Are football boots manufactured differently size-wise to accommodate boys and girls, men’s and ladies feet? Are there specific boots for Women’s Football? The answer is well yes and no, let us explain…
*Nike launch United Golden Pack in recognition of the 2023 Women’s World Cup success. For more about the pack, click here…
What You’ll Find On This Page:
Top 7 Best Boots For Women
But before we deep dive into those differences, let us give you onset the top 6 boots we can recommend for female players:
The Phantom Luna is a women-led Nike football boot, created to suit the specific anatomy of a female footballer’s foot and prevent injuries. The boot’s ‘Asym Fit’ adapts the shape to the general narrowness of women’s ankles to improve lockdown, while a Cyclone 360 outsole gives the wearer a balance between forward traction and lateral push-off. GX’s Gripknit makes it way to the women’s Phantom as its upper material.
Not only because it has speed boot characteristics such as structured boot shape and snappy outsole, the women’s version of the Puma Ultra is built on women’s last, so that even the base follows the outline and width of a female player’s foot.
3. Puma Future 7 Ultimate Women
Narrowed down to optimally fit women, and still has that adaptive fit and comfort thanks to the Fuzionfit 360 dual mesh upper.
K-Better synthetic upper meant to extract the natural benefits of leather in a more durable material; volume and instep height optimised for women
Because the Mercurial is a relatively narrow boot, Nike implements a size-and-a-half difference between men’s and women’s sizing. So buying a pair sized 1 US men is also purchasing one sized 2.5 US women. You can see this on Nike’s box where it lists the sizes in both genders. Go for the Vapor if you like the low-cut construction instead.
With its thin upper construction and a material with known moulding capabilities, the Copa Pure gives women a leather boot that can truly adapt to their foot shape and fit well. The tongue and laces construction further helps them adjust the fit. And the natural dampening sensation takes the sting out of ball contact.
7. IDA Sports
IDA Sports is a brand that believes there are general anatomical differences between a man and a woman’s foot, and that there boots are designed to cater to these nuances. The one above is their high-cut Rise, but they also have the low-cut Centra and Classic in their offering.
What’s The Difference Between Men’s & Women’s Boots?
Men, in general, have a relatively larger frame than women, and so football boots manufacturers have tended to make the women boots narrower. Women boots have a narrow heel cup relative to their mens counterparts. The forefoot and arch, more often than not, are generally wider and higher in men, while the collar or opening of the boots is commonly narrower for women. Women’s specific boots, however, appear to be made in limited quanities…
The Problem With Finding Women’s Boots
The Big 3 had at some point made their boots specifically for women, which is a great thing, as women’s feet are anatomically different, the problem is the availability of these boots is sporadic! They are often marketed around the Women’s World Cup and then disappearing again…
The big brands somehow differ in the boots they make available. adidas would occasionally bring out a women’s boot release with special soleplates designed specifically for women. Puma, as mentioned above, do create women-specific models for their silos, somehow addressing the gap between men and women boots. What this means is that all things being equal in size, an adidas or Puma boot has an overall smaller built than the silo labelled for men.
Nike, on the other hand, started making their measurements and specifications more universal, and therefore more inclusive, by the summer of 2015. This has been made evident by first making the EU and UK values the same for men and women. US values still have a difference of 1.5 but this is displayed on the box, not only indicating that the built is the same regardless of gender but also confirming that the boots are unisex. This is great to find your size, but not ideal looking for a great fit for your foot as women’s feet tend to be narrower than mens.
Things changed in 2023, when the brand released the Phantom Luna. Marketed as ‘For Her, By Her,’ Nike intended the Luna for addressing the anatomical needs of a female athlete’s feet. Nonetheless, Nike kept the Luna as part of its lineup together with the Mercurials, the GX and the Tiempo, meaning that the boots are not necessarily exclusive for women.
Beside Puma, there is one brand in particular that solely focuses on producing women-specific boots: IDA Sports. Co-founder Laura Youngson led grassroots organisation Equal Playing Field in playing the highest altitude football match that was held on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro to highlight gender inequalities in sports. The physical foot pain the female athletes experienced with their boots may have accidentally proven her point, and led her to partner with former professional cricketer Ben Sandhu to create boots meant for women. The Classica is IDA Sports first-ever product and will surely hold a special place in the company’s history.
Women Boots Releases Over Time
adidas created the first football boots specifically engineered for women with their 1975 adidas Anja, which was rereleased in 2017, and consistent with their focus of designing boots for women had released the ACE and X in 2016 with women’s options; the boots have shorter, smaller studs as well as unique stud configuration to cater to female foot shape and physiology.
In 2017, Nike expanded the accent colours of the Motion Blur collection to become full upper colours, creating the women’s version of the said pack. Headlined by the US Women National Team was 2016 Sparking Brilliance Pack used in the 2016 Olympic games. The Spark Brilliance Pack wrapped the Superfly V, Hypervenom Phantom, and Tiempo Legend 6 in a blue and white colourway representing the colours of the US flag.
Rivalling those in 2016 were the adidas Speed of White Pack, also made for some of the US women football stars at that time. The adidas Speed of White Pack displayed the X16+ Purechaos and the ACE 16+ Purecontrol in a white base with solar red and yellow colours respectively. More recently, in 2019 Nike unveiled the Victory Pack worn for that year’s Women’s FIFA World Cup which was held in France. The Victory Pack included the Mercurial, Phantom Venom, Phantom Vision, and Tiempo in an armoury blue hue with hand-sketched wing graphical print.
Gone are the days where brands just make a pink boot & call it their women’s option, although Megan Rapinoe did get an incredible custom pair from Nike to celebrate here Balon D’Or achievement of 2019. More than looking into equality or political correctness, the matter of men and women football boots, with football being a physical performance endeavour, should take into consideration the comfort, fit and physical attributes of the wearer regardless of sex, and that should allow men to try out women boots and vice-versa if the sizing and looks fit personally to them, some men’s feet may suit women’s boots better and some women may find they prefer men’s boots.
