Nadine Noordam Sends Brighton Into Fa Cup Final 2026
Brighton reached their first fa cup final 2026 on Sunday, and Nadine Noordam settled it in the 95th minute after the women’s side came back from a two-goal deficit to beat Liverpool. The club is now heading to Wembley for the first time in its history, with one more league match still carrying a chance to finish on a club-best points total.
Noordam Delivers Against Liverpool
Brighton were 2-0 down in the semi-final before turning the game around and finishing with a five-goal thriller at Liverpool. Noordam, a midfielder, scored the winner deep into stoppage time, and the result sent Brighton into the final for the first time.
Dario Vidosic called the second-half display “It was a joy to watch” and added, “We created so many chances. We were dominant, we were calm on the ball, we were moving it around and we made it very, very tough for Liverpool.”
Brighton’s Seven-Game Run
The semi-final win extended Brighton’s unbeaten run to seven games. During that stretch, they have beaten Arsenal and Manchester City and drawn with Arsenal and Manchester United, a sequence that has lifted the level of their late-season form.
The FA Cup path also shows how the run has been built. Brighton started with a 2-0 home victory over Nottingham Forest in January’s fourth round, then beat West Ham, Arsenal and Liverpool in three consecutive rounds against top-flight opposition.
Vidosic’s Brighton Plan
Brighton set out a bold vision in 2022 to become a top-four WSL club, and Vidosic said last summer that he wanted to “challenge the establishment,” win a trophy and be “the best of the best.” This season has pushed them close to another marker as well: a fifth-placed league finish and a second consecutive top-half WSL finish.
Fran Kirby, who returned from injury at the end of February, has been among the players excelling in recent weeks alongside Kiko Seike and Madison Haley. Kirby said, “The culture in the group is incredible. Everyone wants to work for each other, everyone is willing to do the graft and I think that’s one of the reasons why we’ve had such a successful end to the season, in terms of our performances. The girls are great. It’s just a really nice group of people to be a part of.”
Brighton can still finish with the club’s highest points tally of 29 if they beat Tottenham on Saturday. The cup final gives them Wembley, and the league finale gives them one more chance to put a number on how far the project has moved since 2022.
