This Week in Women's Soccer 3/6/26 -- End of the International Break
I was working on a quick NWSL preview to put at the start of this newsletter, but the "quick" preview was 3000 words as I was just over half-done, so expect that next week as its own thing, hey?
In the meantime, a huge week of international matches mostly fades away as club football returns next week.
RECOMMENDED MATCHES
I'll discuss the rest of the Asian Cup group stage matches below, but you can consider it a real super-sicko zone thanks to a group stage functionally structured to remove all the drama from proceedings. Otherwise, we've got the end of the international week here before some club matches in midweek, below
1. Norway v Germany (Sat 9am PST, ????) - Both Norway and Germany are once-proud powers, former Women's World Cup winners, fallen on somewhat hard times. This should be an interesting match to see what direction both sides are going as they head to the World Cup. American TV doesn't look like it's airing this but I'm leaving it here in protest.
2. United States v Colombia (Sat 12:30pm PST, TNT/HBO) - Some of the tension has been sucked out of the SheBelieves Cup thanks to the USA winning its first two matches; the Americans only need a point to win the trophy, though Colombia can pull level with their own win (the possibility of a three-way tie if Canada also win their match earlier exists, which would be amusing).
Regardless of the trophy situation, we've got a chance to see Linda Caicedo against top-quality opposition (see the goals below) and the US can continue testing some backup plans like Ally Sentnor playing striker (see the goals below!).
3. England v Iceland (Sat 4:30am PST, CBSSN) - The first televised European qualifier. England dominated against Ukraine in midweek, looking to keep things going against Iceland while Spain awaits in the next round of matches.
4. Italy v Denmark (Sat 9:15am PST, CBS Golazo) - Apparently American TV really likes Italy, and this should be a good match against a pretty equivalent Denmark team.
4. Argentina v Canada (Sat 9:30am PST, TNT/HBO) - We're really in the sicko zone here, I just don't want to create another subsection. This isn't that bad though, Canada is trying to prove they're contenders, and Argentina is exactly the sort of "pretty good" side contenders beat. Argentina, well, they wanna be better than "pretty good." Bay FC fans can check out their newest signing, Argentinian central defender Aldana Cometti.
The Argentine captain is headed to the Bay 🌉 Bay FC has signed Aldana Cometti through 2027.
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 2026-03-04T20:45:47.882Z
MIDWEEK RECOMMENDATIONS
Club football is back, although only France and Mexico are really committed to midweek matches here.! More than that, the NWSL is back, although their first match is only barely in our schedule, but it's damn exciting here either way.
1. Asian Cup Quarterfinal 1 (Fri 3am PST, Youtube) - The first Asian Cup quarterfinal, and the only one to be within the timeframe of this weekly newsletter, should be the best match of the QFs with the runners-up of Groups A and B going against one another. That could be hosts Australia against defending champions China, or possibly North Korea against South Korea with World Cup qualification on the line (or some mix of those teams). Tasty!
2. Washington v Portland (Fri 5pm PST, Prime) - The NWSL is back! We'll have a lot more about the league next week, and go into this match in more detail then, but the opening match may be the pick of the weekend, a rematch from one of last year's semifinals.
3. PSG v Marseille (Wed 8:15am PST, DAZN) - The only French match in midweek currently scheduled by DAZN. A major rivalry in men's football, Marseille is building up their women's club after achieving promotion last year, and doing fairly well at it. PSG is in the middle of a cutthroat battle for playoff/Champions League spots.
4. Nantes v Fleury (Wed 11am PST, ???) - A shockingly huge match in the Arkema Premier Ligue, neither Nantes nor Fleury were expected to be in the mix for the Champions League, but they're there with relative giants PSG and Paris FC. This match is not currently scheduled on DAZN, but hopefully they add it.
5. Toluca v Pumas (Fri 5-7pm PST, Vix) - If, for whatever reason, you are not watching the NWSL opener, this is the pick of Mexican league matches this week. Eugenie le Sommer and Toluca are in 4th, Wendy Bonilla and Pumas are 7th.
THE WOMEN'S ASIAN CUP
To keep it simple: the group stage of the Asian Cup has been boring, and the chief reason is a match structure functionally designed to be boring.
To summarize quickly: like many international tournaments, the Asian Cup has groups of four teams each. Each of the three groups has two favorites (Australia, South Korea, China, North Korea, Japan, and Vietnam) and two underdogs (Philippines, Iran, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Chinese Taipei, and India) in them. The two favorites in each group are only scheduled to play one another in the final match of the group, which means that the stakes are lower because both teams have already qualified. You can see the tables here:
So in every match so far, a dominant side has bombarded a smaller side. And in the last match of the group stage, every dominant side – the teams we're watching the tournament for! – can treat it as an exhibition match. Had Australia, for example, opened the tournament against South Korea, we'd have seen two of the best teams on the continent going at each other full force. That's unlikely for this last match, simply because both teams are comfortably qualified for the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the fact that two of the three third place teams qualify for the knockouts turns their matches against one another into the only high-drama group stage battles we'll see. If Philippines beat Iran, then they're probably in the knockouts no matter how bad they looked against South Korea and Australia.
