If you're struggling to find soccer cleats that fit you comfortably while also providing you with the peace of mind that they've been created specifically for women then you're in luck, because we've detailed all of the best soccer cleats for women.
Having the right cleats can make a huge difference to a player's game, from both a performance and safety stand point. That's because women players are more susceptible to injury, which is largely down to manufacturers biasing cleats that are more ergonomically designed for men's feet. There may be a range of best soccer cleats around, but not many will provide a comfortable playing experience for women.
With that in mind, we've taken it upon ourselves at FFT to bring you the best soccer cleats for women on the market...
Quick list
My favorite cleat for women right now is the Nike Women's Mercurial Vapor 16 Elite, with the overall package unbeatable. Nike's thin gripknit upper is fantastic, while the studs feel aggressive and safe at the same time. I love playing in these cleats.
Providing great bite through the stud configuration, the Adidas Women's F50 Elite Mid also has some very good support thanks to the dynamic fit collar. This ensures you constantly feel secure whenever twisting, turning or simply just sprinting after a loose ball.
Nike's one-piece upper on the Women's Phantom GX 2 Elite ensures that there's no extra space in the cleat, keeping your foot locked down at all times. The soleplate pioneered women-specific cleats as well, and remains on the newest version.
Featuring a pure carbon fibre soleplate, the Puma Women's Ultra 5 Carbon are incredibly lightweight and, despite being quite stiff, also provide great comfort and support so that your feet never get tired. The upper is of high quality, too.
Lightweight and thin, the Puma King Ultimate features K-Better, Puma's synthetic alternative to leather. This creates a barefoot feel in the upper, while underfoot the soleplate has been specifically designed for women.
With plenty of space throughout the cleat, the Puma Women's Future 8 Ultimate also conforms to the shape of each foot type thanks to the materials and technology used, making them a great option for players with wide feet.
Best overall
Nike's option when it comes to the best soccer cleats for speed, the Mercurial Vapor 16 Elite offers a low-cut collar of the Nike Mercurial Superfly 10 Elite, with the only real difference being the aesthetic provided by the collar. In my personal opinion, I can't notice a difference between models so I'd recommend the slightly cheaper option.
Boasting a thin gripknit upper in the forefoot, which provides a sticky and close touch on the ball, the Vapors help players who enjoy taking small intricate touches on the ball. Rather than having that super locked-in fit previous models from Nike provided, this time around the upper is very soft, pliable and accommodating to any foot shape, without compromising too much on lockdown.
The heel is made from a thin breathable material called atomknit to enhance comfort and for weight-saving purposes, while the inside of the heel is also slightly padded with a low heel cup to reduce irritation.
What makes these cleats most suitable for women is the outsole. Providing a springy sensation akin to running on clouds, the best way to describe this latest mercurial is that it feels like a running shoe with studs. This provides not only the support women's players need, but also the opportunity to manoeuvre easier thanks to the updated stud pattern.
Best for traction
Made from a thin fibertouch upper, the Adidas Women's F50 Elite Mid offer a lightweight, glove-like fit that provides a responsive experience unlike no other. The mid-top silhouette incorporates an Adidas primeknit fabric panel around the ankle, providing adaptive support and comfort while playing.
Padding in the heel is specifically designed to minimise irritation, ensuring a comfortable experience throughout the match, too. The boot uses a macro-texturing called sprintweb 3 on the upper, enhancing grip on the ball when passing and dribbling.
Underfoot, the sprintframe 360 outsole features a combination of bladed and semi-conicalstuds, optimised for agility and speed in all directions. I found this configuration ensures exceptional traction and stability, providing players with a responsive feel off the ground, while also ensuring safety among women's players who might be more prone to injuries.
Best for lockdown
Featuring the same gripknit upper that makes the Mercurial so great, the Nike Women's Phantom GX 2 Elite feels slightly softer and more pliable with the high tenacity yarns not being quite so thin.
There's great comfort throughout the cleat, with the low recess heel coming with a lot of padding and the cleat itself requiring little to no break-in time whatsoever. Players will similarly have the option of the Luna 2, which has the dynamic fit collar, with the only difference being that the Luna 2 may provide more unibody experience for players - everything else is exactly the same. In terms of touch on the ball, the thin gripknit and 3D texturing will provide players with a grippy, close touch.
What makes these cleats so truly suited to women is the outsole, though. Utilising the cyclone 360 stud configuration, the Phantom GX 2 Elite reduces rotational traction and thus place less stress on the body and ligaments. Although many have questioned this aspect of the cleat, I still think it provides a great level of traction.
Best lightweight
Jam-packed with advanced engineering and technology, the upper of the Puma Women's Ultra 5 Carbon features a lightweight mesh upper with gripcontrol pro skin technology that provides more grip on the ball, while still offering a close feel to the ball with every touch.
