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NATIONAL WOMEN'S SOCCER LEAGUE

National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is the highest league of women's soccer/football in USA

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Founded: 2012

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2023 season: 25 March – 11 November

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Teams: 12

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Format: The top six teams in the final standings at the end of the NWSL season qualify for the playoffs and are seeded in order of their record; the top two teams receive a first-round bye.

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Relegation / Promotion: No relegation / promotion as NWSL is a franchise league 

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Current champions 2022: Portland Thorns FC (3rd title)

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Current NWSL Shield* 2022: OL Reign (3rd shield)

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Top Scorer 2022: Alex Morgan (15 goals)

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Most championships: Portland Thorns FC (3 titles)

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Most NWSL Shields*: OL Reign and North Carolina Courage (3 shields each)

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*Annual award given to the team with the best regular season record

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Official site >>

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A-LEAGUE WOMEN

Highest league of women's football in Australia

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Founded: 2008 (first season 2008/09)

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Sponsor: Liberty

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2022/23 season dates: 19 November 2022 – 30 April 2023

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Teams: 11

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Rounds: 20

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Format:

• Regular season: The highest ranked team after the 20 rounds, wins the title of "Premiers".

• Knockout stage: The Australian format is a bit different from a 'normal' knockout phase. The top four teams from the regular season advance to the single-game knockout elimination-semi-finals. The Premiership winners will face the regular season runners-up in one semi-final. In that semi-final the winner advances to the Grand Final to contest the league title, however the defeated team will have a second chance at the championship through a Preliminary Final, when they play the winner of the other semifinal - between seed Nos. 3 and 4.  

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Reigning champions 2021/22: Melbourne Victory (3rd title)

Reigning premiers 2021/22: Sydney FC (4th title)

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Top goal scorer 2021/22: Fiona Worts (13 goals)

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Most championships: Melbourne City (4 titles)

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Official site >>

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WOMEN'S SUPER LEAGUE

Highest league of women's football in England, with professional league status (since the 2018–19 season).

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Founded: 2010 (First season 2011)

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League sponsor: Barclays

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Current champion 2021-22: Chelsea (5th title)

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Most championships: Chelsea (5 titles)

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2021-22 Top scorer: Sam Kerr (20 goals)

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UEFA Women's Champions League Qualification: Top three teams

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2022-23 Season dates: 10 September - 28 May

 

Teams: 12

 

Rounds: 22

 

Total matches: 132

 

Format: Each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 22 games. At the end of the season, the club with the most points is crowned the league champions. If points are equal between teams, what determines the winner is:

1.  Goal difference

2. Number of goals scored

 

Relegation / Promotion: The bottom placed club (12th) will be relegated to Barclays Women's Championship. The winner of Barclays Women's Championship will promote to Barclays Women's Super League.

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Official site >>

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2024 AFC WOMEN'S OLYMPIC QUALIFYING

ABOUT

The sixth edition of the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, - organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to determine which national teams from Asia qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024.

The top two teams will qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in France as the AFC representatives.

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TEAMS

A total of 31 (of 47) AFC member national teams entered the qualifying stage

 

FORMAT

First round: The five highest FIFA world ranked teams (North Korea, Japan, Australia, China and South Korea) received byes to the second round. The remaining 26 teams are divided into five groups of four and two groups of three and compete in a one-round league format in a centralised venue. The winners of each group will advance to the second round.

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Second round: The twelve teams (the seven group winners from round 1 plus the highest-ranked five teams) enter this round. Three groups of four teams and compete in a one-round league format in a centralised venue. The three group winners and the best-ranked runners-up advance to the third round.

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Third round: The four teams play two pairs of home and away matches with the two eventual winners qualifying for 2024 Paris Olympics.

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DATES:

First round: 3–11 April 2023
Second round: 23–31 October 2023
Final round: 27 November–6 December 2023

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The Paris, France Olympics will take place Friday, July 26, 2024 to Sunday, August 11, 2024.

