The sporting calendar is forever abuzz but some years stand out more than others. The year 2023 was aptly dubbed “The Year of Women’s Sport” following a number of tournaments hosted in that year and a few, like the 2023 Netball World Cup and T20 Cricket World Cup, came to a country that has built a credible reputation as hosts of major tournaments: South Africa.
2024 gave us some incredible moments that we will remember for years to come, including the Proteas Women’s back-to-back appearances in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, and it seems 2025 is poised to be another year for the books.
Three of arguably the most popular sports in Football, Rugby and Cricket, will see three major events that we can look forward to, with the future stars of Netball ready to chase top accolades in Gibraltar.
Banyana Banyana will be aiming to defend their WAFCON title, the Proteas women will be fight to go one up and shed the maid of honour tag and finally win their first World Cup title, while the Springbok Women fight on to find and cement their place among the favourites of women’s rugby.
Take out your notepad or 2025 diary and jot down these major events in women in sport that are set to take the world by storm in the New Year!
Football – CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations
Initially scheduled for the 6th of July 2024 – 11 August 2024, the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations was pushed back by a year, from 5 July to 26 July, 2025, and will be staged in Morocco.
The defending champions Banyana Banyana have been drawn in Group C, where they will face Ghana, Mali and Tanzania.
The WAFCON has grown to be a fiercely contested affair with leading nations South Africa, hosts Morocco and Nigeria often anticipated to battle it out to the latter stages of the competition. Of course, we cannot rule out nations like Zambia, who’ve seen tremendous growth over the past few years.
If the CAF Women’s Champions League is anything to go by, we are in for a treat. Speaking to CAF Online following the draw ceremony in Morocco, South Africa’s goalkeeper Andile Dlamini says Banyana are determined to work hard.
“This competition will be intense. The teams have grown stronger, and it all comes down to who performs best on the day,” said Dlamini.
The 15th edition features 12 teams divided into three groups with hosts Morocco to face Zambia, Senegal, and DR Congo in Group A, while Group B includes 11-time champions Nigeria alongside Tunisia, Algeria, and Botswana.
Football – UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 or Euro 2025
As it is often said, women are masters of multi-tasking, so while we focus on the continental showpiece in Africa, one eye will also be fixed on Switzerland, host nation for another extravaganza but now in Europe, the Euro 2025.
The 14th edition of the tournament will see 16 battle for European glory from 2 to 27 July.
World Cup winners Spain are pitted against Italy, Belgium and Portugal, while defending champions England will have a mountain as they aim to retain their title. The 2023 World Cup runners-up have been drawn alongside France, the Netherlands and debutants Wales in a challenging Group D of the tournament.
The draw means Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman must face her native Netherlands, who she led to victory at Euro 2017 and a runner-up finish at the 2019 World Cup.
Wiegman says she is excited for Euro 2025. “It’s a tough draw and it’s a very exciting group.”
“We used to have groups where you knew before the game you could predict that you were going to win. But the game has changed. The game has evolved and you see more countries having difficulties.”
“It’s not just three, four countries, you have to take care of 16 countries,” she added.
Wales midfielder Jess Fishlock – who is her country’s most-capped player – said qualifying is “exactly what we deserve and a really special moment”.
Prize money has more than doubled for the tournament, with the total pot now standing at £34m (41m euros, over R800million), a 156% increase from Euro 2022.
Cricket – Women’s World Cup
India will host the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup on dates to be confirmed in September, for the first time since 2013, and the stakes are higher than ever in the ICC Women’s Championship, with automatic qualification in the global showpiece event still up for grabs.
Featuring 10 teams and contested between 2022 and 2025, the third edition of the ICC Women’s Championship is to determine the initial qualifications for the 2025 Women’s Cricket World Cup in addition to the hosts.
While Australia and England have already qualified for the World Cup, South Africa – currently placed fourth in the points table – have also made the cut, having defeated England in the opening match of their three-game home series.
