got to go through the journey of youth camps together. 

SM: And then in all of your postgame interviews about your first goal, it seemed like you actually talked about Ally and your history of playing together. It was such a special moment. What did that feel like for you to share that moment with her?

MC: I was so happy. Well, I mean, I did feel bad because I was like, “Oh my God, did I just steal this from you?” And she was like, “No, I'm so happy for you, like you needed to do that.” We talked about it a lot and we giggle about it every now and then, like, what? You couldn't have written it any better.

📺 Watch the full conversation here.

Good Reads 👩‍💻

• From Jeff Kassouf on ESPN, ‘Michele Kang interview: On the NWSL, Spirit, Lyon, and transforming women’s soccer’

• From Sophie Downey in The Guardian, ‘It means everything: how Union Berlin Women completed epic journey to the top’

• From Kevin Pelton and Michael Voepel on ESPN, ‘Assessing WNBA CBA negotiations, from salaries to salary caps’

It’s TWG Trivia Time 🤔

Welcome back to our weekly trivia game!

This week’s question: Arsenal and England striker Alessia Russo was named Football Player of the Year by the Football Writers Association. Russo played college soccer in the United States for the University of North Carolina, where she was part of a team that lost to Stanford on penalties in the 2019 College Cup final. Three members of the current U.S. Women’s National Team scored penalties for Stanford in that shootout. Who were they?

Respond to this email (or reply here) for a chance to win a coveted TWG patch.

Last week’s answer: Alessia Russo (there she is again!) was named Football Player of the Year (alongside Chelsea forward Lauren James) this year for the second time after previously winning it as a member of which club? That would, of course, be: Manchester United.

This week’s winner is Michael Morrow, and thanks to everyone who responded. Michael, the patch is in the mail. 📬

Moment of Joy 🤸

Christen writes: Hi Sam,

I am a big fan of the show and, being a former collegiate soccer player, collegiate coach, and longtime lover of the game, I have thought of how fun some soccer talk with you would be, but I was never inclined to try to reach out to you until now and it isn’t even about soccer but something equally as important…movies!

On a recent episode, movie talk came up and you sort of groaned that Pat likes a 90s movie called “My Cousin Vinny.” Sam, you must watch this movie—the humor is right up your alley and I guarantee you will be quoting Marisa Tomei’s lines for the rest of your life. So climb out from under that rock, grab some Nerds Gummy Clusters, and watch “My Cousin Vinny”! 😉

Thank you for ALL that you are doing for the women’s game!

Christen

Sam responds:

Hi Christen,

“My Cousin Vinny” is now on my list to watch! I really do live under a rock when it comes to movies so I am trying to be better. Any and all movie recommendations are welcome!

Sam

📝 Want to be featured in next week’s TWG newsletter? Send Sam an email! All your questions, comments, and dog (or wedding) photos can be sent to [email protected]

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