In order to prevent your feet from sliding around and stop any unnecessary movements, Puma has also added a nano grip sockliner. This lockdown is also amplified with the pwrtape SQD support frame to help give structure to the cleat, while retaining its incredibly lightweight feel.
The star of the show on this cleat, though, is the outsole, which features the speedsystem carbon outsole - a fullcarbon fibre outsole that provides a more responsive and springy push off when running, while also reducing foot fatigue. Having carefully crafted the instep height and volume of their women's cleats to maximise comfort and performance, Puma has certainly made these cleats perfectly suited for the female player.
Best for versatility
Featuring K-better, the Puma King Ultimate's upper is thinner, lighter, more water resistant, more durable and more stretchy than traditional kangaroo leather - perfect for women's players looking to find the best fit for their new cleats.
The knit lace closure and collar also helps to provide a seamless fit with good lockdown, while the padded heel enhances comfort, too. I did find the King Ultimate fits a little narrow straight out of the box, but once broken in it should conform to the shape of your foot.
With an anatomical soleplate design, these cleats are best-suited to the shape of women's feet, with the conical studs ensuring safety when players are making sharp changes of direction, especially on artificial surfaces. Bladed studs are more likely to get caught in the ground and cause an injury, while conical studs can pivot a lot better around the same position.
Best for wide feet
Built around comfort and performance, the Puma Women's Future 8 Ultimate is made from multiple layers which the brand calls fusionfit 3, providing a fit that adapts to the player’s footshape. This not only makes them one of the best soccer cleats for wide feet, but also one of the best soccer cleats for flat feet, too.
Underneath the upper there are 3D fuzionpods, which also help provide a custom fit and are there to provide a more dampened and cushioned feel when on the ball. Continuing on from the previous generation, the Future 8 features Puma’s pwrtape, a technology that I find does a great job in providing better lockdown on the top of the foot, with it working in the same way as kinesiology tape. To further enhance the lockdown the boots offer, the nano grip sockliner prevents foot slippage.
The upper also has gripcontrol pro, which provides more grip on the ball, though I did find the feel was somewhat dampened by the thicker upper. This is to ensure there's more flexibility in the upper, but that comes at the cost of slightly bulky cleats.
How we test soccer cleats
We put each pair through its paces for several sessions across all surfaces to determine their true level of performance across key factors including comfort, stability, fit and feel. This also allows us to balance them against the claims from brands about new features and technology.
If a brand says that a specific aspect of the soleplate makes twisting and turning easier or a newly-curated material on the upper will provide a better fit, we will test to see how accurate this really is.
Each pair is tested by an expert member of the team who lives and breathes soccer cleats, and are therefore able to cut through the marketing minefield and provide simple yet detailed advice for all players regardless of level.
How to choose the best soccer cleats
The soccer cleat market can be a a minefield at the best of times, as manufacturers throw marketing jargon around championing the latest tech that will supposedly make you ten-times the player you currently are.
But while we'd all love to choose the cleat which looks the best, that's not necessarily always the best option available to us. Choosing the best soccer cleat should focus on how it feels and feels, with the looks coming as a secondary consideration.
Are women's soccer cleats different to men's?
Plain and simply, yes.
Men and women have different body shapes and sizes, meaning that the pressure loads through our feet aren't the same. That means soleplates and stud configurations are altered, because otherwise there is a greater risk of injury.
In addition, the shape of the cleat changes from men's to women's. Generally, a woman's foot arch height is different to a man's, therefore impacting the entirety of the rest of the foot shape. Wider toe boxes are therefore needed to support this, meaning there are lots of subtle changes in a woman's cleat compared to a man's cleat that isn't necessarily noticeable at first glance.
Can women wear men's soccer cleats?
We wouldn't advise women to wear men's soccer cleats, because the way they are designed is completely different. This is because men's and women's feet ergonomically aren't the same, so how they sit in the cleat is affected. There's a greater risk of injury as a result, while it's likely they'll cause discomfort regardless.
In the past, women didn't have any option but to wear men's cleats, but there are an increasing number of options available to women on the market now. How women move compared to men is different, and these anatomical changes are now being incorporated into cleats to ensure the safety of players.
Getting the right fit
We would always recommend trying a pair before buying because making sure your cleats are the perfect length and width is key.
Try before you buy is FFT's motto. We'd always recommend you try on a pair of cleats to make sure they fit correctly before parting with your money, because sizing often varies between brands - and even across models. That means you could be a size 8 in a Nike cleat, but a 8.5 when it comes to Puma.
On top of that, some cleats are much narrower than others, so foot shape certainly needs to come into your consideration, too. This is especially important if considering a pair of laceless cleats as the lack of laces means there is very little adaptability – they will either work for your feet or they won’t.
