Recommended Matches 3/20/26

This next month is arguably the peak of women's club football worldwide, as we have matches from every league we're keeping an eye on this week, plus the Asian Cup Final between Australia and Japan, PLUS the Women's Champions League in Europe.

If you're new to European club football, the Champions League takes the best teams from each league in Europe and pits them against one another. It is the highest level of women's club football on the planet in the knockout stage (these are the quarterfinals), with only the NWSL Playoffs being in the conversation as competition. 

The four quarterfinals all have a strong narrative behind them too, and the eight remaining teams are eight of the continent's superclubs – every team an all-star team. We'll start there then hit the weekend matches:

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS

All four ties involve two of Europe's ten superclubs. All of them have an interesting narrative attached beyond the quality on the pitch.

1. Arsenal v Chelsea (Tue 1pm EST, Paramount+) - The two London superclubs are increasingly at the heart of women's football's popularity, with some of the best attendance across the continent, and a local rivalry to match. Both clubs have had some struggles at various points across this season, but both seem to be in-form now as the season comes to its conclusion. Look for an American-on-American duel to help determine this one, as Chelsea's left winger Alyssa Thompson has been probably their best player this season, up against supremely consistent Arsenal right back Emily Fox. 

2. Bayern Munich v Manchester United (Wed 1pm EST, Paramount+) - These two clubs are forever tied together on the men's side for competing in the 1999 Champions League Final, both going for the treble for the first time in modern football, with Manchester United winning and becoming the first true global superclub. Their women's clubs are also following similar paths, with the clubs being a little late to the party but catching up quickly this decade, with Bayern winning multiple German titles in a row and Manchester United becoming a Champions League contender.

Tactically this two-leg tie should be fascinating, as both teams are likely to be missing key Japanese midfielders due to the Asian Cup in the first leg and have them back for the second leg – attacking mid Momoko Tanikawa for Bayern, deep-lying passing mid Hinata Miyazawa for United. 

3. Barcelona v Real Madrid (Wed 10:45am EST, Paramount+) - Arguably the biggest rivalry in all of sports is Real Madrid against Barcelona on the men's side, aka "El Clasico." They're two of the biggest, richest, most popular, and best sides in the world, and almost always in contention for trophies in whichever competition they're playing in, in addition to massive cultural and political competition between the cities. The women's version, although less than a decade old, has much of that weight behind it. 

But what it doesn't have is anything resembling balance, as Real Madrid have only beaten Barcelona once, under extremely controversial circumstances. This should be a spectacle, and Madrid with Linda Caicedo and Caroline Weir have the players to possibly pull off an upset, but it may also be another easy win for Caroline Graham Hansen, Eva Pajor, and company. 

4. VfL Wolfsburg v Lyon (Tue 10:45am EST, Paramount+) - For much of the 2010s, these clubs were paired as generally good if not massive men's clubs that invested in women's football early and were rewarded with dynasties – the two have met in the Champions League final four times between 2013 and 2020. Both faced challenges from the men's superclub in their country – Bayern Munich in Germany and Paris Saint-Germain in France – and while Lyon saw off their challenger to maintain their position as one of the top clubs in France and Europe, Wolfsburg have fallen behind and are trying to rebuilt on the fly.

Both clubs have some absolute legends of the women's game from those years still playing. Wolfsburg is saying goodbye to striker Alexandra Popp soon (see below), but still has tireless midfielder Svenia Huth. Lyon still regularly starts two of their dynastic stars, giant defender Wendie Renard and inveterate goalscorer Ada Hegerberg.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES

Just a note – a LOT of these matches overlap, particularly the four simultaneous English matches. Most all of them will be replayable on the service they're streamed on, particularly ESPN+ and DAZN, and the Asian Cup Final will be on YouTube. . For Mexican matches, Vix doesn't, but the Youtube link should. For NWSL matches, it depends on the service, but they will also show up on the NWSL website.

1. Australia v Japan (Sat 2am PST, YouTube) - The Asian Cup served up a dream final. Japan are continuing their progress across the last half-decade and becoming a genuine contender for the World Cup again. Australia are the hosts and despite being outplayed at times in the tournament, they've simply refused to be beaten – and with healthy Sam Kerr, there's always a chance. That said, Japan's fluid, joyous pass-and-move game has been so dominant in this tournament, centered around midfield maestro Yui Hasegawa, that it would be a major upset for Australia to pull this off. 

