England’s qualification hopes for Euro 2025 are far from straightforward and Tuesday’s return game against France takes on greater significance

Disappointment emanated from the Lionesses after Friday’s 2-1 loss to France made the terrain ahead a lot tougher as the defending champions seek a place at Euro 2025. England slipped to third in Group A3 at the midway point of their qualifying campaign, behind France and Sweden, 3-0 victors in the Republic of Ireland.

Tricky away ties lie ahead, starting with France in Saint-Étienne on Tuesday. Only the top two qualify automatically for next summer’s tournament in Switzerland, with the playoffs a scenario England are keen to avoid. They have collected four points from their first three games and are five adrift of France and level with Sweden, who have a marginally better goal difference.

• England manager calls qualifying loss to France ‘frustrating’
• Goalkeeper Mary Earps will miss return fixture on Tuesday

Sarina Wiegman was left rueing a “really disappointing” and “unnecessary” defeat to France as England’s hopes of automatic qualification for Euro 2025 in Switzerland were left very much in the balance.

“I think our performance was good for most parts of the game,” said the Lionesses manager after her side succumbed 2-1, conceding two goals from corners. The result is really disappointing and I think unnecessary.”

• England 1-2 France (Mead 30; De Almeida 41, Katoto 68)
• England goalkeeper Mary Earps goes off injured early on

It’s not a disaster, yet, but a 2-1 defeat to France dealt a hefty blow to England’s hopes of avoiding the Euro 2025 playoffs, after Élisa de Almeida and Marie-Antoinette Katoto capitalised from corners to cancel out Beth Mead’s opener.

The loss means Sarina Wiegman’s side slipped to third in qualifying group A3, with tricky games in France and Sweden as well as a home tie against the Republic of Ireland to come. Only the top two sides will qualify automatically for next summer’s European Championship in Switzerland.

Games against France are in north-east, where journey started, and near Lyon, where defender won three Champions Leagues

Less than 48 hours after Lucy Bronze had lifted her fifth Champions League trophy, she was reporting to St George’s Park to prepare for the Lionesses’ two Euro 2025 qualifiers against France.

Bronze stepped out of her taxi at England’s training base with dark glasses on and smiles aplenty. The 32-year-old starred in Barcelona’s 2-0 defeat of her former side Lyon, but her presence was a haunting reminder of the words she penned for the global players’ union, Fifpro, two weeks earlier.

• Sarina Wiegman confirms Chelsea striker has foot problem
• Jess Naz called up as replacement for back-to-back matches

The Chelsea forward Lauren James has a foot problem and will not be available for England’s back-to-back Euro 2025 qualifiers against France, Sarina Wiegman has confirmed.

“No, not everyone is available for selection,” said Wiegman. “Lauren James didn’t make it so will not be selected. Jess Naz will be eligible. She had foot problems at club and we hoped she could build up for tomorrow [but she could not].”

USWNT forward Trinity Rodman has expressed her excitement at working with Emma Hayes before the Paris Olympics

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The US women’s national team is heading towards an exciting summer, no matter what happens at the Olympics in Paris. This weekend Emma Hayes will take charge of the four-time Olympic gold medalists and four-time World Cup Champions for the first time. Hayes has had a squad of 27 (including four training players) of the nation’s elite footballers with her this week and, with time dwindling, she will rely on those reservoirs of talent to adapt quickly to her tactics as they prepare for an Olympic run.

High on the list of names that may prove essential to Hayes’ plans is Trinity Rodman of Washington Spirit. Speaking to Moving the Goalposts the day after scoring a first-half double against Angel City, the 22-year-old feels the US have recovered from their World Cup disappointment. “It was a very hard year with Spirit [who missed out on the playoffs] and the national team. I think ‘learning experience’ is the best way I would describe 2023.”

The election has stalled the regulator’s progress, but is perhaps a chance for women’s football to be given proper consideration

The general election has put the government’s legislation for an independent football regulator on hold. With both the Conservatives and Labour supporting the proposal, it should return to parliament regardless of who wins. This delay provides an ideal opportunity for a rethink. To date, the women’s game hasn’t been properly considered in the discussions and deliberations.

