European nations convened in Zurich last week for a FIFA Women's Football Regional Workshop for FIFA European Member Associations designed to help each country reach their maximum potential. The event was perfectly timed to further build upon the momentum and inspiration provided by the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 in Switzerland, with the quadrennial tournament highlighted by record-breaking attendances and greatly heightened interest across the continent.

The Zurich-based workshop is the fourth of six such workshops conducted after similar events during 2024 for MAs in the AFC, Concacaf and CONMEBOL confederations.

“We gathered Member Associations from Europe – and specifically the people that are responsible for women’s football – to exchange knowledge, to share, to build the network, which is so important to the growth and the development of women’s football,” said Dame Sarai Bareman, FIFA's Chief Women’s Football Officer. “These two days are a really special moment where we can have a direct audience, and talk directly about the changes that are happening at FIFA with our tournaments and our competitions, the support that we offer – not only from the women’s football division, but from all the other areas within FIFA – but mostly, for me, it’s about them getting to know us, and us getting to know them.”

All 55 UEFA MAs were invited to the Home of FIFA with the expansive two-day event programme covering a wide variety of topics. Day one primarily featured FIFA’s various roles in developing and managing women’s football, including the numerous development programmes offered by world football’s governing body to all MAs. Day two’s programme covered topics as diverse as governance, football development, participation and more, with each module tailored specifically for women’s football.

"I think the information about all the [FIFA] programmes is really helpful to all the MAs to see what FIFA is actually doing, and they do a lot,” said Lucienne Reichardt, former professional player and now manager of Women's Football at the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB). “I will definitely go back with more information and share that among my colleagues and, hopefully, we can learn from that as well and we can make some more steps again in women’s football. “Definitely there is growth in participation we see in the Netherlands, so growing numbers of girls and women (who) are playing in our country. But, (it’s) not only what I said on the pitch (that) we see the difference; we see it also off the pitch. We see more female coaches, we see more women in roles of referees, and FIFA is helping us to create these opportunities and to reach our goals.”

The Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) recently benefited from the support of FIFA’s Women’s Football Campaign to help accelerate the development and visibility of women’s football. Yerevan’s iconic open-air square outside the Armenia National Ballet and Opera Theatre hosted hundreds of young girls participating in FFA’s ‘She Plays’ initiative. Head of Women’s Football at the FFA, Garin Shorjian, said such workshops offer valuable platforms for learning. “Networking (helps us) achieve so many things, because you can see a lot of ideas, exchange ideas, and learn more about FIFA’s programmes, and see their availability for us. “In five years, I can see a stronger movement, I can see more girls playing football, more clubs are interested in women’s football and having teams in our leagues, I can see that our national teams are competing on higher levels, and of course, creating a better image for women’s football in Armenia.”

With women’s football being one of FIFA’s most important strategic priorities, the workshops create opportunities for women’s football stakeholders to connect and learn from one another to continue the upward trajectory of the women’s game. “I think one of the greatest strengths of women’s football is this unifying and underpinning value that we all have,” Bareman added. “This passion that drives us all. This absolute belief in the sport, that we all have. I honestly believe that that is the reason why we have been growing so fast as a sport.”