Women's World Cup 2023

New Zealand stunned Norway in the kickoff game to win their first ever World cup match (Men's or Women's) Over 42,000 in attendance to smash the NZ record soccer record. This tournament is already off to a flying start!

Australia vs Ireland is up next. Sam Kerr is out at least the first two matches for Australia. Ireland is making its debut

Looks like over 80,000 in attendance for the AUS/IRL match

I'll be heading to a couple of games next week, looking forward to it, though it's not really being talked about much here in Wellington. Hopefully there will be a decent amount of supporters for the teams.

The winning NZ goal was scored by a sporty dyke, Hannah Wilkinson. Why are lezzies so good at sport?

Right after halftime Co-Host Australia takes the lead on a penalty

Ireland pushing hard for that equalizer

Australia just barely holds on and wins 1-0. Both host nations have won their first match.

Canada vs Nigeria is on right now

Well, they ain't playing in Florida. You all know why....wink, wink.

Great stop by the Nigerian GK. Canada with a lot more opportunities, too bad Fleming is out for this game.

overall Canada have more of a game plan, but Nigeria got a few good looks in. Either team could've won the game.

Switzerland takes a one goal lead right at halftime over the Philippines. Bachmann scores the penalty.

Spain was absolutely dominant in possesion and chances created but only scored 3 times in 45!!!! shots. Still, they look good

USA play their first game later on tonight

USA did not look convincing with their finishing but were never in danger of losing to Vietnam. 3-0 final

The overnight schedule of games will be Japan vs Zambia, England vs Haiti and Denmark vs China. I don't think people should be sleeping on Japan this tournament

So far Japan has looked like the best team in the tournament. Followed by USA and Spain. England was lucky to come away with a win. Cant wait to see what Germany and France bring.

wow. The women's game has come so far in regards to parity. No blowout games other than Japan. The Netherlands beat Portugal 1-0, France and Jamaica ended in a scoreless draw and Sweden beat South Africa 2-1 at the very end.

All WCs should be played in the southern hemisphere because cooler weather makes for better football and safer conditions.

Brazil is on against Panamá tomorrow.

Come on, equipe brasileira!

R20 hope they can do what the Argentine men did. Win it for their aging superstar

Brazil and Germany are looking good

Spain liked damn good today. Spain and Japan are the first teams to clinch a spot in the next round

Whew! The USA v Netherlands game was tense! 1-1 draw. The Netherlands bossed the first half but USA came back strong in the second

Julie Ertz, yum!

Yes to R25.

[quote] Whew! The USA v Netherlands game was tense! 1-1 draw. The Netherlands bossed the first half but USA came back strong in the second

Whew is right! It might have been the orange uniforms (which are brighter/more eye-catching)...but geez! In the first half, it felt/looked like the Netherlands more players on the pitch than team USA.

^^ HAD more players....

R25: Julie Ertz saved our bacon in the second half with that deflection!! Naheer wasn't getting to that shot on goal.

I very much enjoyed the jawing between Horan and Van de Donk (great/hilarious name). Horan wasn't having any of that shit, even if they are friends & teammates with Lyon! Horan putting the ball in the net immediately afterward was SA-WEET!

If you like footie/soccer maybe check out South Africa v Argentina on FS1. Sure its not Messi but its a fun watch and the women are bringing it.

Lynn Williams should have been brought on for Rodman around the 65th minute. Really don't like the game management of the US. They should have come away with a win.

R30 That first Argentina goal was a banger! Argentina loves a comeback

OMG. Argentina.

Lauren James!!

r32 That was a Zidane like goal from outside the box.

The Frogesses pull off an impressive victory against Brazil...capped off by a top notch goal by Wendie Renard. The US will likely play one of these two teams in the round of 16.

there are at least 6 teams who could win it all without it being a shock. USA, Brazil, Germany, Spain, France, Japan

wow. Morocco with their first ever win. First ever Arab nation to qualify for a Women's World Cup. Featuring the first ever player to wear a hijab in a World Cup. They actually have a chance to advance out of their group with their final match vs Columbia

All teams are still alive in Group A. They are kicking off their final matches simultaneously in minutes. Switzerland v New zealand and Norway vs Philippines

The Philippines made their World Cup debut the other day and scored their first win, against New Zealand. Let's see how they do against Norway.