Former President of BCCI Mr Sourav Ganguly, said: “We are keen on hosting the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 and we are glad we have won the hosting rights for this marquee clash on the women’s calendar.”
India hosted the 50-over women’s World Cup in 2013 and the sport has undergone tremendous transformation since then. The popularity of women’s cricket is rapidly rising, with competition getting tighter with every tournament.
The 2025 edition of the World Cup will be similar to the 2022 edition, with eight teams taking part and playing a total of 31 matches.
Rugby – Women’s World Cup
The 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup will be held in England scheduled for 22 August 2025 to 27 September 2025.
With hosting duties now secured, the next load for the 2017 and 2022 finalists will be to lift the title on home soil, aiming to get their hands on the trophy for the third time in their history.
The current No.1 team in the World Rugby Women’s Rankings, England, have been drawn against Australia, USA, and Samoa in Pool A.
Pool B sees the world’s No.2 Canada set to face Scotland, Wales and Fiji, while reigning champions New Zealand are joined by Ireland, Japan and Spain in Pool C.
World Cup 2021 bronze medalists France are drawn in Pool D alongside Italy, South Africa and Brazil.
Appointed earlier on in the year, Bok women coach Swys de Bruin, says preparation will be key: “Brazil will be a fresh challenge, as we have not played them at all, while we have clearer and more recent pictures of Italy and France, so we know we will have to prepare well.
“It is also nice to be able to play two matches at Franklin’s Gardens, a proud English rugby venue, and we are looking forward to the York visit as well. All in all, with regards to the draw and schedule, it is really a satisfactory outcome for us and the challenge will be to use that to our advantage.
“We certainly hope for good support from South Africans residing in the UK to come out and enjoy the journey with us,” said de Bruin. “We are determined to come back home next year with our best RWC result ever.”
Netball – U19 World Youth Cup
South Africa’s baby Proteas successfully secured their spot at the upcoming Netball World Youth Cup following the Africa Regional Qualifiers held in Pretoria and are now gearing up for the showpiece taking place from 19 to 28 September, 2025.
The South Africans, led by former Protea Precious Mthembu, will be joined by Malawi and Zambia as the African representatives.
Zambia is in Pool A alongside New Zealand (Oceania), hosts Gibraltar (Europe), Cook Islands (Oceania) while SA and Malawi have been drawn in Pool D and they will face Fiji (Oceania), Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago from the Americas.
Having finished third in the previous event in 2017, England qualified automatically for the 2025 competition and were subsequently seeded and placed in Pool C ahead of the draw.
The draw has seen the Roses joined in Pool C by Jamaica (Americas), Tonga (Oceania), Wales (Europe) and Sri Lanka (Asia).
World Netball President Dame Liz Nicholl DBE said: “The Netball World Youth Cup is often the first time many of our young players get the opportunity to compete against teams from other Regions around the world and experience different styles of play, and I am so excited for the athletes to see today what new match-ups and experiences this event will bring.”
More to Follow
Soon to be published here will be gsport’s preview of the ICC’s U19 Women’s Cricket World Cup in Malaysia, where South Africa’s skipper Kayla Reyneke will lead tomorrow’s stars of the game on the international stage, along with further existing sports events, including the annual four Tennis Grand Slams kicking off in Australia right now, that have become an integral part of many households’ TV watching schedules.
It is evident that we are truly in for an epic-level sporty 2025 that is likely to see new record ticket sales, new milestones for the athlete and we anticipate many records to be broken on the playing field, as new stars are born to carry the conquests of women in sport forwards.
As passionate supporters of women’s sport, we’ve grown accustomed to shed a tear here and there, and of course some will be tears during disappointing moments, but certainly tears of joy too, so here’s to an amazing 2025 for women in sport!
Check out gsport.co.za for the latest women’s sport news and follow gsport4girls across social media to #PlayYourPart in closing the visibility gap.