Let’s start with the IFR’s name. It’s actually the independent men’s football regulator as the women’s game hasn’t been included. Language is important and this plays to an outdated narrative that the women’s game doesn’t count.

Replacing the US-bound Emma Hayes is a huge ask, but the new manager has the necessary experience and credentials

Emma Hayes has not left alone for the United States. Joining the former Chelsea manager in the US women’s national team set-up are her assistant coach Denise Reddy, goalkeeper coach Stuart Searle, head of performance Bart Caubergh, performance analyst Ferdia O’Hanrahan and opposition scout Cameron Meighan. Camille Abily and Théo Rivrin are joining Sonia Bompastor to resume their assistant manager and assistant coach roles with the former Lyon manager, but Bompastor has a big job ahead in replacing so many highly regarded staff, in particular Searle. Fortunately for Bompastor, the general manager, Paul Green, who was Hayes’s right-hand man, remains in post and has been leading that process and helping to ensure a smooth introduction to life at the club.

• True usage figures ‘likely’ to be even higher, report states
• Players surveyed from Premier League, EFL and WSL

About one in five male and female professional players who took part in a new survey are using snus, nicotine pouches or both. The study by ­Loughborough University, ­commissioned by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), also identified that two out of five had tried the pouches at least once.

The report states the true usage figures are likely to be higher owing to players not wanting to disclose use, even in an anonymous survey. Of the 628 male players surveyed, at Premier League or EFL clubs, 18% said they used it, while 22% of the 51 Women’s Super League players ­surveyed said they were users.

Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack are joined by Sophie Downey and Ceylon Andi Hickman to review Barcelona’s 2-0 over Lyon in Bilbao

In today’s episode, the panel discuss the impact of Jonatan Giráldez as the Barça manager bows out on a high, beating Lyon in a fantastic display in Spain at the weekend and Ceylon Andi Hickman talks about how it felt to clinch promotion with her Dulwich Hamlet side last week.

Despite the club season only just ending, the panel look ahead to the Lionesses’ European qualifiers against France and the Republic of Ireland ahead of next summer’s tournament. And finally, away from European football, it is the start of a new era as Emma Hayes takes charge of the USA for the first time against the Korea Republic. The panel try and foresee how she will get on.

FA Sápmi, a football association representing the Sámi people, take the lead in an event that unites non-Fifa affiliated teams

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While preparations for the Olympic tournament this summer are in full swing, next week will feature another international competition fighting for recognition. Kicking off next Tuesday, the 2024 Conifa Women’s World Cup will be the second edition of the tournament, organised by the governing body that looks to bring together non-Fifa affiliated teams.

FA Sápmi, a football association representing the Sámi people indigenous to a vast stretch of northern Scandinavia, will be hosting the second edition. The tournament will be held over five days (4-8 June) in Bodø, the northern Norwegian city that was named this year’s European capital of culture.

The fans of Barça Femení were hopeful of a third consecutive Champions League triumph as photographer Hannah Cauhépé journeyed alongside them from Barcelona to Bilbao for the 2024 final against Lyon

On Sunday night, back in Barcelona, some people were wondering why some streets were blocked and people were decked in Barça gear – unfortunately, women’s football is still under the radar of most.

But things are slowly changing.

Barcelona fans make their way to Bilbao’s San Mamés stadium.

Defender who led Lionesses at three tournaments is now doing a coaching course and raising money for MND research

“That would have been the dream – to kind of mic drop and leave by winning a trophy with England,” says Steph Houghton as she reflects on a 22-year career during which she played for Sunderland, Leeds Carnegie, Arsenal and Manchester City and won three Women’s Super League titles, alongside captaining the Lionesses at three major tournaments. “But I wouldn’t change any of that because I think that has made me the person that I am today.”

The highs live long in the memory. Houghton, who retired at the end of the season having announced her decision in March, played a significant role in drawing the kind of attention that laid foundations for a boom in the women’s game. Since rounding Andréia Suntaque to open the scoring against a Marta-led Brazil for Team GB at the 2012 Olympics, the 36-year-old has led the way in advocating professional standards. She was also one of the first female players given a central contract by the Football Association, in 2009, when many of the Lionesses were part-time.

