England will head into the Women’s World Cup having played more total minutes than any other leading country, according to a report by global players’ union FIFPRO.
Workload and injuries have been a major talking point in the women’s game, with a particular focus on the number of players suffering ACL damage.
Arsenal defender Leah Williamson, who captained England to European Championship success last summer, and Beth Mead, who won the Golden Boot and was named player of the tournament, will both miss the World Cup because of ACL injuries, as will Chelsea’s Fran Kirby with her own knee issue.
FIFPRO’s 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Workload Journey Report, published on Thursday morning, examined workload and playing opportunities for players at international and club level.
The England squad’s combined total minutes played in all competitive club and national team matches, from August 1, 2022 to June 3 this year, was 65,398, putting them ahead of Spain (61,894), Portugal (61,508) and the Netherlands (59,970).
England players played a total of 48,222 minutes in domestic club football, with an additional 7,109 coming from international club competitions such as the Champions League.
The domestic football set-up in three of the top five countries on the list – England, Portugal and the Netherlands – also included a second club cup competition, so adding more playing time.
By comparison, current world champions the United States played far fewer minutes overall (46,455), thanks to less club action from those based domestically in the National Women’s Soccer League than their European counterparts, with no international club or second domestic cup competitions.
However, total national team minutes for the USA were 11,316, placing them above both World Cup co-hosts Australia (11,182) and England (9,778).
Some squads in the report are preliminary, based on estimations from digital data and analytics platform Football Benchmark made in mid-June before the confirmation of the official World Cup selections.
Eight countries are missing from the analysis, including China, Argentina and South Africa, due to a lack of available data, with the scarcity of easily-accessible up-to-date match schedules and performance statistics for players another concern highlighted by the report.
“Player workload is an important lens through which to assess some the overall needs of women’s football from an access, development and competitive aspect,” said Sarah Gregorius, FIFPRO’s director global policy and strategic relations for women’s football
“By using the milestone of the Women’s World Cup and the context for participating players, we can see where football stakeholders can come together to improve the international match calendar and make data-driven decisions on how to add and innovate with competitions to better promote performance and well-being for more players.”
The report also addresses issues over the “uneven and fragmented” calendars in the women’s game, which FIFPRO said forces many players in countries where football is less developed to move abroad to improve or face having not enough matches to develop their potential.
Players from the likes of England, Spain and Portugal collectively played around twice as many minutes for their clubs and national teams over the last 10 months as those from Jamaica, Haiti and the Philippines, which FIFPRO feels could impact how ready players are to perform on the World Cup stage.
The players’ union highlighted the need for all regions to stage standalone qualifying competitions for the next Women’s World Cup. At the moment UEFA, Europe’s governing body, is the only one which does.
This would, FIFPRO said, help create a “more balanced qualification system that supports the growth of women’s football worldwide”.
FIFPRO also called for more international club competitions in women’s football and the sustainable growth of domestic leagues, which currently tend to have fewer teams and matches than men’s leagues.
“The FIFA Women’s World Cup is a fantastic celebration of the women’s game, but is also a time to analyse the sometimes patchy development of the sport,” FIFPRO general secretary Jonas Baer Hoffmann said.
“The data shows competitive opportunities for players globally is largely dependent on the context of domestic football in their home country, as well as the availability of international club football.”
Wolves 1-3 Crystal Palace: Olise inspires in-form Eagles to another victory
Crystal Palace continued their impressive form as goals from Michael Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberechi Eze gave the Eagles a 3-1 victory over Wolves at Molineux.
Olise broke the deadlock with a curling strike after 26 minutes before Mateta grabbed a second just three minutes later to set Palace on the route to victory.
Matheus Cunha pulled a goal back for the hosts, but Eze restored their two-goal cushion with 17 minutes remaining, and they hung on despite Naouirou Ahamada receiving a second yellow card late on.
Wolves drop to 13th with defeat as Palace leapfrog them on goal difference into 12th position in the Premier League table, having enjoyed a resurgence under new boss Oliver Glasner.
With both sides tucked safely in mid-table, it was – perhaps unsurprisingly – something of a slow burner at Molineux.