2. Portland v Seattle (Fri 7pm PST, Prime) - The biggest rivalry match in the NWSL is Portland against Seattle, the Cascadia rivalry, for a long time to two best-supported clubs in the league and some of the best. Wins for both in the first week against quality opposition may have supporters dreaming of being among the best in the league again. Portland's superstar striker Sophia Wilson is back and looked good last week, but if they need a star keeper, Seattle's goalie Claudia Dickey is one of the best in the league – and world.

3. Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur (Sat 5am PST,  ESPN+/Youtube) - City's draw with Aston Villa opened up a door slightly for a title race – a door that'll swing wide open if Spurs take points off the league leaders. Tottenham are in fifth place and a win for them puts them in position to maybe sneak into the Champions League themselves, while losing probably functionally eliminates them. Manchester City's midfield looked terrible last week without Yui Hasegawa (at the Asian Cup), American Sam Coffey is going to have to seize the match much better this week. She's certainly capable. 

4. Bay FC v Angel City (Sat 5:45pm PST, ION) - Speaking of NWSL teams that won their first matches, these two California clubs managed to have terrific starts to their 2026 after missing the playoffs in 2025. Good days against bad opponents, or legit moves into contention? I dunno, but Claire Hutton brought a level of calm to Bay's midfield, which the entire team may need against Angel City's terrifying press, particularly Icelandic winger Sveindis Jonsdottir who was an absolute menace against Chicago.

THE SICKO ZONE

5. Washington v Louisville (Fri 5pm PST, Victory+) - A solid Friday night for the NWSL with another playoff rematch between the highly physical underdogs of Louisville against the theoretically dominant Spirit.

6. Arsenal v West Ham (all matches Sat 5am PST,  ESPN+/Youtube) 
7. Chelsea v London City
8. Manchester United v Everton - Including the City game above, every superclub in England is in action simultaneously, fighting for Champions League spots and even the league against a mid-table side. The City/Spurs match above is the one with the top teams in the table, but if you want to switch to one of these, they're available.

9. Wolfsburg v Hoffenheim (Sat 6am EST, DAZN) - Hoffenheim are still in a dogfight for a Champions League spot, and now they take on the second-place she-wolves (see what I did there?).

10. Lazio v Roma (Sat 10am EST, DAZN) - Roma are getting close to losing their lead at the top of Serie A, and fourth-place Lazio – their cross-town rivals – would probably love to help them in that.

11. Fleury v Lyon (Sat 1pm EST, DAZN) - Lyon are aiming for an undefeated season, while Fleury are trying to remain in the playoff hunt after losing last week.

12. Pumas v Pachuca (Sun 11am PST, Vix/YouTube) - Pumas have fallen out of a playoff spot, while Pachuca are in second. Oddly this is our only recommended match on Sunday, although the NWSL is in action (though I've got a three-match-per-weekend policy). 

13. Barcelona v Athletic Club (Sat 11am EST, DAZN) - Just checking in on Barcelona before their Champions League match. Athletic Club finished fourth last season, but has disappointed this one.

MIDWEEK MATCHES

Oh, is the Champions League not enough? Do you need more? Well the NWSL has most of the league playing (unfortunately overlapping) matches on Wednesday night, but the jewel of the crown here is the biggest match in Mexican women's football.

1. Tigres v Club America (Wed 6pm PST, Vix/YouTube) - The biggest rivalry match in Mexico, a rematch of last season's epic final where America went up 3-0 in the first half of the first leg, Tigres tied 3-3 in the second half, and went on to win the final at home 1-0. This match is mostly about playoff position, where both clubs are having a surprisingly difficult time – playing each other in the first round is entirely possible. Look for a classic Spanish flair here with Tigres starting creator Jenni Hermoso and America playing goalkeeper Sandra Panos. 

2. Seattle v Kansas City (Wed 6pm PST, NWSL+) - Championship favorite Kansas City's first big challenge, Seattle looked good in their first match against Orlando, getting a road win.

3. Gotham v Denver (Wed 4pm PST, Victory+) - The champs in Gotham take on their second expansion team in their first three matches. 

4. San Diego v Portland (Wed 7pm PST, CBSSN) - A playoff rematch between two teams that want to score goals but aren't always able to. 

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

The most important results of the were in the Asian Cup, which also serves as a qualifying tournament for the Women's World Cup. The favorites Australia, China, South Korea, and Japan won their quarterfinals over, respectively, North Korea, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, and Philippines, sending them to the WWC. The latter teams then played a direct qualification playoff, with Philippines beating Uzbekistan and North Korea beating Taiwan. The losers of those matches still have a chance in the intercontinental qualification tournament next year, however. Less lucky is Vietnam, the only 2023 Asian qualifier not to make it back for 2027. These are the first six countries to qualify for Brazil 2027, alongside the host nation.

