Manchester City won the Women’s FA Cup and rounded off the season with a domestic double
Manchester City won the Women’s FA Cup after a convincing 4-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in the final played on May 31, 2026, at Wembley. According to the official report by the English Football Association, in front of 43,917 spectators, the decisive goals were scored by Khadija “Bunny” Shaw in the 38th minute, Alex Greenwood in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time, Aoba Fujino in the 66th minute and Vivianne Miedema in the 87th minute. With that, City, after previously winning the Barclays Women’s Super League title, concluded the season by claiming the two biggest domestic trophies. For the Manchester club, this is the fourth Women’s FA Cup title and the first in this competition since 2020. Brighton, in their first major final, remained without a trophy, but especially in the opening half-hour showed why reaching Wembley was an important step forward for the club.
City broke the final open at the end of the first half
The match did not immediately take the direction that might be inferred from the final score. According to the FA report, Brighton opened the encounter bravely, high up the pitch and with several dangerous entries into the final third. Kiko Seike was one of the most active players in the opening phase, and Fran Kirby had a good opportunity after a break down the right side, but the shot was blocked before it could more seriously threaten Ayaka Yamashita. Soon afterward, Madison Haley also broke through toward City’s penalty area, and after a defensive reaction and a scramble, Marisa Olislagers tried with the outside of her boot. Alex Greenwood then, according to the descriptions by the FA and Manchester City, cleared the ball off the goal line and thereby prevented an early Brighton goal.
Brighton continued to find space between the lines, especially through Kirby and Seike, but did not make use of the period in which they had more energy and a better rhythm. Manchester City gradually stabilized after half an hour, and Chiamaka Nnadozie first saved attempts from Grace Clinton and Shaw. The key moment arrived in the 38th minute, when Greenwood sent in a precise cross from the left side toward the far post. Shaw judged the flight of the ball better than the Brighton goalkeeper and headed in for 1-0. According to Manchester City’s official club report, it was her 27th goal of the season, confirming her status as a player who gives City the finishing touch in the biggest matches, the kind that often decides trophies.
The lead became significantly larger at the end of the first half. Shaw won a free kick on the edge of the penalty area, and Greenwood, in the 45+6th minute, struck a low and precise shot into the corner for 2-0. That goal changed the psychology of the final: Brighton went into the break two goals down even though they had made a very good start to the match, while City cashed in on experience, individual quality and composure in front of the opposing goal. In its analysis of the match, Sky Sports highlighted exactly that difference in finishing, because Brighton created hope of an upset but failed to turn early pressure into a goal. City, by contrast, punished mistakes in a short spell and took control of the scoreline.
Greenwood marked the final at both ends of the pitch
Alex Greenwood was one of the key figures of the final not only because of the free-kick goal, but also because of the way she connected City’s defensive and attacking parts of the game. According to Manchester City, the captain was involved in the decisive moments of the first phase of the match: first she saved a goal on the goal line, then she assisted Shaw for the lead, and afterward scored herself for 2-0. Sky Sports stated that Greenwood took the player of the match award at Wembley, and her performance neatly sums up the character of City’s victory. It was not only about attacking dominance, but about the ability to keep structure during moments of Brighton pressure and prevent a goal that could have sent the match in a different direction.
Greenwood’s role was also important because Brighton, in the first half, tried to stretch play and attack the spaces behind City’s wide players. During that phase, City did not have complete control over playing out from the back line, which coach Andrée Jeglertz later also admitted in comments reported by Sky Sports. He said that his team had problems in build-up play in the first half and did not take up the positions agreed before the match. Still, City simultaneously had players capable of deciding details, and Greenwood made the biggest difference precisely in those details. In finals, such interventions are often worth as much as goals, because they change the rhythm of the match and take away the opponent’s feeling that they are close to a turnaround.
After the break, City looked more secure, and Brighton had to take risks in order to get back into the match. That opened spaces which the Manchester side used more and more easily. In the 66th minute, Aoba Fujino, who had come off the bench, received the ball after a move in which Shaw was again involved and, with a shot that deflected off Maisie Symonds, increased the lead to 3-0. According to Manchester City’s report, Fujino brought additional energy and verticality, and her goal practically closed the final. Brighton continued to attack, but it became increasingly clear that the match was moving into City’s rhythm.
Shaw confirmed her value after the new contract
Khadija “Bunny” Shaw went into the final with additional public attention because it had been confirmed a few days earlier that she was staying at Manchester City. According to the club’s official announcement of May 25, 2026, the Jamaican forward signed a new four-year contract tying her to the club until 2030. In the same announcement, Manchester City recalled that Shaw is a three-time winner of the WSL Golden Boot award, and her numbers from the 2025/26 season had already confirmed before the final how important she is to the team’s attacking identity. The goal at Wembley was therefore not an isolated flash, but a continuation of a season in which she was the central point of City’s finishing.
Sky Sports reported her statement after the match, in which she spoke about “a crazy couple of weeks”, uncertainty over the future, signing the contract and then winning the FA Cup. Shaw stressed that she wanted to correct the experience of her previous appearance at Wembley, when she was left without a trophy, and this time City did exactly that. Her performance was not reduced only to the goal. According to the FA, she won the free kick from which Greenwood scored for 2-0, and in the second half she was also involved in the move for the third goal. Such influence explains why her staying at the club is as important for City in sporting terms as it is symbolically: she is a player who forces defences into constant adjustments and opens space for her teammates.
