The year 2023 is considered a big year for women’s sports and not just women’s sports, women’s football, as the world prepares for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.
It’s a competition that would see an improved number of countries participating, with 32 teams set to play in the women’s World Cup for the first time.
There are lot of highly-anticipated women’s football tournament to look forward to in 2023.
Similarly, the year is also envisaged to be a big one considering the number of successes recorded in women’s football in the year 2022.
Record numbers in attendance at the UEFA Women’s Euros Championship, the UEFA women’s Champions League, and the CAF Africa Women’s Cup of Nations show that the women’s game is coming of age.
However, despite these significant steps, women’s leagues are not as popular, or are they?
Let’s take a look at the top 10 women’s football league in the world in 2023, a year considered to be a breakthrough year for women’s football, in no particular order.
1. FA Women’s Super League (WSL) – (England)
The English FA Women’s League started in 2011 despite England’s long-standing football culture. It’s one that has managed to attract the biggest female football stars in the world to England.
Chelsea are the current Champions and record winner with five titles.
Arsenal is also a traditional big name in the League three times in its current format but record winners with the old format included. The lady Gunners have also won the UEFA Women’s Champions League once.
Some of the biggest names in women’s football have played in the WSL, including Asisat Oshoala, Sam Kerr, Vivianne Miedema, Fran Kirby, Alex Morgan, and Beth Mead.
Currently, Chelsea top the table, although Arsenal and Manchester United follow closely in second and third, respectively.
2. National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) — United States
The United States of America is one of the world’s leading women’s soccer nations, like England’s WSL, which rebranded in 2010, is a rebranded top-flight division of women’s football in the country.
The National Women’s Soccer League started in 2012 and is owned by the teams playing in it and has a regular season, and the current league format was adopted in 2021.
It is undoubtedly one of the best women’s soccer leagues in the world.
There is an initial regular season in the team with the biggest point tally who gets the shield after 22 regular home and away games.
Six teams with the most points will qualify for the playoffs, and the team with the most points at the end of the season wins the shield.
The current Champions are Portland Thorns, while OL Reigns hold the shield.
3. Primera Iberdrola — Spain
The Spanish Primera Iberdrola has been on since 1988, and it’s home to one of the fastest-emerging nations in female football.
Some of the best women’s football clubs play in this league.
The level of quality in the Iberdrola has underlined the Spanish national teams’ recent successes at various levels.
The Iberdrola is filled with youthful talents and possession-based football and can often have loads of goals every match week.
Barcelona Women is the League’s standout team, but Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, and Levante are also to be reckoned with.
Barcelona have played in the last two UEFA Women’s Champions League, winning one of them.
4. Frauen-Bundesliga — Germany
The Frauen Bundesliga has served as the top women’s League in the world in the last decade, alongside the women’s League in France and the US.
Unfortunately, once home to several upcoming and established female football talents, they now leave for elsewhere.
Wolfsburg is one of the most legendary women’s teams in Europe, and even after losing dominance in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, they are the team to beat in Germany.
They have won the most championships, with a total of seven titles.
Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim are some of the German Bundesliga teams that have been gaining ground recently.
5. WE League — Japan
The WE (Women’s Empowerment) League is less than three years old in Japan, but its development has been happening rapidly since 2020.
It’s a league that may return Japan to its place as a World Cup-winning national team in women’s football in the next couple of years.
INAC Kobe Leonessa is the top team in the Nadeshiko league.
There are no relegations yet, but there are promotions from the lower Nadeshiko Leagues.
6. French Women’s League — France
The French Women’s League is the royalty of the Women’s League in Europe, alongside the English WSL and the US women’s league.
The French League is not short on talents in attack and defense; there is also a healthy rivalry between PSG and Lyon, who have dominated the UEFA women’s Champions League in the last seven seasons.
PSG are also trying to break the Lyon dominance, who has won 15 of the last sixteen, with the only loss coming in the 2021 season to the PSG team.
They have quickly bounced back to win 2022 and are currently second behind PSG in the twelve-team league.
7. A-League Women — Australia
The A-League started in 2008, a development after Australia’s quarterfinal finish at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2007.
However, in 2023, the League is running in a similar way to the Men’s A-League, with clubs in A-League men having teams in the women’s League.
There are three rounds to the format of the League; the first round runs from November to February with 22 rounds of games before the highest-ranked teams play a championship round, ending with a finale.
Sydney FC, Melbourne City, and Melbourne Victory are the big teams in the A-League.
8. Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Feminino — Brazil
The Brazilian football structure is quite a tricky one for an outsider to understand, especially for the women’s League.
Nevertheless, the Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Feminino is the highest league competition in the Brazilian state of São Paulo.
The League doesn’t have a lot of foreign talents but is competitive in its own right and possesses players who are gifted tactically and skillfully with Corinthians, one of the big teams in the League alongside Palmeiras and Santos.
Santos Women’s team have the most championship titles with four trophies, while Palmeiras are the current champions.
9. Damallsvenskan — Sweden
The Swedish Damallsvenskan was one of the forgotten glories of the Women’s League across the world when Scandinavian countries were dominating female football alongside the US, China, and Brazil.
However, these new leagues have overshadowed Scandinavian football on the women’s scene, leaving them reeling in past glory.
Some of the big names in women’s football at the moment started in Sweden, Norway, etc.
Rosengard, BK Hacken, and Linkopings are some of the dominating teams in the Swedish women’s League.
10. Serie A Femminile — Italy
The Serie A Femminile is gradually moving into the limelight and becoming a big image in women’s football in Europe.
Just like the men’s League, the women’s League in Italy is becoming technical, creative, and fast-moving in style.
The most successful club in the Serie A Femminile’s history is FC Sassari Torres, with seven championship titles.
Juventus are the current champions and are the big girls in Italy, although Milan and Roma have been trying to catch up and compete with the real Old Ladies.