US-bound coach won 10 trophies in three years in Catalonia, completed by the Champions League final win over Lyon

Fairytale endings rarely exist but sometimes in football, the script really does write itself. Jonatan Giráldez signed off on his three-year managerial career in Spain as his all-conquering Barcelona team lifted back-to-back Champions League trophies. It was the 10th piece of silverware that “Las Reinas” of both Spain and Europe have won under his time in charge, a side surely worthy of the “dynasty” accolade.

Barcelona’s supremacy did not start with Giráldez but his impact on this side’s journey is undeniable. The 32-year-old was Lluís Cortés’s assistant when they secured their first treble and inaugural Women’s Champions League title and he has continued that culture of winning with dominance both at home and on the European stage.

Bilbao is used to being decorated in stripes, the flags of their beloved Athletic Club hang from every other window, but on Saturday the city found itself swamped in less familiar colours, Barcelona’s red and blue filling every bar and populating every square as travelling fans celebrated beating Lyon in a Champions League final at the third time of asking.

It was their talismanic duo, the playmaker Aitana Bonmatí and their superstar Alexia Putellas, who delivered in front of 50,827 fans. Bonmatí’s effort took a deflection off Vanessa Gilles to take it past Christiane Endler shortly after the hour mark, before Putellas added the second three minutes after coming on deep into added time. It was deserved, the French champions were unable to handle the guile of the world’s best passers of the ball who secured a historic quadruple.

• Live updates from the 5pm BST kick-off in Bilbao
• Any comments? Feel free to email Emillia with your thoughts

Few teams have thwarted Barcelona in their ruthless prime, but the Champions League is Lyon’s playground. The French champions have beaten Barcelona in two Champions League finals, have never lost to them in the competition and hope to complete a hat-trick of final victories against them today.

Barcelona manager Jonatan Giráldez on today’s match: “For me, Barça and Lyon are the two best teams in Europe, without any doubt, because of the individual quality both teams have. If you analyse player by player, there’s certainly little to choose from.

Coach linked with Chelsea takes on Barcelona, having beaten them in 2022 final, knowing this could be her last Lyon game

Few teams have thwarted Barcelona in their ruthless prime, but the Champions League is Lyon’s playground. Although the Catalan club have provided the bulk of the Spain World Cup winners who have swept up individual awards in recent years and lifted domestic silverware aplenty, the French giants maintain bragging rights in Europe.

Lyon have beaten Barcelona in two Champions League finals, have never lost to them in the competition and hope to complete a hat-trick of final victories against them at San Mamés in Bilbao on Saturday.

High court rules abuse could defame broadcaster who sued ex-footballer after he also called him a ‘pedo defender’

The former footballer and manager Joey Barton calling the broadcaster Jeremy Vine a “bike nonce” on social media was defamatory, a high court judge has ruled.

The high court ruled on Friday that 11 social media posts could defame Vine, the radio and TV presenter who is suing Barton after he called him a “bike nonce” and a “pedo defender” on X, formerly known as Twitter, between January and March.

In an exclusive interview the 32-year-old discusses his mindset, his tactics and facing Lyon in the Champions League final

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Barcelona’s Jonatan Giráldez has achieved the kind of success he never imagined, and it has only taken him three years. At 32 he has won nine of the 11 trophies available since he took over in 2021. On Saturday, as Barcelona play Lyon in the Champions League final, he can make it 10 out of 12.

One of the trophies that got away was last season’s Copa de la Reina as Barcelona were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player (needless to say they had won the game 9-0). The other one was tougher to take but now brings the team to a shot at redemption: the 2022 Champions League final loss to Lyon.

• Some 90% of fans surveyed agree with a regular kick-off time
• Carney review advises exemption from Saturday 3pm blackout

There is a huge clamour for a dedicated TV slot for women’s football, according to a survey of thousands of fans carried out by the Football Supporters’ Association.