Max Kilman headed over for Wolves early on, before Mateta intercepted a pass and slid in Eze for a shot on goal, which he could not direct on target.
Olise spurned another good opportunity when he shot wide at the back post from Mateta's cross, but he then opened the scoring with a delightful left-footed curling strike, which was perfectly placed beyond the stretching arm of Dan Bentley.
The in-form Mateta then swiftly doubled Palace's advantage with a close-range finish after Nathaniel Clyne had struck the post following excellent work from Olise.
Wolves nearly responded before half-time when Matt Doherty rattled the crossbar with a header from Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross, then Cunha forced Dean Henderson into a smart save after the interval.
Cunha managed to halve the deficit with 66 minutes played, however, firing into the roof of the net with a VAR check awarding the goal after Hwang Hee-chan was flagged offside.
Clyne then made an important interception to deny Hwang an almost certain goal before Olise split the Wolves defence to find Eze, who rounded the goalkeeper and tapped in Palace's third.
They held on despite Ahamanda being sent off late on, receiving his second booking for a rash lunge on Cunha. Referee Thomas Bramall originally pointed to the penalty spot but after a VAR review, the decision was overturned and a free-kick awarded outside the area.
Wolves lack solid foundations
After a positive first half of the season which saw them on the cusp of a potential European place, Wolves’ final home match of the season ended in defeat and Gary O’Neil’s side are now destined to finish in the bottom half of the table.
Their recent slide has seen them win just once in their last nine matches.
Wolves' defence has let them down lately – only Sheffield United, Luton Town and West Ham have conceded more goals in their last 15 Premier League games – but losing Jose Sa in the build-up to illness did not help here.
Bentley though could do little to stop any of the Palace goals as the game quickly got away from Wolves in the first half.
Eagles continue to fly
Glasner will be delighted that his side could follow up Monday's 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United with just a second away victory in 13 matches.
Palace extend their unbeaten run to six games, with the front three of Olise, Mateta and Eze once again excellent and at the forefront of this win.
A victory on the final day at home to Aston Villa could reward the Eagles with a top-half finish after a campaign which threatened to see them in a relegation scrap.
The only downside to this win was a first-half injury to Will Hughes, which Glasner will be hoping is nothing serious.
Bournemouth 1-2 Brentford: Wissa wins it after frantic finish
Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo starred in a frantic finish as Brentford emerged with a dramatic 2-1 away victory against Bournemouth.
Saturday’s match was goalless after 85 minutes and it looked like visitors Brentford had snatched victory when a fine pass by Wissa allowed Mbeumo to open the scoring.
But Dominic Solanke headed in an equaliser for the hosts with one minute of normal time remaining.
That was not to be the last of the drama, though, as Mbeumo turned provider and Wissa scored the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Defeat means Bournemouth are 11th in the standings, behind Brighton on goal difference, while Brentford are 16th, now just one point behind Everton.
The Cherries thought they had opened the scoring midway through the first half via top scorer Solanke, but following a VAR review, referee Matt Donohue disallowed the strike after checking the pitch-side screen. Donohue, taking charge of his first ever Premier League game, adjudged that Antoine Semenyo handled the ball before providing the pass to Solanke.
In a game of few quality chances, Keane Lewis-Potter came close for the away side on the hour-mark. After good build-up play, captain Christian Nørgaard slipped in the 23-year-old midfielder, but he was unable to make clean contact with the ball and Mark Travers in the Bournemouth goal was able to gather.
It took until 65 minutes for Bournemouth to win their first corner of the afternoon, and it led to their first serious chance of the second period. The Cherries have already scored 11 goals from corners in 2023-24, more than in any previous Premier League campaign, but Lloyd Kelly’s header narrowly missed the target, rolling just wide of the post.
Ivan Toney thought he had won a penalty in the 71st minute after falling to ground under pressure from Illia Zabarnyi. Referee Donohue originally awarded the spot-kick, but another VAR intervention saw him reverse his decision after it was deemed that contact was not sufficient to warrant the penalty.
Eventually, a mad spell of three goals in nine minutes saw Brentford come out on top.
