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• Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw credits teammates after historic FWA Player of the Year win

  Manchester City Women and Jamaica striker Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw graciously credited her teammates after being awarded the Football Writers’ Association Women’s Footballer of the Year. Shaw, who received the prestigious accolade on Thursday, expressed her gratitude towards her fellow players for their role in her success.

  The prolific Jamaican striker received an impressive 53 per cent of all votes cast, setting a new record for the highest percentage received by a player in FWA history for a women’s award. She edged out colleagues Alex Greenwood and Chelsea’s Lauren James to claim the top spot, capping off another phenomenal season where she scored 22 goals and provided five assists before an unfortunate injury cut short her campaign.

  Reflecting on her achievement and the season, Shaw emphasized the importance of her teammates in her individual accolades. "I’ve had a little hiccup, but overall it’s been a good season and I’m happy," Shaw commented at the FWA awards evening. "It’s been a good season. I’ve always said that the team makes me look good. I’m playing with world class players and that makes me look good at the end of the day."

  Shaw highlighted her team-first mentality, focusing on contributing to the collective success rather than individual accolades. "I just try to do the bits I can at the end of the pitch and work for the team and ultimately arrive at the end of the season winning stuff. Here we are," she added.

  Despite being sidelined due to injury for Manchester City Women's crucial WSL match against Aston Villa, where a victory could secure them the league title, Shaw expressed her confidence and support for her teammates. "It’s exciting times. I’m going to be very nervous to be honest but I believe in my team and I love every single one of them out there," she shared. "Once we do our best, hopefully the best is good enough."

  As Manchester City Women aim to clinch their second-ever league title, Shaw's recognition as the FWA Player of the Year underscores her impact and the team's collective drive for success. With inspiration drawn from the club's men's team and a shared commitment to achieving excellence, Shaw and her teammates are poised to continue pushing boundaries and striving for further glory in women's football.

   

   

• Brazil to host 2027 Women's World Cup

  Brazil have seen off competition from a joint bid by Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany to earn the right to host the 2027 Women's World Cup.

  The United States and Mexico were thought to be favourites to host the next edition of FIFA's showpiece women's football tournament, but they withdrew their bid in April.

  They signalled their intention to focus on a bid for the 2031 tournament, while a South African bid for the 2027 event was also withdrawn last November.

  That left Brazil and the joint European bid as the only contenders, and on Friday, it was confirmed the 2027 tournament will be the first to be held in South America.

  "Congratulations to Brazil," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said.

  "We will have the best World Cup in Brazil. Many thanks as well to the BNG bid, who have been fantastic."

  The decision was made at FIFA's annual congress in Bangkok, becoming the first Women's World Cup to be awarded via an open vote of member nations.

  Brazil – the host nation for two men's World Cups in 1950 and 2014 – garnered 119 votes to their rivals' 78. 

  Brazil had launched a bid to hold the 2023 tournament, only to withdraw it due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Australia and New Zealand ultimately co-hosted, with Spain beating England in the final for their first world crown.

• Tuchel confirms Bayern Munich exit after no deal reached to stay on

  Thomas Tuchel has confirmed he will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season after failing to reach an agreement with the club to stay on as coach after talks this week.

  Tuchel took over last March and steered them to the Bundesliga title last season but Bayern will finish the current campaign without any silverware for the first time in more than a decade.

  Bayern bosses had informed Tuchel in February he would not stay on for the last year of his contract and would leave at the end of the season.

  But after several prospective successors, including Julian Nagelsmann, Ralf Rangnick and Xabi Alonso, decided to remain in their current jobs, Bayern turned to Tuchel to discuss the possibility of him staying on.

  "This is the last press conference here. The February decision remains," Tuchel said on Friday.

  "There were talks again with the club in the past week but we did not reach an agreement on a continued cooperation so we stick with the February decision.

  "We did not agree but I won't go into individual points. That all happens behind closed doors."

  The Bavarians, who travel to Hoffenheim on the last matchday of the season on Saturday, are battling to hold on to second place in the table and are two points ahead of Stuttgart.

  They crashed out to third-tier Saarbrucken in the DFB-Pokal and were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, ending the campaign without a trophy despite spending a league-record €100 million to sign striker Harry Kane.

  "The decision for me to leave was taken in February so you can imagine that my head, after processing, was 1000% behind that decision," Tuchel said.

  "There was the theoretical possibility of a 180 degree turn now and the initiative came from the club.

  "The reasons why it did not happen, I don't know, are minimal. Maybe the reasons are not clear, also for the decision in February, but it is what it is."