Category: Women’s Sport

2025 is set to be a huge year for women’s sport, with countless massive competitions and events coming up across all disciplines. There’s a lot to look forward to, so we’ve highlighted the headline acts on the horizon this year in football, cricket, rugby, tennis, golf and athletics.

Football

It’s a huge summer for women’s football, with all eyes on Switzerland for the European Championships. England are looking to defend their crown having won the tournament back in 2022, but they’ll face stiff competition.

World Cup holders Spain are the favourites to go all the way, while 2022 runners-up Germany will also fancy their chances. Meanwhile, France will be looking to reach the latter stages – they take on the Lionesses in their opening group game.

Before the Euros, there’s plenty of club football to enjoy. Chelsea are targeting a sixth consecutive Women’s Super League title and they currently find themselves top of the table despite losing legendary boss Emma Hayes.

They’ve also won three of the last four FA Cups, although Manchester United claimed the famous trophy last year. English sides have been less successful in Europe – the last nine Champions League titles have been shared between Lyon and Barcelona.

Key dates

WSL final day: Sunday 11th May
Women’s FA Cup final: Saturday 17th May
Women’s Champions League final: Sunday 25th May
France v England, EURO 2025: Saturday 5th July
England v Netherlands, EURO 2025: Wednesday 9th July
England v Wales, EURO 2025: Sunday 13th July
EURO 2025 final: Sunday 27th July

Cricket

While England’s men’s side have to wait until the end of the year to take on old enemy Australia for the Ashes, the women’s side are currently in the midst of it. They’re looking to claim the urn for the first time since 2013-14 but it hasn’t started off well.

Australia are in the driving seat on home soil after claiming the first two ODIs, with one more to play. England will need to up their game in the three T20 meetings before the series ends with a one-off Test match. They’ll then take on India in a home white-ball series this summer.

Later in the year, the world’s best players will flock to India for the Women’s Cricket World Cup. Australia are the defending champions and they’re looking to win it for the eighth time. England have won it three times, while New Zealand are the only other nation to lift the trophy.

Australia, England and hosts India will be joined by Sri Lanka and South Africa, as well as three other sides that are yet to qualify. Domestically, London Spirit will be looking to retain their maiden title in The Hundred. Plus, the inaugural Women’s T20 Blast gets underway at the end of May.

Key dates

Women’s Ashes T20s: 20th, 23rd and 25th January
Women’s Ashes Test: 30th January – 2nd February
Women’s T20 Blast: 29th May – 27th July
Women’s Cricket World Cup: September – October

England v India T20s

Saturday 28th June– Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Tuesday 1st July– Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol
Friday 4th July– Kia Oval, London
Wednesday 9th July – Emirates Old Trafford
Saturday 12th July– Edgbaston

England v India ODIs

Wednesday 16th July – Utilita Bowl
Saturday 19th July – Lord’s
Tuesday 22nd July – Riverside

Rugby

The Women’s Guinness Six Nations starts in March and if it’s anything like the previous few years, it’s already a foregone conclusion. England have won it six years on the spin, with the Grand Slam and Triple Crown achieved in five of them.

They’ll take some stopping – the Red Roses have won all but one of their matches since July 2019. That solitary defeat came at the hands of New Zealand and England will be having nightmares about the Black Ferns ahead of the Rugby World Cup this autumn.

Five of the last six World Cup finals have seen England lose to New Zealand. They’ll be hoping to end that hoodoo this time around and win the competition for the first time since 2014.

Key dates

England v Italy, Women’s Guinness Six Nations: Sunday 23rd March
Wales v England, Women’s Guinness Six Nations: Saturday 29th March
Ireland v England, Women’s Guinness Six Nations: Saturday 12th April
England v Scotland, Women’s Guinness Six Nations: Saturday 19th April
England v France, Women’s Guinness Six Nations: Saturday 26th April
Women’s Rugby World Cup: 22nd August – 27th September

Tennis

The Australian Open got underway over the weekend and Aryna Sabalenka is on a mission to win the competition for the third successive time. The 26-year-old won two of last year’s Grand Slams, with Iga Świątek and Barbora Krejčíková claiming the French Open and Wimbledon respectively.

Meanwhile, the women’s LTA Championships return to Queen’s Club in June for the first time in more than 50 years. It takes place two weeks before Wimbledon and Emma Raducanu will be looking to win it as she prepares for her return to SW19.

Key dates

Australian Open: 6th – 26th January
French Open: 25th May – 8th June
The LTA Championships at Queen’s Club – WTA 500: 9th – 15th June
Wimbledon: 30th June – 13th July
US Open: 25th August – 7th September

Golf

As ever, we’re set for a huge year of women’s golf, with five majors to look forward to. They were all won by different people in 2024, highlighting the spread of talent across the field. Nelly Korda claimed the Chevron Championship, while the US Open was won by Yuka Saso.