Mbeumo thought he had won the game for Brentford with just three minutes left to play, racing on to Wissa’s pass to finish well past Travers, but Solanke’s header looked set to win the home side a point.
It was left to Wissa to win the game for Thomas Frank’s side in the fifth minute of injury time, slamming high into the net from an Mbeumo assist.
Perfect Partners Seal Three Points for Bees
This was the fifth Premier League game this season than both Mbeumo and Wissa have scored for Brentford, after previous double acts versus Spurs and Fulham in August, Burnley in October and Aston Villa last month.
With 20 goals between the two forwards overall in the competition this season, their partnership has been crucial to Brentford’s survival in the Premier League – even more so with Toney’s recent loss of form in front of goal.
The England international extended his run to 11 successive Premier League appearances without a goal in this match, equalling his all-time longest run in league football from 2013-14 at Northampton Town.
Solanke Stakes Claim for Euro 2024 Selection
He may have ended the afternoon on the losing side, but Solanke scored yet again for Bournemouth.
With 19 goals in the Premier League this season, only Cole Palmer (21) has more goals than the Cherries striker among all English players.
Next week offers him the chance to reach 20 league goals in 2023-24 against his former club, Chelsea. Should he manage that, he’ll join a list of just 23 English players to manage at least 20 goals in a single Premier League season.
West Ham 3-1 Luton Town: Hatters on the brink after second-half turnaround
Luton Town's hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier League are all but over after they squandered a 1-0 lead in a 3-1 defeat to West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday.
In their final home game under departing boss David Moyes, the Hammers fell behind to Albert Sambi Lokonga's header, as Rob Edwards' side looked to pull level with 17th-placed Nottingham Forest.
However, fine second-half finishes from James Ward-Prowse and Tomas Soucek turned the game around, then teenager George Earthy marked his return from a head injury with his first Premier League goal.
While Moyes was able to enjoy his London Stadium swansong, Luton will see their return to the Championship confirmed if Forest avoid defeat to Chelsea later on Saturday.
If Forest are beaten, Luton will need to beat Fulham on the final day, hope their rivals lose to already-relegated Burnley, and overturn a huge swing in goal difference.
Desperately needing three points, Luton started brightly and took the lead in the sixth minute. A blocked Elijah Adebayo effort fell for Alfie Doughty, and his cross was perfect for Lokonga to head home from close range for his first Premier League goal of the season.
West Ham almost levelled seven minutes later, but Jarrod Bowen could only watch his effort rattle the left-hand post.
The West Ham pressure continued to mount as Emerson's low ball across the six-yard box evaded everyone, before Mohammed Kudus blazed over the crossbar just after the half-hour mark.
Soucek also tried his luck from range just before the break but Thomas Kaminski saved easily, with boos audible as West Ham went into the break a goal down.
The hosts certainly made up for that flat first half, though, with Ward-Prowse drilling home their leveller in the 54th minute.
That sparked a relentless spell of pressure from Moyes' men. Doughty was nearly forced into an embarrassing back-pass mistake, and Bowen fired wide following a fine Kaminski stop to deny Kudus.
Luton buckled as Soucek volleyed home superbly from the edge of the box with 65 minutes gone, then Kudus assisted West Ham's emphatic third five minutes later, surging to the byline to square for substitute Earthy to tap home and leave Luton on the brink.
Moyes' blushes spared
With Saturday's second-half fightback, West Ham remained undefeated in their final home league game for a seventh successive season, winning five and drawing two in that run.
This record stands since a 4-0 loss to Liverpool in 2016-17.
Moyes might have been fearing the worst when his team were booed off at the break, but he was eventually able to enjoy his final home outing as Hammers boss.
Luton on the brink
Since beating Brighton and Hove Albion 4-0 in January and moving outside the relegation zone, Luton have won just one of their last 16 Premier League games (four draws, 11 defeats).
Defeat in this match leaves them on the cusp of relegation back to the Championship. Even if a win comes in the final home outing against Fulham, negative goal difference truly hinders their hopes of the greatest of all escapes.
While Edwards' side have won plenty of admirers this term, their stay in the Premier League looks likely to be a short one.
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