A historic year with record attendance in Australia and New Zealand and evidence that a brave new era has begun
In a year where actions of the disgraced former president of the Spanish Royal Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, and, more recently, Joey Barton’s sexist rampage have dominated headlines, you could be forgiven for thinking 2023 was a year of setbacks for women’s football and women in football. Yet those incidents, and others, have only looked more ludicrous when contrasted with a Women’s World Cup that captured hearts and generated the second-highest income for any global sporting event – behind the men’s World Cup.
Ian Wright said it best before the final of the women’s Euros in 2022, in his characteristically passionate and charming way: “We don’t need to worry about the dinosaurs. I saw someone say something about the dinosaurs screaming at the meteor. I love it – that’s what those negative people are. See how many millions of people have been watching these women play – there’s people out there for this game.”
The other people who are there for this game?Well, there was a peak audience of 12 million people who watched the Women’s World Cup final between England and Spain on BBC One, and an additional 3. 9 million people on iPlayer and the BBC Sport online page and app. In Spain, RTVE’s main channel, La 1, recorded a peak audience of 7. 38 million viewers, an audience share of 71. 1%. Surprisingly, another 53. 9 million people in China watched the country lose 6-1 to England in their last match of hosting, while viewership at the tournament co-hosted Australia peaked at 11. 15 million following their semi-final loss to England. Meanwhile, total in-person attendance was 1,978,274 across the 64 matches played in 10 stadiums in Australia and New Zealand.
However, the figures don’t tell the full story, as they don’t capture the extent to which the tournament has infiltrated Australia’s consciousness for just over four weeks. It was a superior and global point, far from the indifference found by the fans. Then you felt like you were part of a secret society, traversing cities undetected, to the stadiums that the locals thought they had. Finished for the summer. In Australia, host cities hummed to the rhythm of the tournament: street vendors asked for tickets, workplace staff added green and yellow scarves to their suits, taxi drivers chatted excitedly about Sam Kerr’s hamstrings, and there was advertising and merchandise everywhere.
Then there’s football, with Spain leading the way, fighting for a first senior foreign trophy against a backdrop of internal turmoil that will become the centre of attention after their triumph. For Australia, Kerr’s fine solo goal against England was a catharsis after being without their talismanic striker for much of the campaign. The Lionesses would score twice more after Kerr equalised to overwhelm the hosts and set up for a first World Cup final, despite the absence of European Championship captain Leah Williamson. Beth Mead, winner of the European Championship Golden Boot, and the influential number 10 Fran Kirby.
The Morocco defender Nouhaila Benzina became the first woman to wear a hijab in a match at the World Cup as the debutants made the last 16. Then there was the outstanding arrival on the world stage of Colombia’s 18-year-old Linda Caicedo who, days after collapsing in training, scored the first goal in a 2-1 shock victory over Germany as her team worked their way into the knockout rounds. Add the stunning form of Japan until they were halted by Sweden at the quarter-final stage and there was some sumptuous football played.
We will keep the controversies about the ‘mafiosi’ but, realistically, the ‘bad guys’ and ‘the mafiosi’ can merge into a giant segment that tears Rubiales, FIFA and many national federations apart for their remedy to the groups and players in and around the tournament. However, this would not allow us to communicate the “bad guys” on the ground. . . And there were many.
Germany were among the favourites of the tournament and it looked like they would not escape an organisation that included Colombia, Morocco and South Korea. It looked even more so after starting with a 6-0 win over Morocco. However, the loss to Colombia and then the 1-1 draw against South Korea saw the Euro 2022 finalists finish third in Group H. Head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg was fired 3 months later after signing a new contract at the beginning of the year.
Another big stir came in the round of 16, with Sweden notching a penalty shootout victory over defending champions and four-time winners USA. 2019 World Cup Golden Boot winner, Ballon d’Or and Ballon d’Or winner Megan Rapinoe missed a penalty, which she called a “black comedy. “His penalty, one of three missed in the U. S. Rapinoe’s last action for her team in a primary tournament, as the forward had announced in the past her goal of retiring. Very much a savior of her team, as she was in 2019, where her two goals helped the United States beat France and qualify for the final, her World Cup ended in tears. It was a similar story for two other football greats, the Canadian. Christine Sinclair, the international with the most caps in the world, and Brazil’s Marta, who was also eliminated at the organizational level in her last World Cup.
There were so many terrible things surrounding the Women’s World Cup, which made the successes of the tournament all the more impressive. This was evident even before he kicked the ball, as groups protested against inequality, injustice, unpaid wages, and poor conditions. During the tournament, Canadian players threatened to strike over what they perceived as discriminatory treatment, Zambia fought (and continues to fight) against the non-payment of salaries and bonuses, South African players boycotted a pre-tournament friendly due to unpaid bonuses, English players called the FA After negotiations on performance-linked bonuses failed, Nigeria threatened to boycott their first match of the tournament due to unpaid bonuses and then spoke about the terms of their campaign, adding the fact of sharing a bed and 4 days into the tournament. Australia’s players have claimed rewards equivalent to those of the men’s World Cup.
Undoubtedly, these issues have hindered the teams’ ability to perform at their best. Given how impressive football has been despite those difficulties, the clever thing is that it shows that the progression of this game is far from having reached its peak, where players have everything they need, materially and ecologically.
There was also the pre-tournament armband fiasco, when FIFA made the decision to prevent organizations from dressing up with the OneLove organization designed to help the LGBTQ community. With the rainbow armband banned and England considering wearing the OneLove option in Australia, FIFA has stepped in by creating armbands that help 8 issues to mitigate the expected effect and give countries a way to avoid it.
Rubiales. Need we say more? The actions of the then RFEF president after Spain’s win over England in the final overshadowed his team’s historic and heroic victory. He was shown grabbing his crotch in celebration, kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips, behaving inappropriately with other players and lifting Athenea del Castillo over his shoulder, and his actions reflected the macho culture that Spain’s players have been battling for decades. That it took Rubiales’s actions being broadcast around the world for the players to be believed and understood after decades of protest about the culture around the team, including 15 players withdrawing from selection to protect their mental and physical health after their exit from the Euros in 2022, is truly damning. There are positives, in that Rubiales has been banned from football for three years, the manager Jorge Vilda has been removed and the players have felt their power.
There is no sign that progress at the World Cup, or women’s football in general, is slowing down. When the groups arrive on the stage in 2027, the prizes will be equivalent to those of the men’s edition in 2026. FIFA Now we have to make sure that the proportion of this money allocated to the players reaches them and is not withheld through the associations. We will also need to make sure that players’ voices are heard, that the reporting mechanisms at home and abroad are robust. and that education be provided across world football on what is and isn’t appropriate behaviour. It would also be great to know where the World Cup will take place. We know where the 2026, 2030 and 2034 men’s World Cups will take place; It is frankly ridiculous that we are still waiting for the announcement of the hosts of the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
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