On paper Norway should crush them, but they have been abysmal in recent tournaments.

Columbia! CAICEDO!

What a disappointing loss for the Germans.

#18 on the Columbian team, What a goal! Atta girl!!

Caicedo is amazing and her story is wild. she signed her first professional contract at 14. At 15 she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and underwent chemotherapy. Now she plays for Real Madrid and has won player of the match awards in her first two World Cup starts. Incredible.

Yay Colombia!

This Spain/Japan match is fun! Both are so good on the ball.

Wow! Spain trying a million of these short intricate passes then Japan just smoking them on the counter attack

Japan, again!!

Spains coach might actually lose his position after this. Their whole philosophy is not working

anyone else a tad bit worried that portugal might upset the usa and knock us out in the group stage?

should be pointed out that one of the worlds best centerbacks is not playing in this tournament for Spain as protest for the Federation keeping their current coach. They could really use her now

I don't pretend to know much about international women's soccer (although I do enjoy watching it!), but if we're talking about an "eye test"....having watched this first half of Japan/Spain, and the US' matches....I don't like the US' chances of beating Japan, down the road (should they beat Portugal).

Wow....Japan is just embarrassing Spain!

Go Australia!

Canada was embarrassing. Fire the coach! Sinclair is done

Canada played like trash

Anything can happen R51 but I’m pretty confident USA will take care of business tonight! Portugal doesn’t look good at all.

The USA should win but i'm nervous about the match. They really need to win and run up the score to avoid facing Sweden in the round of 16

Lynn Williams and Rose Lavell will start!

wow. USA not looking good at all in the early going

Netherlands is running up the score against Vietnam. The most the US can realistically hope for is to avoid elimination tonight and finish second in the group.

This US team can not win the championship.

US fans in Australia booing the team at half time

We're in NZ at the moment. I must say USA looks rather dull on and off the field. M Rapinoe looks like she's just going thru' the motions till she retires.

This is being perfectly set up for a late Portugal winner

Acccckkkk! Don’t say that R66!!

Just hold on for seven minutes USA!

Thank you post!

omg.

Just play keep away for the next few minutes!

Vlatko is a horrible coach. Totally outmanaged today. Portugal deserved to win.

putting aside the United States, it is very exciting to see teams like Portugal and Columbia and Argentina, stepping up and doing better. We have said for years that the rest of the world is catching up to the United States and now they are eclipsing them. The fundamentals and the infrastructure and the COACHING and the skills are increasing everywhere but in the US

The expression on the players faces after this game is telling. they look like they lost

Should be pointed out that Portugal has gotten much better. Netherlands only beat them 1-0 and they drew 0-0 against England last month.

Next up is England vs China

Its not the coach, its the players. They didnt want to be pushed. They wanted to be treated with kid gloves. What we are seeing on the pitch is the result. This team needs to have their asses chewed out. They need to play with a sense of urgency.

England FTW

We don’t have to endure the USA overcelebrating every goal and general bad sportsmanship when they don’t score and they don’t win. Silver linings.

Rooting very hard against the arrogant, entitled American team.

[quote]The expression on the players faces after this game is telling. they look like they lost

Kelley O'Hara's facial expressions said that. Not so sure about the rest of them.

The US women were celebrating, dancing, taking photos with fans. They were nowhere as sad like r74 said

Possibly Marta's last World Cup match

R82 as soon as the final whistle blew and in the post match huddle Alex Morgan looked like she was close to tears and everyone looked somber. But right after that, they were getting hyped up and celebrating. It was a bad look.

r82 That was a schizoid response because their performance was poor in every way.

Ertz looked so down. Immediately after the match she had her head down. I was shocked to see them later celebrating. It did seem a bit forced

I can't disparage the taking photos/selfies with fans part. (or smiling during said photos). I mean, presumably those fans travelled a great distance to watch US compete in the World Cup & support them? (although I suppose there might be some living in Australia). Smiling with fans for photos IS part of the gig of any professional athlete. It's the fucking stupid little dance that several players participated in, post-match, that's objectionable given how shitty they played.

