Zambia’s Barbra Banda scored the 1,000th goal in Women’s World Cup history as her side signed off with a 3-1 win over Costa Rica.
Both teams had already been eliminated, but after Lushomo Mweemba scored Zambia’s first ever goal at a World Cup – men’s or women’s – star striker Banda tucked away a penalty to bring up another landmark.
Here, the PA news agency takes a statistical look at the first 1,000 goals.
Tournament totals
The 2015 and 2019 tournaments, having expanded to 24 teams, unsurprisingly hold the record for most goals overall with 146 apiece – a record that is almost certain to be broken this year after a further increase to 32 nations.
Three of the 16-team tournaments also racked up centuries, though, with 1999 being the highest-scoring edition on a goals-per-game basis with 123 in 32 matches, an average of 3.84.
There were 99 in 26 games at each of the first two stagings in 1991 and 1995, averaging 3.81 per match to sit just behind 1999 by that measure.
There were 107 goals in 2003 and 111 four years later, each in 32 games and averaging over three per match, with that average dipping to an all-time low of 2.69 in 2011 (86 in 32 games) and recovering only as far as 2.81 per game for the two 24-team events.
By the conclusion of Zambia’s game and Japan’s concurrent win over Spain, this summer’s tournament had seen 87 goals in 36 games for an average of 2.42 – meaning it is on track for the most goals (155) but the lowest average ever.
Top teams
The United States and Germany have been the two dominant teams in women’s football and have won six of the eight previous tournaments between them – four American wins and two for Germany.
The USA have scored 142 goals at the competition, including their four so far in Group E this year, while Germany’s 6-0 win over Morocco helped lift their all-time total to 128.
Norway, one of the remaining two champions along with Japan, beat the Philippines by the same scoreline to qualify from Group A and move within one of a century of their own.
Fellow Scandinavian side Sweden rank fourth with 78, hammering Italy 5-0 to open up a gap over Brazil (71).
China (54) were the only other side to contribute 50 or more of the 1,000 goals, with Japan on 48 at the time Banda’s landmark effort hit the net as they led Spain 2-0 before going on to complete their half-century in an eventual 4-0 win. England have 45, with Australia and Canada completing the top 10 even before their meeting in Group B on Monday.
Zambia were the 41st nation to score at a Women’s World Cup, with 44 having played and only 2023 debutants Haiti, Vietnam and Panama yet to find the net.
Record scorers
Brazil forward Marta is playing at her sixth World Cup, one short of compatriot Formiga’s record of seven, and is the competition’s record scorer with 17 goals.
That included winning the 2007 Golden Boot with seven, and leaves her three clear of Germany’s Birgit Prinz and American Abby Wambach at the top of the all-time charts.
Michelle Akers’ tally of 12 for the USA includes a record 10 at one tournament, in 1991, while China’s Sun Wen, Brazil’s Cristiane and Germany’s Bettina Wiegmann each scored 11.
Carli Lloyd (USA), Ann-Kristin Aarones (Norway), Heidi Mohr (Germany) and current Canada captain Christine Sinclair are the other players in double figures.
Banda pairs with former China defender Ma Li to book-end the scoring of the 1,000 goals. Ma headed in Wu Weiying’s free-kick against Norway in 1991 for the tournament’s first goal as China won the opening game 4-0 as hosts.
Mbappe confirms PSG departure at end of season
Kylian Mbappe has confirmed that he will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season.
Mbappe, who joined PSG on a permanent deal from Monaco in 2018 after spending a season on loan, has made 305 appearances for the club, scoring 255 goals, 42 of which came in European competition.
The 25-year-old helped them win Ligue 1 six times, including this season, three Coupe de France titles and two Coupe de la Ligue trophies.
Mbappe, who is out of contract this year, will not be staying at the Parc des Princes at the end of the season, with reports suggesting he could join Real Madrid.
In a message posted on his social media channels, Mbappe said: "I've always said that I would speak with you when the time comes, and so I wanted to announce to you all that it's my last year at Paris Saint-Germain.
"I will not extend, and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks.
"I will play my last game at the Parc des Princes on Sunday."
"It's a lot of emotions, many years where I had the chance and the great honour to be a member of the biggest French club, one of the best in the world, which allowed me to arrive here, to have my first experience in a club with a lot of pressure, to grow as a player by being alongside some of the best in history, to meet a lot of people and to grow as a man with all the glory and the mistakes I've made.
"I want to thank the teammates, all of the teammates that I had. All the coaches, Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Christophe Galtier and Luis Enrique.
"It's hard, it's hard and I never thought it would be this difficult, to announce that to leave my country, France, the Ligue 1, a championship I have always known, but I think I needed this, a new challenge after seven years.