Meanwhile, Amy Yang went all the way in the PGA Championship and Ayaka Furue triumphed in the Evian Championship. This year’s AIG Women’s Open will take place at Royal Porthcawl in Wales for the first time, with Lydia Ko looking to defend her title.

Key dates

Chevron Championship: 24th – 27th April
US Open: 29th May – 1st June
PGA Championship: 19th – 22nd June
Evian Championship: 10th – 13th July
AIG Women’s Open: 31st July – 3rd August

Athletics

Keely Hodgkinson stole the show at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards last month. The runner was awarded the gong after claiming gold in the 800 metres at Paris 2024.

She’ll be looking to do the double this year as she prepares for the Indoor World Championships in China, before the World Athletics Championships heads to Tokyo in September. Katarina Johnson-Thompson will be defending her heptathlon title after winning gold in Budapest last year.

Key dates

World Indoor Championships: 21st – 23rd March
World Athletics Championships: 13th – 21st September

There have already been so many iconic moments in women’s sport in 2024. England won the Six Nations for the 20th time in April, while we saw yet another new champion at Wimbledon as Czech star Barbora Krejčíková saw off Jasmine Paolini in the final.

We’re in the midst of the Olympics, with plenty of female superstars set to claim medals, while the Paralympics are just around the corner. With so many more prestigious events to look forward to before 2025, we’ve taken a look at all the key women’s events to keep an eye out for.

Women’s T20 World Cup

The T20 World Cup gets underway in Bangladesh in October, with 10 nations competing to be crowned cricket world champions. Six-time winners Australia are looking to defend their crown, having won last time out as they beat South Africa in the final.

Luckily for England, they’ve managed to avoid powerhouses Australia and India in the group stages. Yet they’ll still face a tough test, having been drawn against South Africa, West Indies, Scotland and hosts Bangladesh. They’re looking to lift the trophy for the second time after winning the inaugural competition back in 2009.

England’s hopes could rest on the form of Surrey all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt. She was the second highest run-scorer in the previous World Cup with 216, second only to South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt. The tournament starts on 3rd October, with the final taking place on the 20th.

The Women’s Super League

The 2024/25 Women’s Super League kicks off on September 22nd, with reigning champions Chelsea looking to extend their remarkable run of success. The Blues have won five consecutive titles, pipping Manchester City to the crown on goal difference in dramatic fashion last season.

However, Chelsea face a period of transition heading into the new campaign. Long-time manager Emma Hayes has departed, with former Lyon boss Sonia Bompastor taking over the reins at Kingsmeadow. Bompastor brings impressive pedigree, having secured three league titles and a Champions League during her time in France.

Their closest challengers are expected to be City, who will be desperate to bounce back after narrowly missing out last season. They boast a talented squad, spearheaded by the likes of Lionesses Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly.

US Open

The US Open takes place later this month and all eyes will be on Coco Gauff, who is looking to win back-to-back Grand Slams on home soil. The 20-year-old won her only major title at Flushing Meadows last summer and she’s among the favourites despite crashing out in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

World number one Iga Swiatek also disappointed at SW19. She’ll be looking to add to her Grand Slam collection, which includes the 2022 US Open and this year’s French Open. Elsewhere, this year’s Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka will be aiming to go one better after losing to Gauff in last year’s final.

Emma Raducanu suffered a round of 16 exit at Wimbledon and she’ll be looking to do better across the pond. The 21-year-old has been plagued by injuries since announcing herself on the world stage by winning this competition three years ago. The US Open takes place from Monday 26th August until Sunday 8th September.

Tour de France Femmes

After two thrilling editions, the Tour de France Femmes is back for a third year, with eight stages taking place across seven days from 12th to 18th August. This year’s race will cover 946 km as riders start in the Netherlands and make their way through Belgium before finishing in the French Alps.

It’ll be the 22nd event of the UCI Women’s World Tour calendar and few are expected to challenge defending champion Demi Vollering, who’ll be representing SD Worx once again. The Dutch dynamo put in a dominant performance last year to claim the iconic yellow jersey.

Italian powerhouse Elisa Longo Borghini will be chomping at the bit for a maiden Tour de France Femmes title, while Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma – who finished third in 2023 – could also be strong at the front of the pack.

Golf galore

The Women’s British Open heads to the iconic St Andrews course this year, with defending champion Lilia Vu looking to repeat her dominant performance from 2023, when she beat England’s Charley Hull by six strokes for her second major title.

However, she’ll be wary of fellow American and world number one Nelly Korda, who also has two majors to her name, including this year’s Chevron Championship. The competition takes place from 22nd to 25th August and just a few weeks later, Vu and Korda will be teaming up for the Solheim Cup.

Europe are the reigning champions, with Team USA looking to win the competition for the 11th time. They’ll be doing so on home soil – this year’s Solheim Cup takes place in Virginia from 13th to 15th September.