Rapinoe has become insufferable

^ wish she'd just piss off into obscurity.

Rapinoe made a few really ill-advised cross-pitch passes last night -- I was holding my head, yelling, "WHAT is she doing?!!" Portugal should have picked-off at least two of them (they just hung in the air!) for a legitimate scoring opportunity.

Am attending the France vs Panama match. Sexy Coach Hervé Renard appears frequently on the big screen.

And Freed From Desire plays every 5 minutes.

wow. Brazil is on the cusp of being eliminated in group play

The Brazil v Jamaica match was amazing. Even though Panama is losing they didnt quit after going down 5-1. Our American girls could learn a thing about passion and pride from both of them.

The almost entirely French-supporting Australian crowd loved the spirit of the Panama team. They were very much outmatched but put on a great effort and did themselves proud.

[quote] as soon as the final whistle blew and in the post match huddle Alex Morgan looked like she was close to tears and everyone looked somber. But right after that, they were getting hyped up and celebrating. It was a bad look.

You know who behaved like this? The Brazilian men in 2014. And everyone knows what happened next.

As a person with Panamanian roots, I knew overcoming France would be a Herculean effort, but so proud of them! Congrats on their first 3(!) goals in their World Cup history.

I know there was a bunch of bemoaning the expansion from 24 teams to 32, but it was the right call. I’ve been really impressed by the competitiveness of the majority of the games I’ve watched.

Nu, heja Sverige!!

Expanding the tournament was fantastic! so many competitive matches and great new talents

That first Panama goal was stunning

It was beautiful. My vote for goal of the tournament so far.

Worth watching from every angle!

OMG! What is happening in Group H?!?

Amazing! Morocco wins and advances! Colombia wins the group, Germany eliminated! Absolute chaos

If the German men are the Mannschaft, are the women the Vrouwschaft?

No one likes the American women.

Hopefully, it ends for them on Sun.

R105 because it was at 3 am! Their viewership has actually been up 11% higher than ever before up to this point. The games that were played at 9pm had massive audiences.

R105 that article actually points out that the 3 am game broke a record for biggest audience ever for FOX overnight programming.

Round of 16 kicks off in two hours with Switzerland vs Spain. I'm ready!

Spain is putting on a clinic

I'm calling Japan as the winner. They look very strong. The US looked better against Vietnam, but if you can't look good against Vietnam, then you have a lot of work to do. This next match against (I think) Sweden will be the real test.

The US will lose against Sweden, and deservedly so. This US team is a big embarrassment.

I hesitated to say anything, but I agree with you, R112. The passing is awful. Horan is going to get red carded if she doesn't stop acting a fool. Rapinoe is a, to use a term that was coined here, prancing pony. She finally had some good balls into the middle in the last match, but I can't abide the grandstanding.

Hopefully, the Americans will be going home tomorrow.

So there was no hullabaloo about how those cunts from Spain and Netherlands mocked the Haka dance?

Fucking bitches.

Women can be assholes just as men can, but they are rarely called out.

R116

Spain and Japan both looked fantastic in their last match. Netherlands did enough but weren't really convincing.

The Haka dance is ridiculous. If an opponent did that in front of me, I would laugh.

Holy shit...Penalty kicks. It's 4:30 am in Los Angeles, I've been up all night watching this thing.

OH MY LORD!

Jesus fucking christ....

Commiserations R120 but the rest of the world was cheering Sweden on.

Japan will be incredibly pleased watching this.

The U.S. got their asses handed to them and they deserved it. Never thought I’d cheer against my own team but I’m glad they’re out. They e been embarrassing and obnoxious. Next time ladies, remember who you’re representing .

R124 = Alexi Lalas

r124 is also right. Their mentality was terrible and they werent ready to play in a competition at this level. They were more interested in their social justice causes than winning. And the manager had better not yell at their fragile asses!

OMG, NOW where will Megan Rapinoe find a camera to fist-pump & pose in front of?!? She may literally die if several cameras can’t snap her with agape mouth and gloating face!!! #SaveMegan

r127 Megan with that big shit eating grin on her face after missing her PK was disgusting. At least act like you care.

