FIFPRO sees 2023 World Cup as catalyst to professionalize women's football

According to FIFPRO, women's football is suffering from player overload in Europe, while there are too few competitive leagues elsewhere in the world and the professionalisation of domestic leagues is too slow.

Almost a week before the 2023 Women's World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand, FIFPRO has released its analysis of the matchday schedule for the 32 teams competing in the tournament from July 20 to August 20. A key takeaway is that European teams and players from European clubs are best placed to succeed.

Teams are training for the 2023 Women's World Cup

The first Women's World Cup was expanded to 32 teams, with Haiti, Morocco, Panama, Vietnam and the Philippines making their debuts. England, Spain and Portugal played the most minutes last year, according to FIFPRO research, which was hampered by poor data collection on women's football in some countries outside Europe. Only Europe has a separate, dedicated qualifying tournament for the Women's World Cup.

FIFPRO research shows that Brazil have played 18 consecutive friendlies while Colombia and Argentina have both played 16. Even defending champions the United States rely more on friendlies than competitive tournaments.

Host country fans warmly welcome 2023 Women's World Cup

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Women's Champions League is also ahead of other federations in organizing international tournaments for clubs. FIFA has set a goal of organizing a women's Club World Cup from 2019 but no clear project has been proposed yet.

"Some players only get to play a maximum of about 20 matches a year, which is not enough. The professionalization and expansion of the league is not happening as quickly as we would like," said Sarah Gregorius, FIFPRO's strategy director for women's football.

Gregorius noted a "huge disparity in domestic club structures", with Olympic champions Canada still not having a women's league, while some other national leagues have just 12 rounds.

Vietnam women's team schedule at the 2023 Women's World Cup

Women’s soccer is growing rapidly, and the World Cup has doubled in size in just 12 years, from 16 teams in 2011 to 32 today. Rapid expansion can risk unsatisfactory matches like the 13-0 win the United States had over Thailand in a World Cup group stage match four years ago.

"The 2023 Women's World Cup is a great milestone for women's football, but it is also a moment to analyse the sometimes uneven development of the sport ," said FIFPRO Secretary General Jonas Baer-Hoffmann.

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