"It's difficult and, of course, there are some people, I want to thank above all these are the fans. I know I am not the most demonstrative player. I haven't always lived up to the love you all gave me for the seven years, but I never wanted to cheat. I have always wanted to be effective.
"PSG is a club that never leaves anyone indifferent. We can love it or hate it. I made the choice of loving it and I did it for seven years, with ups and downs, of course, but I do not regret any moment, signing with this prestigious club.
"It's a club that I will keep in memory my entire life. I will tell everybody my whole life, that I had the chance to play here. I won't be a player anymore, but I will continue to watch every game, of course, because it's a club that I will always be interested in, and I will always closely follow up its news.
"It was me with my qualities and defects, but I tried to give the best version of myself during those seven years. But beforehand I want to say thank you because without you all I would not have experienced half of the emotions I felt. And just for that, I am grateful for life.
Chelsea sacking would not be the end of the world - Pochettino
Mauricio Pochettino says it would not be "the end of the world" if he were to leave Chelsea at the end of the season.
The Blues have lost just one of their last 12 matches in the Premier League, and they thrashed West Ham 5-0 in their last game to make it four home wins on the bounce.
Chelsea now sit in seventh place with a place in Europe next season within their reach, but rumours continue to spread that Pochettino’s future at the club is not safe.
Pochettino stressed that he wants to be involved in the conversations about the club’s plans at the end of the season, which is when a decision will be made.
He said: "If we are happy, perfect. But it is not only if the owners are happy or the sporting directors happy... You need to ask us also, because maybe [we] say, ‘we are not happy’ and we accept the situation, and we need to split.
“It is not going to be the first time the coaching staff at the end of the season decide to not keep going. But at this end, it is always the opposite way. It is always the owners or the sporting directors.
"If we split it’s not a problem, it will not be the end of the world."
At the other end of the table, Nottingham Forest boosted their survival hopes with a 3-1 win over already-relegated Sheffield United last Saturday to move three points clear of the drop.
With Forest still not safe with two games to go, Nuno Espirito Santo admitted this was his toughest season as a manager so far.
"It’s been hard but I’m repeating myself. Since day one we embraced the challenge," said Nuno.
"There were a lot of things we were not expecting, but we dealt with them in the proper moment and in the right way. With the right attitude and working together, we can overcome the obstacles, and we have had a lot."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nottingham Forest – Chris Wood
Wood has scored more goals than any other Nottingham Forest player in the Premier League this season (12). However, in 11 meetings with Chelsea in the competition, he has never found the back of the net, something he will want to change at the weekend.
Chelsea – Cole Palmer
Palmer has been involved in 30 Premier League goals this season, scoring 21 and assisting nine.
The last Chelsea player to be involved in more was Eden Hazard in 2018-19 (31 – 16G 15A), while 2009-10 was the last time a Blues player scored more in a league campaign (Didier Drogba 29, Frank Lampard 22).
MATCH PREDICTION: CHELSEA WIN
Chelsea have lost just one of their last 12 Premier League games (W6 D5), though they are winless in their last five away from home (D4 L1).
The Blues have won just two of their last 10 away league games against Forest (D4 L4), winning 1-0 in November 1994 and 3-1 in February 1999.
Following their 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge in September, Forest are looking to complete their first league double over Chelsea since 1978-79, when they were reigning top-flight champions under Brian Clough.
Indeed, Forest have only lost their final home league match in one of their six previous Premier League campaigns (W4 D1), doing so against Sheffield United in 1992-93 with a 2-0 defeat that confirmed their relegation.
Chelsea’s Premier League games have seen 129 goals this season (F70 A59), the third most after Sheffield United (135) and Newcastle (134). Only in 2009-10 (135) have the Blues' games produced more goals (F103 A32).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Nottingham Forest – 25.5%
Draw – 27.6%
Chelsea – 46.9%
Treble-chasing Leverkusen offer fans free tattoos to commemorate stunning season
Treble-chasing Bayer Leverkusen are offering supporters free tattoos to commemorate their Bundesliga-winning season and record-breaking unbeaten run.
Xabi Alonso's team, undefeated across all competitions this season, reached the Europa League final with a 2-2 comeback draw against Roma on Thursday, sealing a 4-2 aggregate win.
That result also stretched their unbeaten run this season to 49 matches across all competitions, surpassing Benfica's long-standing European record of 48, set between 1963 and 1965.
"A special action at the end of a special season. Bayer 04 are offering fans, until the end of the season, the opportunity to choose one of many Bayer 04 tattoos for free," the club said in a statement.
"Book your appointment now to eternalise this unique season on your skin."
Having sealed their first ever Bundesliga title, Leverkusen are also through to the DFB-Pokal final.
They will face second-tier Kaiserslautern in that showpiece game on May 25, three days after they take on Atalanta in the Europa League final.
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