I can understand Rapinoe's immediate reaction to missing the penalty. She'd just watched the Swedish player hit the ball over the bar and did exactly the same thing.

But her reaction after the final whistle was bizarre. Some US players in tears at losing but Rapinoe looked like she was forcing herself to cry. She didn't feel anything because she's insulated from it.

She was included in the squad for her experience and to come on as an impact player but it would have served the team well to leave her out.

Well said r129.

Everybody stand.

BWAAAAH. Overconfident, entitled losers.

Ha ha. I've never rooted more against my own country than with this arrogant and disrespectful US squad. Time to clean house, starting with Rapinoe.

Of the teams that have won the World Cup previously, only Japan remain with USA and Norway knocked out in the last 16 and Germany exiting in the group stages.

Of the teams that have been beaten finalists, Sweden and Netherlands remain with Brazil and China exiting in the group stages.

Of the teams who have made the semi finals previously only England and France remain with Canada exiting in the group stages.

My predictions for the remaining matches:

Spain beat Netherlands in QFs, Japan beat Sweden in QFs, Japan beat Spain to make the finals

Australia beat Denmark, France beat Morocco, France beat Australia in QFs

England beat Nigeria, Columbia beat Jamaica, England beat Columbia in QFs

England beat France to make the finals

So many upsets this World Cup. It’s so good to have the teams more even as well. Just a few scoring blowouts but all decent games. Good to see huge crowds at every game as well, Aussies and Kiwis love their sport.

A couple thoughts from a USA fan -The group stage was awful, we had no strategy or tactics -Vlatko was out managed. No Sanchez, no Mewis, no Cook, no Thompson. He needs to be fired tomorrow. - They massively improved in the Sweden game, they were the better side - Penalties are so cruel, especially this shoot out - Injuries really hurt us - Girma is an amazing talent and will be for a long time - We will come back stronger - The rest of the World cup will be so much fun to watch now. With a bunch of entertaining teams and players - Japan have to be the favorites now but England Spain and France all looked great, Australia has home field advantage. And I'm sure we'll see a couple big upsets. LFG!!!

R38, R42, R73, R134

Columbia is not a country. It's spelled COLOMBIA

Oh yes it is Colombia

The US has been dominant for 25 years in international play. As part of that dominance, they have increased the audience for women's football by an almost unfathomable margin. They have fought for better pay and better conditions. They have increased the profile of the men's game in the USA. they have inspired other nations to invest in the women's game and other nations are now living up to that investment. The women's game as a whole has improved dramatically thanks in no small part to the USA teams. They had a bad tournament and they will work on fixing it , but to pretend that this is some kind of irredeemable and moral failure of the players and the organization is silly hyperbole. they are still an elite team and will be for generations to come. They are no longer the only team in town, though, and soccer fans can celebrate that. It's the casual observers who are the most opinionated today.

r139 Incorrect. Team USA is lagging behind in training facilities and player development in relation to other nations with strong mens leagues and world class facilities. Our method of player development depending on colleges is no longer good enough. This regression is down the line with our u/ sides. The players whined their way into the hiring of a weak coach because they didnt want to be pushed. They seem to be embarrassed to be American during the anthems. They have had nothing to do with the growth of the mens game in the USA, look at the difference in attendance between the leagues. They are going to have to find millions to increase the infrastructure of the womans game. They are going to have to agree to be pushed and understand that no national team position is a safe one. They are supposed to be professionals.

It doesn't matter if they had a good tournament or not, their attitude and behavior were disgraceful. Entitled, cocky, condescending, and now, losing.

R139 is correct on many things.

The USA's dominance has had a huge impact on European teams in particular. Players don't want to come to the US leagues to play, however, but that's the same with the men. The US is a destination for players wanting to wind down after ending their competitive careers.

The women's team under Rapinoe has become overtly politicised though. Equal pay with men for representing your country is absolutely right. But the national anthem decision was a mistake, and it felt like a snub to their supporters. England men's team were booed by the their own supporters for kneeling for a brief period before kick off but they sang the national anthem.

