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Cut your bangs, dye your hair or spray-paint your jersey pink — whatever makes you happy. Emily Olsen here with Meg Linehan and Melanie Anzidei — welcome to Full Time!
Fit or Flop?
NWSL unveils 2025 jerseys
Do you know what you’re wearing to the NWSL season openers? With less than two weeks to go, now you do.
The league recently showed off its 2025 collection of jerseys to mixed reviews. From the vinyl pool cover look in San Diego to the Houston Dash’s chaos and whatever Gotham is doing, The Athletic broke down every look.
For most teams, last year’s primary kits (what they typically wear at home matches) will carry over to this season. What the league shared last Thursday was all 14 teams’ new secondary kits, which they will regularly wear on the road. In its sophomore season, Bay FC is getting fresh looks for both, now that the team’s identity is complete.
The Dash’s “Cosmic Storm” immediately went on my wish list, because when all is going wrong, you can always find solace in bold fashion.
There was so much to discuss that we kept the conversation going on Slack:
A championship rematch
The Washington Spirit will likely debut their new look, which feels inspired by Australia, in the NWSL Challenge Cup on Friday when they meet the Orlando Pride at Inter & Co Stadium (8 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video).
Last year, the competition transitioned to a one-off game between the NWSL champions and the league’s Shield winners (most regular-season points). Because the Pride nabbed both those honors last season, this year’s Challenge Cup will be a rematch of the NWSL championship game.
It’s the ceremonial start of the season with a trophy on the line. We can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday night.
🎧 Listen to last week’s “Full Time” episode, recapping the SheBelieves Cup and weighing in on the latest NWSL jerseys.
Meg’s Corner: Delays to the Club World Cup
The inaugural women’s Club World Cup looks likely to be postponed until 2027 at the earliest, per reporting from our Matt Slater. On the one hand, I’m glad FIFA has realized the whole tournament — which was originally planned for early 2026 — has not come together in any meaningful way. Still, the update also has me once again questioning how necessary this tournament is.
Yes, I absolutely wanted competition at one point between all the top clubs in the world, especially after seeing the potential of these sorts of matchups from smaller outfits like the Women’s ICC and Women’s Cup tournaments here in the U.S. But considering the state of the men’s Club World Cup, which has become another obligation on the calendar and a challenge for FIFA’s media rights operation (ending up with DAZN), maybe now is the perfect time to truly put the brakes on and ask if trying to follow the same path is the right idea at all.
A potential four- or six-team tournament might be the immediate solution, but again, it’s copying the men’s structure of the Intercontinental Cup played in between Club World Cups.
It makes more sense to start small, and then aim for a signature event, but so far there hasn’t been any compelling argument for players, clubs and leagues to invest themselves in qualification — beyond the abstract idea of bragging rights. From my vantage point, this vague shell of a tournament certainly doesn’t provide a reason for a men’s club to form a women’s club, one of the motives FIFA president Gianni Infantino cited at last year’s FIFA Council meeting.
John Walton / Getty Images
Notables
Girma injured in first start
Naomi Girma’s Chelsea debut didn’t exactly go as expected.
The 24-year-old U.S. women’s national team center back played 59 minutes in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Brighton yesterday, a month after she became the most expensive player in women’s football history.
She spent most of the first half battling former Stanford teammate Madison Haley and working to adjust to Chelsea’s midseason switch to a formation with three center backs alongside Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze, who Jessy Parker Humphreys reminds us is not really a typical center back.
In the second half, Girma pointed to her calf and looked at the bench before needing attention from the athletic trainers. She headed to the sideline under her own power, and manager Sonia Bompastor eased concerns postgame with her lack of serious worry. However, she said Girma would likely get scans today. The defender missed the last two national team camps with a minor calf injury.
The crossover we deserve
The links between the WNBA and NWSL continue to grow. The latest is a hometown collaboration in the Bay Area.
Today, Bay FC announced New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu has joined the club as an investor. The 2024 WNBA Champion and Bay Area native will also serve as commercial adviser to the team, focusing on commercial strategy and supporting players in building their brand portfolios.
Ionescu, 27, was the first women’s basketball player to have a unisex signature collection with Nike, with her Sabrina 2 becoming the most-worn current basketball shoe in the NBA in 2024.
Last month, RAJ Sports, which owns the Portland Thorns and the WNBA’s expansion team in Portland, unveiled plans for a $150-million training facility that will be the first shared between teams in NWSL and WNBA. In the fall, Caitlin Clark expressed interest in NWSL club ownership when she was unveiled as part of the ownership group fighting to bring an NWSL club to Cincinnati. While Cincinnati lost the expansion race to Denver, Clark’s interest, and now Ionescu’s investment, is a sure sign the synergies between the leagues will only continue to grow.
‘Full Time’ Special Edition: Inside a Spanish women’s football reckoning
At the World Cup final in 2023, Spanish forward Jenni Hermoso’s life changed. But not in the way it should have.
In a moment that became more widely known as “The Kiss,” former Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales grabbed Hermoso’s face and kissed her on the lips.
Last month, Rubiales went on trial for one count of sexual assault and one of coercion. In the end, he was found guilty of sexual assault.
Meg guides us through the full story in a special edition of the “Full Time” podcast, with the help of The Athletic’s Spanish reporters — from the pitch in Sydney, to the hills of south Spain, over to the court room of Madrid — to answer one question: Se acabó?
This is “It’s Over: The Trial of Luis Rubiales.”
Full Time First Looks
Bright side: The USWNT fell 2-1 to Japan last week in the final game of the SheBelieves Cup. Japan captured its first SheBelieves title and ended the Americans’ five-year run as champions. But U.S. head coach Emma Hayes called it “mission accomplished” in terms of beginning her developmental era.
Presidential matters: U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone is running for another term in the role. Her five years in charge, across one and a half terms, have presented numerous challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, an equal pay lawsuit, two collective bargaining agreement negotiations and the Sally Yates report. She discussed her experiences and why she’s going for a second full term with Paul Tenorio.
On the move: Everton is considering making Goodison Park the new home for the club’s women’s team. Right now, only Leicester City shares its main stadium between the men’s and women’s teams for all home matches, though Arsenal Women committed to playing 11 matches at the Emirates this season.
Backing out: BOS Nation hit another speed bump last week. However, this one gets a lot smaller the closer you get. Boston Globe chief executive Linda Henry is no longer an investor in the NWSL expansion team. Despite her expansive portfolio, Henry’s investment had been considered a minority and non-controlling one.
📫 Love Full Time? These stories can also be found on Yahoo’s women’s sports hub, in partnership with The Athletic.
(Top photo: Courtesy of Nike and NWSL)
