Spain

History was made on Sunday. The first transgender soccer player in Spain made her debut for Las Rozas CF in the women’s third division. 

She scored a goal, too.

Alba Palacios, 33, had played hundreds if not thousands of matches before Sunday’s landmark match. But this recent one was special for her and the transgender community.

Japan won the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup with a 3-1 rout of Spain on Friday in France, avenging an earlier loss in impressive fashion. Japan scored the game’s first three goals, including a scorcher from Hinata Miyazawa in the first half. 

Spain defeated Japan 1-0 in Group C play, the Spanish ladies taking first place in a group of death that also included the United States. The two met again in Vannes, France, with the tournament on the line.

In the final of the U-20 Women's World Cup, Japan showed it was the best in the world in this age group.

A U.S. national soccer team being knocked out at the group stage of a major tournament is a headline that we don't often associate with the women’s side, but today produced an outcome not many in the soccer world could've predicted. The U.S. U-20 women’s national team saw its journey at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup come to a shocking end before it really even got started. 

STANDINGS // CLASSEMENT

“The football I grew up playing is no longer there. Today, all players care about are their cars, their shoes with their names on, and their image. While for me, the only thing that counted was football. Nothing else.” -Miroslav Klose

Football is under attack. It’s a sentiment that, regardless of how much it resonates with you, is often expressed and passionately argued. Whatever the reason, be it the influx of money, the unsporting concentration of talent or the diminished draw of the international game, there’s cause for cynicism. 

With only nine matches remaining in the 2017-18 Primera Division Femenina, Sunday’s meeting between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona will likely decide the title. The two sides have rarely been troubled by the rest of the division, and they’ve distanced themselves at the top of the table, where Atletico hold a one-point advantage over Barca.

Make it 16 goals from 18 games for Mexico international Charlyn Corral in this season’s Primera Division (the Spanish women’s top flight). The 26-year-old native of Acolman, Mexico, has been Levante’s top scorer the previous two seasons, and she’s currently leading the division after adding another against Sevilla on Saturday.

Did she mean it? Who knows, it’s still a long-range crack that’s probably the best scored in match week 19.

¡¡¡Q-U-É G-O-L-A-Z-O!!!

Aged just 16 years, five months and two days (for comparison’s sake, Lionel Messi was 17 years, three months and 22 days), teenage Catalan phenom Claudia Pina made her league debut for FC Barcelona Femeni Sunday in the club’s 2-0 victory over Zaragoza.

Pina has been a revelation for Barcelona throughout her La Masia rise, and her exploits for Spain at the U-17 level have been remarkable, to say the least.

After finishing three points behind Atletico Madrid in Spain’s Primera Division while also becoming the first Spanish side to reach the semifinals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, it was evident that FC Barcelona Femení, Barca’s women’s football team, was on the cusp of greatness entering its 17th season.