As for Rapinoe, she went from a showman to a braggard, and a dull braggard at that, but she remains one of the most decorated female football players in history. But this taken from Benny Johnson is HILARIOUS. Free kick? 16th round??

The US didn't win a world cup between 1999 and 2015, so all this talk of how the world has finally caught up to them is wrong. The world caught up to them in the 2000s and then fell back again. Nobody is at the top forever.

With all the criticism of the team as "woke," many members of the team hated lesbian Jill Ellis because she wasn't a player's coach, was "toxic" etc., - meaning she held them to a higher standard. But they all love straight, white guy Vlatko because he enforced nothing and let the major egos on the team run the show.

The USA had more individual talent of any other country (except the refusal to uses subs suggests Vlatko didn't really understand this). Yet the team didn't play well collectively and didn't play with much passion or fire. The stone faces and disinterested mood during the anthem, while all other countries passionately or proudly sung their anthem, set a bad tone for the team. That was a leadership failure and when the team's leader - Rapinoe - is instigating all of it then it is really bad.

AWWWWWW.

[quote]The US didn't win a world cup between 1999 and 2015, so all this talk of how the world has finally caught up to them is wrong.

This is the 9th women's world cup. Before this tournament the US women had never finished lower than third.

WINNER - THIRD - WIN - THIRD - THIRD - RUNNER UP - WINNER - WINNER

And there's the last 7 Olympic Games

GOLD - SILVER - GOLD - GOLD - GOLD - NOTHJING - BRONZE

And in CONCACAF they won 9 out of the 10 tournaments they played in.

USA have dominated women's international football. People weren't supporting Sweden today because of ABBA, Freddie Ljungberg or IKEA, they were supporting whoever could beat USA.

"Conservatives" are celebrating the missed Rapinoe kick, which means they have something in common with DLers.

r146 Rapinoe seemed to enjoy her miss too if that big shit-eating grin she was sporting meant anything.

[quote] They have increased the profile of the men's game in the USA.

Not as much as me.

Sweden's players stood up for the USA team after the match. they are well aware of the backlash that the team is getting and they specifically mentioned the veterans on the US team as role models and praised their activism off the pitch. Conservatives are celebrating this loss but have failed to notice that the Swedish team is equally as "woke" they recenytly achieved equal pay with the men's team and have spoken out loudly about homophobia and racism. In fact, Sweden has more out lesbians on their team than any other nation in the world cup. Their captain after the match, said "don't talk shit about the U.S. Women"

Well, at least the Swedish lesbians are pretty. Rapinoe is fugly.

Didn't Sweden also beat the U.S. at the Olympic Games in a shock loss?

Yes, they did. Canada eneded up winning the whole thing.

lol. Andrew Tate wishes he could be as misogynistic as half of the people on this site.

Top five teams most likely to win the championship for me are 1. Japan 2. England 3. Spain 4. France 5. Australia

i've discovered that it is far better to enjoy being a fan of an artist, or musician, or actor or athlete than it is to interact with the fandom. They are truly unhinged people who have made loving or hating this team a part of their identity.

I hope Japan wins!

Rooting for Japan as well.

[quote] Conservatives are celebrating this loss but have failed to notice that the Swedish team is equally as "woke" they recenytly achieved equal pay with the men's team and have spoken out loudly about homophobia and racism.

You really don’t see why Americans would be drawn into discussion about the views of a USA national team instead of the views of a foreign team?

Cheers to Sweden!

Are all the American women footballers lesbian?

R160 I don't even think a majority of them are on the current squad. A few of them have famous husbands who are also athletes. Julie Ertz, Alex Morgan, Sophie Smith, Lindsey Horan, Crystal Dunn, Lynn Williams etc. i've heard Trinity Rodman make a reference to her boyfriend. One of the ongoing jokes on Twitter this tournament has been that we don't have a lot of angry lesbians on the field and that's why we didn't do well.

The US had useless Rapinoe.

Almost time for England and Nigeria!

Nigeria are giving it some!

Nigeria's right back Ashleigh Plumptre is English and previously represented England but qualifies for Nigeria through a grand parent.