This isn't the only tournament I've seen structured like this – last year's Women's Copa America was structured somewhat similarly, with Brazil only playing Colombia once both were qualified. (And look what happened when there were actual stakes!) Confederations should really do the opposite and schedule the best teams against each other first – or just randomly, like the World Cup does.
The net effect is this: Unless Chinese Taipei takes points off Vietnam, or India does Japan later tonight, every final group stage match of the Asian Cup will have two simultaneous matches. Listed here first, there's a high-stakes match between two less powerful nations playing each other for the chance to finish third, while simultaneously, two contenders play each other for a match that probably doesn't matter much.
Remember, all matches are on Youtube, unless your nation's TV is airing them.
GROUP C, second match:
Chinese Taipei v Vietnam (Fri 9pm PST, Youtube) - Of all the underdogs to spend their first matches defending deep, Chinese Taipei may have looked the best-organized in their 2-0 loss to Japan. Against a WWC 2023 squad in Vietnam, albeit one of the weaker ones in that tourney, this might be the best chance for an upset in the group stage, though Vietnam was fun to watch against India. Vietnam can advance with a win or draw.
Japan v India (Sat 3am PST, Youtube) - India was willing to venture forward against Vietnam, making for an entertaining match. Against Japan's quality, this….might not go so well for them. I'm hoping we see NWSL star Manaka Matsukubo after she didn't make it into the first game.
GROUP A, final match (both Sun 1am PST, Youtube):
Iran v Philippines - The Philippines, a WWC squad who even won a match in 2023, have looked utterly dismal. Iran, after a strong first match against South Korea, looked distracted and equally poor against Australia.
Australia v South Korea - Australia need a win to win the group – which means a likely easier quarterfinal but probable semifinal against favorites Japan.
GROUP B, final match (both Mon 2am PST, Youtube):
Bangladesh v Uzbekistan - Bangladesh was the most exciting of the underdogs in the first round of matches, going at China with full force despite being outclassed and outsized. They looked less successful against North Korea. Still, a lot of people are gonna be rooting for them to make the knockouts, myself included.
Korea DPR v China - Did you know North Korea is #9 in the FIFA rankings? They're the second-highest rated team in this tourney, only behind Japan! This tournament is their chance to prove they deserve to return to the WWC for the first time since 2011.
GROUP C, final match (both Tue 2am PST, Youtube):
Chinese Taipei v India - As mentioned above, India had the only successful attack from an underdog, while Chinese Taipei were superbly organized defensively. Could be fun.
Japan v Vietnam - Unlike the other groups, the winner of Group C here has a very clear advantage in their potential quarterfinal match, so I'd expect both sides to go for it. Japan should be the class of the tournament, but Vietnam is solid.
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
I've gone over the bigger ones above: the US is in pole position to win the SheBelieves after beating Canada, who beat Colombia themselves for their first win in over half a year. The bigger sides in the Asian Cup have all successfully beaten the underdogs they've faced so far, so no surprises there either. Likewise the most notable result in European qualification was the Netherlands drawing with Poland. The Dutch, though they made the World Cup Final seven years ago, feel like their generation of players is passing without necessarily having strong replacements.
Perhaps the strangest result was a friendly between Brazil and Venezuela, which Venezuela won 2-1, with Brazil getting two red cards, including one for Angel City's Maiara Niehues. Only a friendly, but definitely made me do a double-take when I saw the score. Venezuala, trying to be a rising power in South American women's football, can probably take a lot of confidence from this for WWC qualifying.
IN OTHER NEWS…
Two weeks before the Women's African Cup of Nations was scheduled to begin, with players already traveling to their teams in Africa, Morocco decided to delay the tournament to the summer. It was already a little weird that this tourney was happening just eight months after the last one (itself delayed over a year from 2024), but still, this is yet another indicator that African football institutions are simply not treating women's sides with respect. The talent is there, the support is not.
Another notable issue is that it disrupts club teams' plans to have, or not have, African players available. Both NWSL and European clubs with African players expected them to be gone for much of this month and next, but those players will be back. European clubs will be in their offseason when WAFCON is rescheduled for the summer. Kansas City's Temwa Chawinga, for example, could miss eight matches in the heart of KC's season as her nation, Malawi, plays in its first AFCON, with the chance for it to qualify for its first World Cup. Many of the best African players in the world ply their trade in the NWSL; most teams in the league will likely be disrupted.
GOALS OF THE WEEK
The three best I've seen have all come in the SheBelieves Cup. Canada's Janine Sonis, newly signed for Denver, hit an absolutely beautiful free kick to freeze the goalkeeper for a goal against Colombia.
Colombia was on the other end of another great one, as Linda Caicedo made a wonderful run against Argentina, played a one-two with Leicey Santos, and then scored with a cheeky outside-of-the-foot chip. I love a good outside-of-the-foot goal.
Linda Caicedo magic gives Colombia the 1-0 win over Argentina in the SheBelieves Cup 🪄 pic.twitter.com/DW7VN75sZW
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 4, 2026
Finally, Ally Sentnor scores against Canada. I'm a little skeptical of Sentnor as a striker, but this is a good piece of evidence in her favor, as she shows a poacher's skill in controlling the ball to herself and finding the net.
