Emma Hayes calls for more female head coaches globally — SkimNews
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- Emma Hayes manages the FIFA #1-ranked USWNT against Sonia Bermúdez's #2-ranked Spain at Subaru Park in Chester, PA on Tuesday — a matchup Hayes called "notable" because two women are leading the top two teams in the world.
- Hayes said female coaches face three hurdles — getting an interview, landing the job, and staying employed — and argued "the standards for us are so much higher" than for men, who rarely struggle to land another opportunity after being fired or leaving.
- Hayes praised Sarina Wiegman and Sonia Bompastor as "outstanding coaches" and said she wants governing bodies to invest in placing women as head coaches of national teams, beyond FIFA's existing rule mandating at least one female technical staff member.
- Hayes's coaching journey began with the Long Island Lady Riders before she built Chelsea's Women's Super League empire and took over the USWNT on the road to the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil.
- Eleven of the 16 NWSL teams are currently led by male coaches, including Landon Donovan, Richie Burke, and Chris Armas, who had no prior women's-team coaching experience when hired.
Why it matters: With 11 of 16 NWSL teams already coached by men and recent hires like Donovan, Burke, and Armas arriving without women's-team credentials, Hayes's appeal to national federations puts concrete pressure on FIFA to convert its existing technical-staff mandate into a pipeline for head-coaching roles rather than relying on the same male networks.
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