UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 breaks viewing records

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Women's EURO
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UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 brought unprecedented interest in the tournament with record stadium attendances and a projected global cumulative live viewership of 365 million across TV, out-of-home viewing and streaming.

UEFA, alongside The Football Association, the Local Organising Structure and tournament stakeholders including the host cities and several partners, delivered the framework for a momentous event.

The 2022 edition of the tournament was shown worldwide via more than 60 broadcast partners and additionally via UEFA.tv in selected territories. More than 50 broadcast partners covered matches with dedicated on-site productions – more than double the 2017 edition at almost every stage of the competition.

More than double the number of live viewers tuned into the 2022 tournament when compared to the 2017 edition (178 million) and 214% more live viewers than in 2013 (116 million).

The final between England and Germany is projected to have attained a cumulative live viewership of 50 million worldwide, over three times more than for the 2017 final, when 15 million viewers tuned in

In both the UK and Germany, the final had the largest Women’s EURO audiences ever and the largest audiences since UEFA EURO 2020.

In addition, over 217,000 people attended dedicated Fan Parties in the host cities and 19,200 spectators took part in ‘Fan Walks’ to the matches. Moreover, the public investment in social impact programmes (art and heritage) amounted to $4.5 million AUD.

Over 2,300 volunteers were recruited and trained to enhance the overall fan experience. The volunteers were provided with the opportunity to be involved in a major sporting event across a variety of areas including media, hospitality, fan engagement and transport

The UEFA-supported legacy programme, which will run until 2024, aims to get more girls and women involved in football on a regular basis. It has been set up across the nine host cities by The FA, who have committed to several measures nationally.

With this programme rolled out a year ahead of the final tournament, results are already becoming visible, and its impact can be seen across the host cities:

  • 7,900 girls and women newly registered and playing in clubs
  • Over 14,600 have started playing recreationally
  • 145 new female coaches have been recruited and trained
  • The programme is on track to get 120,000 more girls playing football in school and over 416,000 new opportunities for girls and women to play football have already been created.

Globally, UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 generated 453.3 million cumulative social interactions, with TikTok (38.7%) and Twitter (21.1%) having the most.

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Project ACL: The initiative leading the way on injury research

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Launched in 2024, the research project recently welcomed two US-based organisations: the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA) and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

 

About Project ACL

Led by FIFPRO, PFA England, Nike and Leeds Beckett University, Project ACL aims to research ACL injuries and understand more about multifactorial risk factors.

After piloting in England’s Women’s Super League (WSL), Project ACL will expand to the NWSL in the US, reflecting the global importance of the project’s research and outcome.

“We are incredibly excited to bring the NWSLPA and NWSL to Project ACL,” said Director of Women’s Football at FIFPRO, Dr. Alex Culvin, via official press release.

“Overall, we believe that player-centricity and collaboration with key stakeholders are central to establishing meaningful change in the soccer ecosystem and that players, competition organisers and stakeholdersaround the world will benefit from Project ACL’s outputs and outcomes.”

Interviews with over 30 players and team surveys across all 12 WSL clubs provided the project’s research team with valuable information about current prevention strategies and available resources.

Furthermore, the project tracks player workload and busy schedule periods during the season through the FIFPRO Player Workload Monitoring tool, therefore gaining insights into the link between scheduling and injury risks.

 

Looking to the data

Project ACL’s partnerships with the WSL – and now the NWSL – are immensely valuable for the future of player welfare in women’s football.

Although ACL injuries affect both male and female athletes, they are twice as likely to occur in women than men. However, according to the NWSL, as little as 8% of sports science research focuses on female athletes.

In Australia, several CommBank Matildas suffered ACL injuries in recent years: Sam Kerr was sidelined from January 2024 to September 2025, Ellie Carpenter for 8 months after suffering the injury while playing for Olympique Lyonnais, and Holly McNamara came back from three ACL’s aged 15, 18 and 20.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The 2025/26 ALW season saw several ACL incidents, including four in just two weeks.

 

Research, prevent, protect

Injury prevention and research are vital to sport – whether professional or amateur.

But when the numbers are so shocking – and incidents are so common – governing bodies must remember that player welfare comes above all else. Research can inform prevention strategies. Prevention means players can enjoy the game they love.

The work of Project ACL, continuing until 2027, will hopefully protect countless players across women’s football from suffering long-term or recurring injuries.

South Canberra FC Breaks the Mold: Equity-Driven Model Earns ‘Club Changer’ Honour

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Image Credit: SCFC

South Canberra Football Club has been named Club Changer of the Month for April, in a recognition that reflects a broader shift across Australian football toward rewarding clubs that are actively dismantling the structural barriers limiting women’s access to the game.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup has just delivered record crowds and unprecedented visibility for women’s football in Australia, and the Club Changer program is now asking what comes next. Its decision to name South Canberra Football Club as Club Changer of the Month for April signals a clear shift in how the program defines contribution: away from participation numbers alone, and toward the equity frameworks that determine whether women stay in the game once they arrive.

South Canberra FC built that framework from the ground up. Established in 2021, the club set out to give women and female-identifying players a safe, inclusive environment to play football at any level. It runs entirely on volunteers, operates as a not-for-profit, and is governed by an all-female committee with 13 of its 14 coaches identifying as female.

 

Building the infrastructure of inclusion

In 2026, the club secured grant funding and put it to work immediately. Two coaches are completing their C Licence qualification, and ten coaches, players and community members have undertaken the Foundations of Football course, which directly tackles the cost and accessibility barriers that exclude women out of coaching pathways.

The club also commissioned a female-specific strength and conditioning program with sports physiotherapists ahead of the 2026 season, targeting injury prevention and explicitly supporting players returning after childbirth.

SCFC’s leadership team draws from LGBTIQ+ individuals, First Nations people and veterans, strengthening the club’s connection to the communities it was built to represent.

The Club Changer program is backing clubs that do this work- clubs that treat equity as infrastructure rather than aspiration. At a moment when Australian football is under pressure to turn its biggest-ever surge of women’s interest into something lasting, SCFC’s model offers a clear answer to the question of how.

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