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Official site >>

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WOMEN'S FINALISSIMA

What is the Women's Finalissima?

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Women's Finalissima is an intercontinental match between the winners of the most recent European and South American championships. 

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The 2023 will be the first edition of the Women's Finalissima. The competition has previously taken place twice for men, in 1985 and 1993, before being discontinued - later being relaunched in 2022, where it was branded as the Finalissima.

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The 2023 women's version will feature England, winners of UEFA Women's Euro 2022, and Brazil, winners of the 2022 Copa América Femenina. 

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Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England

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Official site >>

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LIGA F

Highest league of women's football in Spain, now with professional league status.

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Founded: 1988

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League sponsor: Finetwork

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Current champions: Barcelona (7th title)

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Most championships: Barcelona (7 titles)

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2021-22 Top scorer: Asisat Oshola / Geyse Ferreira (20 goals each)

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UEFA Women's Champions League Qualification: Top three teams 

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2022/23 Season: 10 September 2022 - 21 May 2023

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Teams: 16

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Match rounds: 30

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Matches played overall: 240 

 

Format: Each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents.

At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion. If points are equal between teams, what determines the winner is:

1. Goal difference in the matches between the two teams.

2. Goal difference all matches of the championship.

 

Relegation: Bottom two teams to Primera Federación Femenina (the second highest division)

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Official site >>

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DFB-POKAL FRAUEN

DFB-Pokal Frauen is the German Women's Cup

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Founded: 1981

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2022/23 Season: 20 August  2022 - 18 May 2023

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Teams: 48

• All teams from previous year's Frauen-Bundesliga

• All the teams from previous year's 2. Frauen-Bundesliga, excluding certain clubs' second teams.

• 5 champions of the previous year's season in Regionalliga (women's third-tier in Germany)

• The 21 winners of the regional association cups "Verbandspokal"

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Format:​ The rounds will be played in a one-legged system where the clubs from lower leagues will host against clubs from higher leagues until the quarterfinals.

• Round 1: 20 - 22 August 2022

• Round 2: 10 - 12 September 2022

• Round of 16: 19 - 20 November 2022

• Quarterfinals: 28 February 2023

• Semifinals: 15 - 17 April 2023

• Final: 18 May 2023

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Championship venue: RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne

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Current champions 2021/22: VfL Wolfsburg (9th title)

 

Most successful club: Vfl Wolfsburg & Eintracht Frankfurt, previous known as 1. FFC Frankfurt (9 titles each)

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Official site >>

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WOMEN'S FA CUP

The Women's FA Cup is the annual cup tournament for women's clubs in England

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Sponsor: Vitality

 

Founded: 1970 

 

Previous names: WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reasons)

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Most titles: Arsenal (14 titles)

 

Reigning champions 2021-22: Chelsea (4th title)​

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Teams participating 2022-23 season: 438, increase of 21 from previous year

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System:

• First round qualifying: Teams from lowest leagues enter

• Second round qualifying: Tier 5 teams enter

• Third round qualifying: The 48 teams in the FA Women's National League Division One (tier 4) enter

• First round: Teams in the Northern and Southern Premier Divisions (tier 3) enter

• Second round: ...

• Third round: The 12 teams from the Women's Championship enter 

• Fourth round: The 12 Women's Super League teams enter

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2023 Final venue: Wembley Stadium, London (14 May)

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Prize money: A combined £3,000,000, compared to around £400,000 previous year

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Official site >>

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BRASILEIRO FEMININO

"Brasileirão Feminino A1" - Highest league of women's football in Brazil

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Founded: 2013

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Teams: 16

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2023 Regular Season: 24 February - 11 June

2023 Playoffs: 16 June - 17 September

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Match rounds: 15

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Total matches: 134 (120 +14 playoff games)

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2023 Playoffs: Top eight teams from regular season.

Quarter-finals - home and away game for each team. Same goes for semi-finals and the final.

