As a women’s football fan, I know you mostly talk about, or even watch, women’s football in England, Spain, and France. You probably hear about Barcelona women, Manchester City, or Lyon women all the time, but some of the best football teams on the planet play far from Europe.Â
Today, I’m covering14 of the biggest women’s football clubs outside Europe.
Ready? Here are the women’s football clubs outside Europe that you should know.
1) SC Corinthians (São Paulo, Brazil)
Corinthians is the first stop on our tour of women’s football clubs outside Europe.
Corinthians is from São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city. Brazil is in South America, and CONMEBOL runs soccer there.
The Copa Libertadores Femenina is South America’s biggest club cup, and Corinthians has won it six times. They won it in 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025. They won the last three in a row, which no club had done before.
At home, Corinthians has won seven Brazilian league titles. That includes six in a row from 2020 to 2025, plus one more in 2018.
Corinthians also played in the very first FIFA Women’s Champions Cup. This new event brings together the champions from all six parts of the world. They beat Gotham 1 to 0 in the semifinal. Then they lost the final to Arsenal of England, 3 to 2 after extra time, on February 1, 2026, in London.
The 2026 Copa Libertadores Femenina took place in Quito, Ecuador, from October 15 to October 31. Corinthians entered the competition as defending champions and reached the final after winning all five of their matches but lost to fellow Brazilian side Cruzeiro.
Cruzeiro claimed their first-ever title, ending Corinthians’ run of three consecutive championships.
2) Gotham FC (New Jersey, USA)
Next up is Gotham FC, from Harrison, New Jersey, just outside New York City. The team plays at Sports Illustrated Stadium, which holds about 25,000 fans.
Gotham competes in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), one of the top women’s football leagues in the United States. The country is part of CONCACAF, the football confederation covering North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Gotham has built an impressive trophy collection. The club won the NWSL Championship in 2023 and 2025. Its 2025 victory was particularly special because Gotham became the first eighth-seeded team to reach and win the final.
In the 2024–2025 season, Gotham also won the first-ever CONCACAF W Champions Cup. In June 2026, the club added the NWSL Challenge Cup to its honours.
Most recently, on November 1, 2026, Gotham won its first-ever NWSL Shield, awarded to the team that finishes top of the regular-season table. The achievement gave the club its fifth major trophy in three years.
With such titles, Gotham has earned its place among the leading women’s football clubs outside Europe.
3) Portland Thorns FC (Oregon, USA)
The Thorns play in Portland, Oregon, at Providence Park, which holds 25,218 people. The club started in 2013, the very first year of the NWSL, and fans have packed the place ever since.
The first Portland Thorns home game drew 16,479 people, which was a big number for a women’s club back then. Many people call the Thorns the best-supported women’s team in the world. That crowd power makes them one of the best-known women’s football clubs outside Europe.
Now for the trophies.
The Thorns have won the NWSL Championship three times, in 2013, 2017, and 2022. They were the first club to reach three.
Portland Thorns have won the Shield twice, in 2016 and 2021. In 2021, they also picked up the NWSL Challenge Cup and the Women’s International Champions Cup.
4) Club América Femenil (Mexico City, Mexico)
Club América Femenil has earned its place among the leading women’s football clubs outside Europe. América is the women’s team of one of Mexico’s biggest football clubs. It plays its home games in Mexico City at Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes.
The team was founded on December 5, 2016, just before Mexico’s women’s league, Liga MX Femenil, which has become one of the best women’s football leagues, began in 2017.
América has won three Liga MX Femenil league titles. These came in the Apertura 2018, Clausura 2023, and Clausura 2026 tournaments.
Mexico splits its league calendar into two short seasons each year. Apertura means opening and takes place in the second half of the year, while Clausura means closing and takes place in the first half.
May 2026 was a historic month for the club. América won its third league title and then lifted the 2025/26 CONCACAF W Champions Cup, becoming the first Mexican women’s club to win the continental trophy. Captain Scarlett Camberos was named the tournament’s best player.
The club also won the 2026 Campeón de Campeonas, adding another trophy to its collection. This competition brings together the winners of Mexico’s Apertura and Clausura seasons.
