Women's football across codes: A scoping review of sports science, medicine, and female-health research themes.

OBJECTIVES: To map the quantity, scope, distribution, and research focus of female-specific research across all major football codes (soccer, futsal, Gaelic football, rugby union, sevens and league, Australian rules football, and American football), including sport science and medicine topics, performance-related themes, and female health domains assessed. DESIGN: Scoping review pre-registered with the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/t2gqd/). METHODS: Four databases were searched from inception to April 2025 using female health-related terms combined with football codes. Eligible sources included peer-reviewed research and female-specific National Governing Body (NGB) policy or strategy documents relating to competitive women's football (Tiers 2-5), including recently retired athletes, referees, and/or support staff. Female-specific NGB policy and strategy documents were obtained from governing body websites and through direct correspondence with continental and UK home-nation governing bodies. Pilot title/abstract (κ = 0.58) and full-text (κ = 0.80) screening were completed independently by two reviewers to calculate inter-rater agreement, with full-text then proceeding with single-reviewer screening. Data including population, geography, age group, and themes were synthesised in Excel and visualised in RStudio using multilevel content evaluation. RESULTS: A total of 1425 publications (1385 studies; 40 policy/strategy documents) were included. Soccer dominated (80.6% of sport-category counts), followed by rugby union (4.3%) and Australian football (3.8%). Most involved Tier 3 (45.6%) and senior athletes (≥18 years; 48%). Underrepresented groups included youth (<18 years; 17%), veterans/masters athletes (>35 years; (1%), referees (1.9%), coaches (5.1%), and athletes with a disability (0.1%). Injury was the predominant theme (37.0%), whilst female health areas such as breast (0.5%), pelvic floor (0.5%), and menopause (0.1%) were scarce; menstrual cycle (MC) data were not reported in 69.0% of studies. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence base remains fragmented, injury-focused, soccer-centric, and neglectful of key female health domains. Broader, cross-code, female-centred research agendas and targeted investment are essential to advance equity, performance, and athlete welfare.