FIFA 16 video game to feature women's teams for the first time

The multi-million selling FIFA video game franchise will feature women's teams in its next version, game makers EA Sports have confirmed.

Women's football has increased in popularity over the past few years with England playing their first match at Wembley last November, selling 55,000 tickets for a friendly match against Germany.

The England women's team arrived in Canada earlier in the week for the Women's World Cup which kicks off on June 6.

The teams set to feature in the new edition of FIFA 16 include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Sweden and USA.

England captain Steph Houghton: "It’s a really exciting year for women’s football with the forthcoming World Cup and to find out we will be included in FIFA for the first time is a special feeling. To be one of the first female players included in the game is something we’ll always be able to look back on and be proud of. Hopefully it will help raise the profile of the women’s game even further. Quite a few of us in the team play FIFA so I’m sure there will be a bit of banter about our ratings and a few extra competitive games while we’re away in Canada... I’m looking forward to scoring as myself for the first time.”

David Rutter, vice president and general manager of EA Sports FIFA, said: “Bringing some of the best women’s players and teams in the world to our franchise is a massive event for EA Sports, and we are equally excited about bringing millions of fans a new way to play. We’re making sure fans get an authentic experience when playing with Women’s National Teams thanks to our innovative player capture and reference tools, as well as the sophisticated gameplay platform which we will continue to innovate on in FIFA 16.”