You can’t win without gay players. So says Rapinoe. I tend to agree with her.

[quote]You can’t win without gay players. So says Rapinoe.

Why is she so obsessed about it?

Because she's ceased being a soccer player and turned into an embarrassment.

The player who scored the winning penalty for Sweden, Lina Hurtig, is a lesbian, and a very cute one.

JFC. That article was from 2019. Trump was President and Republicans were planning and implementing their assault on women's rights and gay rights. Rapinoe did nothing wrong back then and was right to refuse to meet Trump.

I can't get mad at Rapinoe for refusing to meet Trump when England's Jordan Henderson made a big deal about his support for gay rights and then signed a multi million deal to leave Liverpool to go to Saudi Arabia.

I posted further up the thread that Rapinoe was a showman who became a braggart, but male players have been behaving like that for years. Her attitude to trans inclusion is incredibly hypocritical and the politics have now taken attention away from the football. But as a footballer she will be remembered as one of the greatest. Very unlikeable, but a great footballer.

Ashleigh Plumtree has a look of Lea Michele

Nigeria's goal keeper is having a helluva game!!!

Oh my England

The goalkeeping in the women's game has gotten much better over the last few years

C'mon Nigeria, finish them in extra time! I can't do another all-nighter.

This Nigeria team is so impressive, especially after considering what their federation is putting them through. They don't even have opposition scouts

Naomi Osaka definitely needed to ve kicked out for stepping on her opponent's butt that was very unsportsmanlike. Gross display

I don't think James will be allowed to play again in this tournament if England advances

Oshoala! I just love her play.

Naomi/Lauren's brother Reece has some ugly tattoos.

R177, a red card for violent conduct is usually a 3 game ban, so yes it would rule her out of the QF, SF and F if England progress.

R177 you didn't say

R149 who are the lesbians on the Swedish team? It's only the twink looking one that took the final shot who looked like a lezzy to me

Of course they deserve to be terashed. So much high expectations yet results were so poor.

Arrogant and obnoxious

Here's hoping the US also crashes and burns at the Paris Olympics.

R181 Caroline Seger and Magdalena Eriksson are also out lesbians.

Penalties!

As a nervous England supporters I'm going to be screaming MARY! at my tv.

COME ON EARPS (even if you do play for United)

R181 Filippa Angeldahl, Hanna Bennison, Nathalie Björn, Magdalena Eriksson, Jennifer Falk, Lina Hurtig, Caroline Seger, Linda Sembrant are all publicly out

RAPINOE

RAPINOE

GOAL!

RAPINOE

Gutted for Nigeria, they outplayed England most of the match

Agreed, R189...I was rooting for them as the underdogs.

I'm glad Sarina Weigman is advancing. I'm a fan of hers

I wish Emma Hayes wanted to coach the USWNT

Foord!!!!

Fantastic result for Australia.

Lauren James was trending on Twitter earlier but most of the comments were from Nigerians, some humorous but some decidedly racist, with some accounts calling her a slave, based on her father being of Grenadian heritage.

Thinking about the difference in the how Sweden and England reacted to their winning penalties. The Swedish player ran off and was joined by the rest of the team, whereas England's Chloe Kelly and 2 other England players went to console the Nigerian keeper Chiamaka Nnadozie and shielded Nnadozie from the cameraman trying to get a close up of her despair.

Sweden beat the best in the world and the current holders, and didn't need to console them. England were lucky to beat Nigeria who outplayed them for most of the game.

I think it's more that modern English people are more humble than Americans. (Which is not always a good thing - Americans know the value of thinking that they're the best and going for the win always.)

The actual difference, r194, is that England were favourites to win their match whereas the Americans were favourites to win the US-Sweden match. For England, it was a sense of relief that they eventually managed to pull through, when they nearly didn't, while for the Swedes it was a pleasant surprise.

Nnadozie was also in tears, whereas the US goalie, Alyssa Naeher, had sneakily tried to pretend she didn't see Hurtig's goal go over the line and started celebrating as though the US had won. Naeher scored a great penalty, though, so I'll give her that.