Shaw’s role was especially visible when Brighton tried to restore the aggressiveness from the start of the match. Every time City managed to find their striker between the centre-backs or at the far post, Brighton’s defence had to react deeper and more cautiously. That enabled City to shift the weight of play more easily and bring bench players into more favourable situations. Laura Blindkilde Brown, according to the FA’s post, praised Shaw as a player the team can rely on and who can create something “out of nothing”. That assessment fitted well with the course of the final, because Brighton had enough play in the first half-hour to dream of an upset, but Shaw was the first to turn a half-chance into a goal.
Fujino and Miedema confirmed the depth of City’s squad
The second half also showed the breadth of the squad City had at its disposal in the closing stage of the season. Fujino came on in the 61st minute and, just five minutes later, scored for 3-0. Vivianne Miedema, also a player from the bench, closed the match in the 87th minute with a header after a cross from Kerstin Casparij. According to Manchester City’s official report, Miedema thus completed her return to action in striking fashion and added extra shine to a victory that had already been secured. Sky Sports also noted that this was Miedema’s first FA Cup win, after she had previously been beaten twice in finals with Arsenal.
City coach Andrée Jeglertz did not focus only on celebration after the match. In comments reported by Sky Sports, he said that the next task is to create a winning culture that will not stop at one league title and one FA Cup. He emphasized that defending a title is harder than winning it and that the team must work even harder in order to maintain the level. Such a tone is not unusual after a season in which City made a major step forward. The FA reported that the club had earlier in May won the English champions’ title for the first time in ten years, and the victory at Wembley gave the season a final frame that will be remembered in club history as one of the most successful.
According to Manchester City, before 2026 the club had won the Women’s FA Cup in 2017, 2019 and 2020. This fourth title comes after a period in which City were often close, but did not regularly turn quality into the biggest trophies. That is why the meaning of the double is broader than the final itself: it confirms that the team has found a balance between high-profile individual qualities, defensive stability and depth from the bench. In the final against Brighton, that was visible in the way players of different profiles scored at different phases of the match. Shaw brought strength and finishing, Greenwood leadership and control, Fujino energy from the bench, and Miedema the final touch of experience.
Brighton without a trophy, but with proof of progress
For Brighton, the 0-4 defeat is a heavy result, but it does not erase the fact that the club reached a major final for the first time. After the match, the FA reported comments from coach Dario Vidošić, who said he was proud of the players despite the disappointment and that he considered the final outcome somewhat unfair in relation to his team’s effort and courage. Vidošić pointed out that not so long ago Brighton could not achieve even a few minutes of dominance against City, while at Wembley they played bravely in the opening phase and caused problems for the champions. He added that the experience of the final should serve as motivation for next season.
Brighton, according to the FA, finished the WSL season in seventh place, and the FA Cup final gave an additional argument that the women’s team project is moving toward greater competitiveness. Fran Kirby, whose experience in major matches was important for Brighton’s preparation for the final, according to Sky Sports said that no one at the start of the season expected the team to reach that position. She also emphasized that the defeat was instructive because it shows the difference in leadership, experience and routine, that is, the elements needed in order to compete regularly with the best clubs. Brighton had periods of play in the final that confirmed the coach’s idea, but they did not have the efficiency that would turn that play into pressure on the scoreboard.
Vidošić, according to the FA, said that he wants to keep as much of the team’s core together as possible so that joint development and cohesion can continue. That is an important emphasis for a club that arrived at Wembley with a lot of positive energy, but also with the clear realization that winning trophies against the strongest opponents requires courage, quality and precision in key moments to come together. Brighton had a first phase in the final in which they were equal, but City showed how top teams survive pressure and punish every weakness. That is precisely why the defeat can have a double meaning: the painful experience of a missed opportunity, but also a measure of the level the club wants to reach.
A final that underlines changes at the top of English women’s football
Manchester City’s victory comes in a season that changed the balance of power at the top of English women’s football. According to the FA and Sky Sports, City had already won the WSL, and the FA Cup title turned the 2025/26 season into confirmation of a complete domestic rise. Chelsea had been the dominant reference point for years, but this season City showed that they can combine long league consistency with performance in a match played for a trophy. That is especially important because cup finals are often decided by different parameters from a league season: short spells of pressure, reactions after mistakes, quality from set pieces and the composure of forwards.
The Wembley final offered exactly that kind of cross-section. Brighton had ambition and courage, while City had finishing and routine. Shaw opened the match at a moment when Brighton were hoping to remain level until halftime, Greenwood doubled the advantage from a set piece, and the bench made the difference even more convincing after the break. For City, it is the end of a season in which trophies were not won only with style, but also with the ability to adapt. For Brighton, it is the beginning of a new level of expectations, because simply taking part in the final showed that the club is no longer merely following events at the top, but is a team that wants to build a path toward constant competitiveness.
The final 4-0 therefore does not say everything about the course of the match, but it clearly speaks about the difference in the decisive moments. Manchester City showed at Wembley why they are champions of England and why they ended the season with two major domestic trophies. Brighton, despite the defeat, showed the foundations on which they can build the next step. The FA Cup ended with City’s celebration, Greenwood’s captain’s performance, Shaw’s new big goal and confirmation that Brighton, after their first major final, can no longer be viewed only through the role of a surprise.
Sources:
- The Football Association – official report of the Women’s FA Cup final between Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion (link)
- Manchester City FC – club match report, scorers, course of the encounter and historical context of winning the FA Cup (link)
- Sky Sports – report from Wembley, match data, statements and player of the match award (link)
- Sky Sports – statements by Andrée Jeglertz and Khadija Shaw after winning the trophy (link)
- The Football Association – statements by Dario Vidošić after Brighton’s defeat in their first FA Cup final (link)
- Manchester City FC – official announcement of Khadija “Bunny” Shaw’s new contract until 2030 (link)