 In the quarter-finals 1st placed team from regular season will play 8th placed team, 2nd play 7th, 3rd vs 6th and 4th vs 5th.​

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Promotion: Top four from Brasileiro A2

Relegation: Bottom four to Brasileiro A2

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Current champions: Corinthians (4th title)

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2022 Top scorer: Cristiane (13 goals)

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Most championships: Corinthians (4 titles)

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Qualification to Copa Libertadores: 3 spots (2023 edition)

1. The Brasileiro champions

2. The top five ranked countries (according to the historical achievements of the clubs in the Copa Libertadores) receive another spot (Brazil is one of them)

3. The country of the team which is the recent champions also receive another spot (Palmeiras won 2022)

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Official site >>

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NWSL CHALLENGE CUP

An annual tournament in the United States, organized by the top-tier league National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)

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Founded: 2020

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Sponsor: UKG

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Teams: 12 (all NWSL teams) 

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Total amount of matches: 39

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2023 First stage format:
The competition is split into three regional groups of four teams each; East, Central and West. Each team will play a six-game double round-robin in which every team plays all others in its division at home and away. The winner from each of the three divisions will progress to the knockout stage along with the highest-ranked group stage runner-up to make up the four semifinalists. 

The 2023 edition will be the first time cup is played concurrently with the regular season, bringing it in line with most other league cup competitions worldwide.

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2023 Play-offs format:
Three single-elimination matches: two semifinals and one final. 

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Current champions 2022: North Carolina Courage (1st title)

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Official site >>

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SCOTTISH WOMEN'S PREMIER LEAGUE

SWPL 1 - Highest league of women's football in Scotland

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Founded: 2002​

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Current champion 2021-22: Rangers (1st title)

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Most championships: Glasgow City (15 titles)

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2022-23 Season dates: 7 August 2022 to 21 May 2023

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Teams: 12

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Format: Each team will play each other two times in a double round-robin before a "split", then another double round-robin of the top six and bottom six clubs respectively. 

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Relegation / Promotion: The 11th-placed team will play qualification in the SWPL1 relegation/promotion play-off against the runners-up from SWPL 2. The bottom placed team (12th) will be relegated to the SWPL 2.

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UEFA Women's Champions League Qualification: Top two clubs

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Official site >>

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SERIE A FEMMINILE

Highest league of women's football in Italy, fully-professional from the 2022–23 season

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Founded: 1968

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League sponsor: TIMVISION

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Current champion 2021-22: Juventus (5th title)

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Most championships: Torres (7 titles)

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2021-22 Top scorer: Daniela Sabatino (15 goals)

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2022-23 Season dates: 27 August  2022 - TBD 2023

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Teams: 10

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Rounds regular season: 18

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Format: From the 2022/23 season the format has changed, two phases will take place:

1. The 10 participating teams face each other in a round-robin tournament with home and away matches for a total of 18 matchdays.

2. In the second phase the top-five ranked teams qualify to the championship round, while the last-five ranked teams play the relegation round.

Championship / Relegation round:

Each team keeps the points earned from the first phase, into the second phase. In both rounds, the five participating teams face each other in a round-robin tournament with home and away matches for a total of an additional 10 matchdays.

At the end of the second phase, the first ranked in the championship round is crowned champion of Italy and qualifies to the UEFA Women's Champions League alongside the second placed team.
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Relegation / Promotion: In the relegation round the last-ranked team is relegated directly to the Serie B, while the second-last team plays the second-placed in the Serie B Femmenile for a place in the Serie A Femminile.

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UWCL Qualification: Top two clubs

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Official site >>

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UEFA WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2022/23

EDITION:

22nd since the UEFA Women's Cup was founded in 2001. The 13th edition since the rebranding to the UEFA Women's Champions League in 2009. And it is the second edition to feature a 16-team, home-and-away group stage.

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FORMAT: 

The top six nations are handed three spots (France, Germany, Spain, England, Sweden, Czech Republic).