Backing the recommendation made in the 2023 review of women’s football, led by Karen Carney, 90.7% of fans surveyed by the FSA believe that the Premier League, English Football League and broadcasters should come together to create a specific, set time for the showing of such matches.

Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack are joined by Marva Kreel and Rachel Brown-Finnis to discuss how Chelsea pipped Manchester City to the title after their rout of Manchester United

In today’s episode, the panel pay a fond farewell to the 2023-24 season as Emma Hayes’ Chelsea side secure another WSL trophy on her final game in charge of the club. Faye Carruthers and Suzy Wrack are joined by guests Marva Kreel and Rachel Brown-Finnis to discuss Chelea’s rout of Manchester United at Old Trafford, along with Manchester City’s anti-climactic victory over Aston Villa.

The panel also discuss Vivienne Miedema and Fran Kirby’s fairytale endings, hand out some of their end-of-season awards as well as waxing lyrical about the Lionesses’ under-17s side.

To sign up for our bi-weekly women’s football newsletter – all you need to do is search ‘Moving the Goalposts sign up’ or follow that link.Here’s an extract from the latest edition.

Final-day humbling followed FA Cup win and the goalkeeper wants to know Manchester United’s ambitions before signing a new deal

Mary Earps is upbeat, she is always upbeat, but she is also tired. You can feel it and you can see it. The season has been a long and gruelling one, ending with the highest of highs – lifting a first FA Cup with Manchester United at Wembley – and the lowest of lows: losing 6-0 on the final day of the Women’s Super League season to allow Chelsea to be crowned champions at Old Trafford. “There’s been a lot going on, a lot that I haven’t spoken about, and now I just need to take some time for myself,” Earps says. “That’s kind of where I’m at.”

The season also had a difficult beginning, with Earps’s future at United in doubt and speculation swirling following defeat by Spain in the World Cup final, both only ending when she signed a one‑year extension. Now the speculation is beginning again. Earps knows the question is coming. She sighs and gives a knowing smile, but she also wants to be honest.

My Bayern Munich side finished without losing a game but I have been impressed by the quality of the Frauen-Bundesliga

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Let me start by saying, proudly, that Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen aren’t the only unbeaten German top-flight team this season. With our 4-1 victory at Hoffenheim on Monday, my Bayern side have achieved the same feat in the Frauen Bundesliga, which made it a very satisfactory ending to my first campaign in Bavaria.

If you look at it from the outside, you might think we’ve had it easy winning a second successive title but none of the games have been a walkover. After six seasons in the WSL with Chelsea, I had expected that there’d be a bigger difference between the two leagues in terms of quality. Instead, I’ve been surprised by the level of competition here as most teams are quite evenly matched. It’s true that the Frauen Bundesliga doesn’t have the same number of star players as in England. Here Bayern and Wolfsburg are on a level of their own but the other teams are still hard to break down – if you look at our goal difference of +52, it’s one fewer than the +53 of WSL champions Chelsea.

Minister Maria Caulfield says she has contacted Dulwich Hamlet and police over damage to Newhaven constituency office

A minister has accused fans of a south London women’s football club of vandalising her constituency office in East Sussex after their team won the league on Sunday.

Maria Caulfield, the Conservative MP for Lewes and a minister for health, posted on X that she had contacted police after “supporters of a London women’s football club playing in the local area yesterday felt it appropriate to damage my office”.

Once again Chelsea won the league and once again on the final day of the season. That is no accident

There comes a time when you’ve written about the same scenario so many times that you begin to think that, eventually, you will run out of words. Chelsea’s stunning fifth consecutive league title – delivered in some style, via a 6-0 humiliation of Manchester United at Old Trafford to ensure they finished level with Manchester City but with a superior goal difference – is, strangely, not one of those times.

Yes, it is Chelsea’s eighth title of the past 10 (if you include the mini Spring Series of 2017) and the fourth year running that the title has been decided on the final day, but there is still so much to say.