Meanwhile, the two major European leagues that might still be competitive both had results to encourage a title race: Aston Villa picked up a 0-0 draw against leaders Manchester City, which means City have only a 5-point lead on Arsenal if the Gunners win their games in hand – and City still plays the Manchester derby against United. Meanwhile Roma drew 1-1 with Fiorentina, dropping their lead over Inter to four points in Serie A.

In the Champions League races, Nantes beat Fleury 2-0 in France while the Paris clubs both won, putting Fleury at a disadvantage, especially as they play Lyon next. Over in Germany, Wolfsburg beat Leverkusen to solidify their runners-up chances, and make it that much harder for Leverkusen to get into the Champions League. Eintracht Frankfurt, increasingly the protagonists of the race for third, lost to Werder Bremen but beat Leverkusen themselves, keeping the race tight. Bremen's two games in hand sure look like they're a major advantage right up until you notice they're against Bayern and Wolfsburg. Uh-oh. 

Finally, in Spain, Real Madrid comprehensively beat Real Sociedad to keep their silver medal status intact. A bit of silverware got handed out: Chelsea beat Manchester United to take the English League Cup, while Lyon won the French version, and just look at that goddamn trophy!

Of course the NWSL season also began, but thanks to league parity it's hard to know which results were actually notable. Portland going to Washington and picking up the win away to championship favorites, especially after the offseason the Thorns had, jumped out the most. Once the table settles perhaps we'll get into it a bit more. 

IN OTHER NEWS

The saga of the Iranian women's national team in Australia has come to the farcical conclusion, with all but two of the players deciding they did not in fact want asylum in Australia and the team returning to Iran. While there is reporting of pressure being put on the players' families, the intervention of President Trump turning the players' decision into global right-wing cause celebre certainly didn't help matters. Nor did the often virulently anti-refugee Australian government, which realized that normal people could apply for asylum in the same way as the players and so decided to change the law so that only the famous people could take advantage of it, exposing the moral rot of much of the entire situation. 

I hope all the players and their families end up safe, whether in Australia or Iran, and I hope all the flag-waving ghouls of Iran, Australia, and the United States get what they deserve, and soon. 

Some big signings in the NWSL as the foreign league deadline hits. Catarina Macario, who we've mentioned in this newsletter several times, finally signed with the San Diego Wave, as had been rumored. I'm excited about this at a personal level, because I've been hearing "Macario is coming" for years, as an ideal hybrid of American soccer athleticism and power with Brazilian flair. But she didn't quite make the USWNT roster in 2019, barely touched the field in the 2021 Olympics, and then blew out her knee to miss the 2023 World Cup and still wasn't quite ready for the 2024 Olympics. She was fantastic for Lyon before the injury so it's not like she's never fulfilled her potential, but the NWSL – and 2027 Women's World Cup – will give her the opportunity to be the present of women's football even if she never quite got to be its future. 

I'm also a big fan of Denver Summit picking up Japan's Yuzuki Yamamoto, mostly because she scored this goal in the Asian Cup last week. Glad someone else saw it. Denver also picked up Houston's Yazmeen Ryan, another skilled, athletic creator. I'm not sure how their formation is going to work but I'm intrigued. (This move also rendered a good chunk of my Houston preview obsolete, alas.)

Finally over in Europe, Germany and Wolfsburg legend Alexandra Popp announced that she was leaving Wolfsburg after over a decade there. In an adorable twist, she also said she was signing for Borussia Dortmund, the club she supported as a child. Dortmund is only in the third tier of German football and may be one of the biggest men's clubs in Europe to have such a bad women's team, so hopefully Popp can shame them into success. 

GOALS OF THE WEEK

I can't get enough of Sam Kerr's game-winning goal for Australia against China in the Asian Cup semifinals. There's just an incredible single-minded determination to score no matter what, and boy does she ever. 

NWSL fans could be forgiven for getting a little annoyed at Japan manager Nils Nilsson (yes, really) for not playing Manaka Matsukubo, the NWSL Midfielder of the Year and clearly a rising global star, at least until the Asian Cup's quarterfinals when she finally got her chance, and scored a great goal less than 10 minutes after coming onto the pitch. Japan struggled somewhat to break down Taiwan's low block in their first match, Manaka's skill plus determination here suggests she might be an answer for those problems. 

Lots of goals in the NWSL's opening weekend, but not many bangers, surprisingly. The main exception? Alex Pfeiffer cutting inside for Bay FC to open the scoring against Denver. Her fast footwork is tremendous but I'm also keen on her driving until the path to the goal opened up. Celebration was on point as well, though sadly this video cuts the fieriest parts off.