The associations ranked 7–16 will enter with two clubs (Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Scotland, Belarus, Ukraine, Austria).

The remaining associations will enter with one team each. 

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QUALIFICATION: 
Four teams qualify directly to the group stage:

The defending UWCL champions

The league champions from the nations ranked 1 by UEFA coefficient

The league champions from the nations ranked 2 by UEFA coefficient

The league champions from the nations ranked 3 by UEFA coefficient

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For all remaining teams who don't automatically qualify for the group stage, two paths will occur:

A champions path (from where 7 teams qualify)

A non-champions 'league' path (from where 5 teams qualify)

The two paths will take place in four-team, predetermined-venue miniature tournaments (one-off semifinals, third place, and final matches) and a second round of paired home-and-away ties.

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GROUP STAGE

A double-round-robin group stage with four groups of four - eight teams qualify for the home-and-away quarterfinals.

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FINAL

Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, Netherlands will stage the final 3 June 2023.

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REIGNING CHAMPIONS 2021/22:

Olympique Lyonnais 

 

TOP SCORER 2021/22:

Alexia Putellas (11 goals)

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MOST SUCCESSFUL CLUB:

Olympique Lyonnais (8 titles)

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MOST SUCCESSFUL NATION:

Germany (9 titles)

Frankfurt (4)

Turbine Potsdam (2)

VfL Wolfsburg (2)

Duisburg (1)

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Official site >>

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DAMALLSVENSKAN

Highest league of women's football in Sweden

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Founded: 1988

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League sponsor: OBOS

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2023 Season: 24 March - 11 November

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Teams: 14 

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Match rounds: 26 

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Matches played overall: 182 

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UEFA Women's Champions League Qualification: Top three teams 

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​Relegation / Promotion: The bottom two teams will be relegated to Elitettan (2nd division) from which the top two teams instead will be promoted from. The third bottom-placed team from Damallsvenskan will play play-offs against the third-placed team from Elitettan for a spot in next season's Damallsvenskan

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Current champions 2022: FC Rosengård (13th title)

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Most championships: FC Rosengård (13 titles)

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2022 Top scorer: Amalie Jørgensen Vangsgaard; (22)

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Official site >>

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LIGA MX FEMENIL

Highest league of women's football in Mexico

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Founded: 2016 (first season 2017)

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Sponsor: BBVA

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Current season: 2022/23

Apertura* season: 8 July - 14 November 2022

Clausura* season: 6 January - June 2023

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Teams: 18

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Rounds: 17 

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Knockout Stage: The top eight teams qualify to the knockout stage called 'Liguilla'

Quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are played with a two-legged system; a home + away game for each team

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Total Matches: 167 (153 + 14 playoffs)

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Current champion (2022 Clausura): Chivas Guadalajara

Current champion (2022 Apertura): Tigres UANL (5th title)

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Top goal scorer 2022 Clausura: Alicia Cervante 14 goals

Top goal scorer 2022 Apertura: Mia Fishel 17 goals)

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Most championships all seasons: Tigres UANL (5 titles)

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*The Apertura and Clausura tournaments is a split season format common for many Latin American football leagues in which the season is divided in two sections per season (Apertura + Clausura) each with its own champion.

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Official site >>

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VROUWEN EREDIVISIE

Highest league of women's football in Netherlands

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Founded: 2007

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League sponsor: Azerion

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Current champions 2020-21: FC Twente (8th title)

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Most championships: FC Twente (8 titles)

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2021-22 Top scorer: Fenna Kalma (33 goals)

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2022-23 Season dates: 16 September 2022 – 5 May 2023

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Teams: 11

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Regular season rounds: 22

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Total matches regular season: 110

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Format: Each team will play all of the other teams twice over 22 rounds with each round one team having a bye due to the odd number of teams.

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Relegation / Promotion: There is no relegation nor promotion in the league

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UEFA Women's Champions League Qualification: The champions and runners-up

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Official site >>