Its CONCACAF W Champions Cup victory also secured a place in the 2027 FIFA Women’s Champions Cup and qualification for the pathway to the inaugural 2028 FIFA Women’s Club World Cup.
5) Tigres UANL Femenil (Nuevo León, México)
Tigres plays near Monterrey, in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo León. Its home ground is Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza. Fans call it El Volcán, which means “The Volcano.”
Tigres holds the Liga MX Femenil record with seven league titles. They won the Clausura 2018, Clausura 2019, Guardianes 2020, Guardianes 2021, Apertura 2022, Apertura 2023, and Apertura 2025.
Few women’s football clubs outside Europe have shown such consistency in their domestic league.
Tigres also reached the final of the first CONCACAF W Champions Cup in May 2025 but finished as runners-up after losing to Gotham FC.
The club added another major honour in July 2025 when it won the Campeón de Campeones, a competition between the winners of Mexico’s two league seasons.
However, Tigres missed out on another trophy in July 2026. They lost the Campeón de Campeones to Club América on penalties. They also exited the Clausura 2026 in the quarter-finals.
Tigres has continued to compete strongly in the 2026 Apertura. By October 2026, the team had secured a place in the playoffs and remained among the leading sides in its group.
Tigres also made headlines in August 2025 when it sold star winger Lizbeth Ovalle to Orlando Pride in the United States. The transfer was worth a reported $1.5 million, making it a world-record women’s football transfer at the time.
Ovalle left Tigres as the club’s all-time leading scorer, with 136 goals in 294 appearances.
6) Washington Spirit (Washington, D.C., USA)
Washington Spirit remains one of the leading women’s football clubs outside Europe.
The Spirit play in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, at Audi Field, which holds about 20,000 fans. The club was founded in 2012 and became one of the original women’s football teams in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013.
Washington Spirit won its first NWSL Championship in 2021. The club has also reached the final in 2016, 2024, and 2025, making it one of the regular contenders for the league title. In 2025, the Spirit finished as runners-up after losing the final to Gotham FC.
The club has also made its mark outside the United States. In the 2025–2026 CONCACAF W Champions Cup, Washington finished as runners-up behind Club América Femenil.
One of the club’s biggest stars is Trinity Rodman, an American forward and Olympic gold medallist from the 2024 Paris Games. In January 2026, she signed a new contract keeping her at the Spirit through 2028. Reports valued the deal at more than $2 million per year, making it one of the biggest contracts in women’s football.
There is another exciting development for the club. Audi Field will host the 2026 NWSL Championship on November 21, putting Washington at the centre of the league’s biggest annual event.
7) Kansas City Current (Missouri, USA)
The Current play in Kansas City, Missouri, at CPKC Stadium. It seats 11,500 people and is the first stadium in the world built specifically for a women’s professional sports team. The club was founded in December 2020, and its stadium opened in 2024.
Kansas City Current made history in 2025 by winning its first NWSL Shield. The Current finished with 65 points, setting a new league record. They also recorded 21 wins and 16 clean sheets, both league records at the time. However, they did not win the NWSL Championship.
The club has continued to establish itself among the strongest women’s football clubs outside Europe.
One of its biggest strengths is its squad. Malawi forward Temwa Chawinga, one of Africa’s best female soccer players, remains a standout player, having won back-to-back NWSL MVP and Golden Boot awards in 2024 and 2025.
8) Orlando Pride (Florida, USA)
Next is the Orlando Pride, who play in Orlando, Florida, at Inter&Co Stadium. They are also part of the NWSL, and in 2024 they had a dream season. They won the NWSL Shield with 60 points, which was a league record at the time.
They also started the year with 23 games in a row without a loss, another league record.
Then they won it all. On November 23, 2024, Orlando beat the Washington Spirit 1 to 0 in the NWSL Championship final in Kansas City. It was the first NWSL title in the club’s history.
Winning the Shield and the Championship in the same year is called a double, and only three teams have ever done it in the NWSL.
