Women’s football in Germany booming, but still much to do

According to the German Football Association (DFB), investment in women’s football by professional clubs has risen by 135% over the past six years. In addition, the number of girls in Germany who play the game has increased by about 30% since 2022.

Celia Sasic, the former Germany striker who has been in charge of diversity and inclusion at the DFB since 2022, has helped bring women’s football more into the spotlight in the boardroom.

“We’ve focused on the issue and established new structures, so that there is now a separate department with its own sports director,” the 38-year-old told DW.

“In my view, it’s important that there are very clear responsibilities for the development and professionalization of this sport.”

“I believe it’s important that [women’s football] is recognized within the licensed clubs. And it’s becoming increasingly recognized, so the framework conditions need to be adjusted,” continued Sasic.

“And we’re seeing that if we provide the right framework for the game, there’s huge growth potential there.”

Numbers support growth of women’s game

The most-watched football match featuring a German team in 2025 was the Women’s European Championship semifinal between Germany and Spain. The match drew around 14.26 million viewers—and a market share of about 57.6%. By comparison, the men’s game against Portugal in the Nations League semifinals drew around 10 million viewers.

Sasic, who was part of the German team that won the 2009 and 2013 European championships, regards this as a foundation to build on.

“This is incredibly significant for us as a society and in terms of our influence abroad,” she said.

“There are women who play football, who play for us on the national team, and who inspire us so much that millions of us watch their games.”

‘My biggest role model was Zinedine Zidane’

Sasic is clearly proud of the recent progress. For a long time, women’s football in Germany was not taken seriously.

“I had no choice; I had to look to men for role models,” Sasic recalled.

“My biggest role model was Zinedine Zidane. I had posters of [Luis] Figo, [David] Beckham, and Michael Ballack hanging in my room.”

Posters of women wouldn’t have existed back then, but it’s different now. These days, Germany captain Giulia Gwinn and players like Jule Brand and Lea Schüller smile down from the walls of children’s bedrooms, inspiring girls to dream of a great career in women’s football.

Further investment required to push women’s game forward

Despite the boom, the financial gap between women’s and men’s football remains enormous, as figures from the DFB and the German Soccer League (DFL) show. While the 18 Bundesliga clubs spent €1.72 billion ($1.9 billion) on players and coaching staff alone in the 2024–25 season, the personnel expenses of the 12 Women’s Bundesliga clubs most recently totaled just under €30 million — about 60 times lower.

Salaries also highlight how the professionalization of women’s football is still very much in its infancy. In the 2023-24 season, a women’s Bundesliga player earned an average base salary of around €48,000 per year. Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane is estimated to have earned €25 million during the same season.

This disparity is expected to narrow in the future.

“Football reflects our society — and thus also the gender inequality and the gender pay gap that we see in our society,” former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told DW earlier this year.

“Unfortunately, this gap in football is even wider in many countries than in other professions. But that is by no means set in stone,” added Baerbock, who also served as the president of the United Nations General Assembly from September 2025 to September 2026. 

“We know from the USA, the United Kingdom, Norway and Spain that if you really want to invest in women’s football, equal pay is an important part of that — especially when it comes to tournament bonuses.”

Young women need professional support

Celia Sasic currently sees significant progress when it comes to women’s football, although it’s still early days in the development process.

“Clubs must provide all the necessary resources to enable this development. Football pitches, medical care, a fitness facility and a coaching staff must be available,” said Sasic. “Investing in this ultimately makes the game much better, too.”

Opportunities for young girls in terms of training also need to improve.

“It’s a crucial step to have youth development centers where players are trained — not only athletically, but also professionally. These are essential factors for the success of the women’s game.”

Education, apprenticeship options must be available

A new DFB rule shows that even basic professional structures still need to be established. Only since the 2025–26 season have teams in the Women’s Bundesliga been required to employ assistant coaches, goalkeeper coaches and athletic coaches on a full-time, professional basis.

Sasic and women’s football still have a long way to go, but the former player is determined to continue fighting for greater equality. The 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil is a great place to start, and Sasic is hoping for a successful showing for Germany at the tournament as this would likely give women’s football another major boost — and bring broadcasters new record viewership ratings.

This article was originally written in German.

Correction, September 18, 2026: An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of Jule Brand. DW apologizes for the error.