UEFA Women's Euros : 1997-2025 (New)

This was the eighth Women's Euros that I have covered in this article. 1997 was the first 'proper' tournament with a group and a knock out phase. However, before the history we'll look at the 2025 event.

Group A was played in Switzerland, with the hosts in the kindest group but even then only just got past that stage. This was the first group to exit the tournament

Group B got two sides to the semi finals and one to the final. 

Group C had two strong sides but none from that group made the final.

Group D was won by France, although England had the slightly better goal differential. This group also provided the winning team.

England's route to the final was a fight all the way. In the quarter final stage, they came back from 0-2 against Sweden to win a bizarre penalty shootout. It came down to who wanted to lose it the most. Then against Italy, a late injury time equaliser from England got them into extra time and victory. 

Into the final. It happened again against Spain, where England had to come back from 0-1 to end up this time in a penalty shootout, won 3-1. When a team has to battle and keep coming from behind to win, it imbues self belief but not overconfidence. That seems to have been the case here. Hard luck Spain but their penalty shooting was poor. 

For the first three tournaments, there were eight sides participating and for that reason I gave the finalists slightly lower points. When it expanded to twelve, I then increased them.

Historically, it's all about Germany. They won the first five tournaments, so by far the most successful nation. Their earlier dominance is tempered by the fact that they have not won the last three, despite making a final in 2022. 

England were slow starters but are making up for lost opportunities, winning the last two tournaments. Sweden is incredibly solid but has only made one final (losing). Norway has lost two finals and Denmark one. The Netherlands has a trophy from its only finals appearance. Spain had its best tournament in 2025. 

Women's Africa Nations Cup : 1998-2024 (New)

WAFCON is the women's Africa Nations Cup that had its inception in Nigeria in 1998. The 2024 tournament was held in 2025 with the groups and knock out games shown below. 

Twelve sides competed in the latest edition, which is the largest number of participants yet and equal to the 2022 tournament. Before that, it was usually eight teams. 

Eight moved into the play off stage with three matches decided by a penalty shootout. In the final, host nation Morocco was surprisingly ahead 2-0 after just 24 minutes. Nigeria pulled a goal back with a penalty in the 68th minute then secured yet another trophy with an 88th minute winning goal.

As for the history, I've scored placings to see how the countries involved have fared. With more sides in the last two events, I've increased the scoring. 

Nigeria have always made it into the knock out stage and have won all ten finals they have been in. South Africa is second with one trophy and has been the losing finalist on four occasions. Interestingly, Equitorial Guinea has only been to five tournamants but made the final three times with two outright victories. 

Ukraine Clubs Ranked - 1992 to 2024/25 (New)

Football in Ukraine started in 1992 when it separated from the USSR, which was officially dissolved in December, 1991. Before then Ukrainian clubs did have success in Europe representing the USSR and the results are counted here. The league and cup data start as stated in the title.

One thing that immediately hit me was the dominace of two clubs. That is obvious in the chart to the right where the top six sides are listed. 

'Ukr' represents points awarded for domestic play and 'Tot' includes European success. The top two are tied domestically with 212 points each. 

So how do the points work? In the Premier League the top four are rewarded with 6, 3, 2 and 1. The Ukrainian Cup 4 and 2 points for the finalists only. In Europe, Champions League 8, 4 and two, the Europa League (UEFA Cup) is given 6, 3 and 1 and the defunct Cup Winner's Cup 4 and 2. 

In the league, in 1992 SC Tavriya won but since then it's been either Dynamo Kyiv or Shakhtar Donetsk on the winner's podium. That's some dominance. Kyiv got a jump on Shakhtar but the latter fought back to almost even things up. It has won seven of the last nine titles although Kyiv is the current champion.

The Ukrainian Cup wasn't held in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, otherwise it is also dominated by two clubs. The difference is that Shakhtar Donetsk has the greater success. It has won six of the last eight held, including the last two.

Dynamo Kyiv has tasted success in all three European competitions, between 1975 and 2009. Shakhtar Donetsk's success has come later, between 2009 and 2020. FC Dnipro's sole success was in 2015.

All put together, the clubs are below. The grand total is shown for each club, divided into regions with a ranking number (Rk) which gives their place compared to all the other clubs. Please let me know if you have anything to add. 

Some clubs have ceased operation in recent times. I presume the war has had a lot to do with that. I have divided the clubs into four regions. The East is where most of the fighting is going on and that is the most successful region with 52.6% of the points I've awarded. The Central region has 38.3% and is where the capital is situated. The South (7.5%) and West (1.6%) are the other two regions.