9) Melbourne City (Melbourne, Australia)
Melbourne City plays in Melbourne, Australia, at AAMI Park, which holds about 30,000 fans. The club competes in Australia’s top women’s football league and also represents the country in Asian competitions organised by the AFC.
Melbourne City enjoyed an outstanding 2025–26 season, winning both the premiership and championship. These achievements gave City its fifth premiership and fifth championship, and its first championship in six years.
The club also reached the 2025–26 AFC Women’s Champions League semi-finals.
10) San Diego Wave FC (California, USA)
The Wave play in San Diego, California, at Snapdragon Stadium. The club started in 2022 as an expansion team, meaning a new team added to the league.
The Wave grew quickly. In just their second season, they won the 2023 NWSL Shield for finishing with the best regular-season record. Their fans also made history, averaging more than 20,000 people per home game that year and setting a new league attendance record.
The club has continued to build on that success.
11) Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza (Tokyo, Japan)
Beleza plays in the Tokyo area of Japan, in the WE League, the country’s top women’s football league. Japanese football is governed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Tokyo Verdy Beleza remains one of Asia’s biggest names in women’s football.
Founded in 1981, Beleza is one of the oldest women’s football clubs in Asia. Its name means “beautiful woman” in Portuguese.
Few Japanese clubs can match its trophy collection.
Beleza has won 52 major domestic and continental honours, making it one of the most successful women’s football clubs outside Europe. It also won the WE League title in the 2024–25 season.
The club added another trophy in April 2026 by winning its first-ever WE League Kracie Cup. It also reached the final of the 2025–26 AFC Women’s Champions League, finishing as runners-up to North Korean side Naegohyang.
12) Naegohyang (Pyongyang, North Korea)
Naegohyang has earned a place among the notable women’s football clubs outside Europe. Naegohyang is based in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.
Founded in 2012, the club has established itself in domestic women’s football, winning the North Korean league in the 2021–22 and 2023–24 seasons.
Its biggest achievement came in May 2026 when Naegohyang won the AFC Women’s Champions League, becoming the first North Korean club to claim the continental title.
The victory also marked the club’s arrival on the international women’s football stage.
Naegohyang’s participation in the competition was historic for another reason. Its trip to South Korea marked the first visit by a North Korean sports team to the country in eight years.
As Asian champions, Naegohyang also earned qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s Champions Cup.
13) Wuhan Jiangda (Wuhan, China)
Wuhan Jiangda plays in Wuhan, a major city in central China. The club was founded in 2001 and earned promotion to the Chinese Women’s Super League in 2017 after winning the second division.
It quickly became a dominant force in Chinese women’s football, winning five consecutive league titles between 2020 and 2024. After finishing fifth in 2025, the club has continued competing among China’s leading women’s teams.
Wuhan’s biggest achievement came in May 2025 when it became the first-ever winner of the AFC Women’s Champions League. The victory made it the first Chinese club to lift the continental trophy and secured its place in the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup.
In 2026, Wuhan represented Asia in FIFA’s new global women’s club competition. It advanced beyond the opening round but was eliminated by African champions AS FAR in the second round.
14. AS FAR (Rabat, Morocco)
AS FAR comes from Rabat, the capital of Morocco, in North Africa. The club competes under the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
AS FAR was founded in 2007 as the women’s team of the Royal Army Sports Association.
AS FAR is one of the most successful women’s football clubs in Africa. It has won the CAF Women’s Champions League twice, first in 2022 and again in 2025.Â
These victories made it one of only two clubs to have won the continental competition twice, alongside Mamelodi Sundowns.
The club has also won the UNAF Women’s Champions League three times, in 2021, 2024 and 2025. This competition brings together women’s clubs from North Africa and provides a route to the CAF Women’s Champions League.
As African champions, AS FAR represented the continent at the 2026 FIFA Women’s Champions Cup in London, finishing fourth.
Final Whistle
And that is the final whistle on our women’s football clubs outside Europe trip. Women’s soccer changes fast, and so maybe by next week there will be other women’s football clubs outside Europe better than these ones.
Also, if you think a club deserves a spot on the list, tell us in the comments.
And if you liked it, share it with a friend who thinks all the best teams live in Europe.