The best players, most thrilling games and finest signings – plus the biggest flops and greatest gripes of the eventful season

It has to be Khadija Shaw. Bunny’s output speaks for itself with 21 goals in 18 games, including a run of three hat-tricks in four games at the turn of the year. For a moment it seemed as though Lauren James would match Shaw’s goal tally but the Manchester City striker’s commanding presence has set her apart from anyone else in the WSL this season. Xaymaca Awoyungbo

• Exhausted Chelsea manager signs off with fifth successive title
• ‘I felt we deserved title,’ says Manchester City’s Gareth Taylor

Emma Hayes said she doesn’t “have another drop to give” after bowing out as Chelsea manager with a fifth Women’s Super League title in a row, while Manchester City’s Gareth Taylor felt his team would have deserved to be champions.

Hayes spoke passionately and emotionally after her side won the league on goal difference with a 6-0 win at Manchester United, her final game before she leaves to take over the US women’s national team in time for the Olympics. “I’d say it’s taken its toll, rather than changed me,” she said of her 12 years at the club. “I categorically cannot carry on. So, I am absolutely leaving at the right time. I don’t have another drop to give it.”

The screams of delight from the departing Emma Hayes in her technical area, the roar and chest-thumping of the injured Sam Kerr sat high above the dugout, and the chaotic flailing arms from the jubilant corner of fans in blue. Chelsea are Women’s Super League champions for a fifth time in a row having thrashed the FA Cup winners Manchester United 6-0 at Old Trafford.

Those scenes came within 10 minutes. That’s all it took. In the end it was all a little anticlimactic, Chelsea’s two goals inside those eight minutes enough to give them an almost insurmountable four-goal advantage on goal difference over Manchester City. By half-time, despite City leading 1-0 at Aston Villa, Chelsea had doubled their tally and extended their advantage, going in four up – Sjoeke Nüsken and the utterly unplayable Mayra Ramírez adding to the latter’s opener and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s goal. Melanie Leupolz added a fifth after the break as they ran up the numbers and there was an emotional sixth from the departing record goalscorer Fran Kirby, but it wasn’t needed, with City only limping to a 2-1 win.

• Updates from 3pm BST kick-off at Old Trafford
• Aston Villa v Manchester City: WSL – live
• Live scoreboard | And feel free to email Sarah

Another notable miss for United is Leah Galton. She came off injured in the Women’s FA Cup final last Sunday.

Manchester United team news is here. Rachel Williams starts ahead of Nikita Parris and Melvine Malard also starts.

• Updates from 3pm BST kick-off at Villa Park
• Manchester United v Chelsea: WSL – live
• Live Scoreboard | And feel free to mail Emillia

Chelsea face Manchester United at Old Trafford in another huge match this afternoon, also kicking off at 3pm BST. Sarah Rendell is keeping tabs on that one in our other WSL live blog.

Chelsea’s WSL season in numbers:

Games played - 21

Wins - 17

Draws - 1

Defeats - 3

Goals scored - 65

Goals conceded - 18

Days at the top of the table - 153

Manager determined to depart on a high while Manchester City aim to spoil leaving party on what could be a dramatic final day

Emma Hayes is not having to work hard to keep emotions in check as she prepares for her final game as Chelsea manager – Saturday’s mouthwatering match-up with Manchester United at Old Trafford – because she is used to doing it.

The last drive into work, the last coaching session, the final away trip with the team, watching her family mourn the end of her working relationship with Chelsea as much as she does – there is time to take in the poignancy of these moments properly later.

The departure this weekend of Chelsea’s Emma Hayes from the WSL and Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp will be felt outside sport

The departure this weekend of two of England’s most influential and successful football managers will be felt beyond sport. There’s no doubt that the loss of Chelsea’s Emma Hayes from the Women’s Super League and Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp from the Premier League offers important lessons for the game on why leadership matters. Their personalities and tactical nous demonstrated why managers can help clubs do better than their players’ skills alone suggest.

Both managers also gave football a human face. Hayes was appointed by Chelsea in August 2012. Her team won 15 trophies, averaging more than one a year. She could sign off with a 16th on Saturday, with this season’s title race between Chelsea and Manchester City going down to the final match. She became synonymous with the English game at home and abroad and displayed her acute analytical sense of the game as a TV pundit.