[quote] Lauren James was trending on Twitter earlier but most of the comments were from Nigerians, some humorous but some decidedly racist, with some accounts calling her a slave, based on her father being of Grenadian heritage.

Africans talking shit about Caribbean and ADOS people all the time.

r196 Naeher didnt try to pretend anything. It wasnt clear whether the ball had crossed the line until VAR and it crossed by about a mm. She couldnt possibly have known whether it crossed or not.

r195 English people more humble than Americans? Not in sport. English club fans chant awful things at each other. They have to be segregated from one another in the stands because a riot might break out. We Americans are far from perfect but we havent reached that level of vileness just yet.

R198 What I'm talking about isn't about chanting. It's about confidence and arrogance. Modern English people have a lot less of that than Americans. I read Alex Scott's autobiography recently and she talked about the difference between U.S. culture and the U.K. this way. Being proud of winning, proud of succeeding, shutting out anything else, etc.

r199 That isnt because of culture. Its because England has a history of choking in major tournaments and disappointment at the international level. You understand also that that is Alexs opinion and based of the womans game. 'Being proud of winning, proud of succeeding, shutting out anything else, etc.' is clearly evident in the EPL and is a necessary condition to win. Its a universal human trait.

European champions England.

R198, the whole ball was behind the line. The US side tried to claim it was just by a millimetre, but it was very clearly over the line. I'll post a pic from the DM below that shows it.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

It's almost as though r199, etc. has never seen a men's football match, where England and all European and South American national teams plus all their club teams are fighting to the last ball, with a bravado spirit, while the US men's team is wandering around looking confused.

Foreign teams are like machines. The U.S. Men’s team is just a bunch of bros, playing soccer so they can have some bro time with their bros. They are confused as to why their bro spirit doesn’t carry them to victory.

Football/Soccer just isn't a popular sport for men in the US. Some commentators have said it's an attention span issue, with two 45 minute halves, and others have claimed that two 45 minute halves with a 15 minute break make it difficult to attract commercial sponsors.

In Europe, South America and Africa it's the cheapest sport you can play. All you need is a ball. You can use anything for goalposts and kids learn their skills and tricks on a beach, in a park. in a car park. There are also role models to aspire to replicating, and there is a huge amount of investment in young talent and scouting and academies. That just hasn't happened in the US where there are so many other sports vying for talented young athletes.

And for club football the rivalries have been going for years. Manchester United and Liverpool genuinely hate each other and will mock each other's tragedies, such as the United "fan" wearing a tshirt saying 96 Not Enough to the FA Cup Final this summer, in reference to the Hillsborough disaster where 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death. Brazil and Argentina have their rivalry, Holland and Germany, Spain and Portugal.

The US isn't unique in its apathy to football. Australia and Canada are the same and they focus on other sports.

But the US have managed to dominate women's football and make it an attractive career.

Just to add, the women's world cup started in 1991 when just 12 teams took part.

It went up to 16 teams in 1999, 24 teams in 2015 and this is the first tournament that it's been 32 teams, the same as the men's competition.

That a country as big as the US dominated is not as surprise but other countries have caught up.

R176 that move reminded me of when Suh intentionally stepped on Aaron Rodger’s bad leg. Just a little bit dirty!

R208 my first thought was Beckham kicking out and getting a red card in the 98 World Cup

R206 you couldn’t be more wrong about Australia and football. Australia has a significant population of people from other countries, as evidenced by the sold out crowds at the Women’s World Cup in Australia for matches not involving Australia.

I can’t speak for Canada.

If the Lionesses make the final, David Baddiel and Frank Skinner will likely re-record 3 Lions with the Kingdom Gospel Choir, EFA President Prince William and wifelet Kate.

R210, I agree with you. I think you'll find it's quite similar in NZ. Even tho' they don't have a strong W/Football team, there are loads of locals and immigrants that have turned up to watch. Over a million seats sold in a country of 5 Million, can't be all bad surely.

R206 here’s an example of Australia’s apathy about football last night.

Lauren James was right to be red carded, not only that she deserves to be banned from this world cup and suspended fornthe next one too.

What an utter disgrace, what trash behaviour. What a repulsive move by Lauren I was so disgusted by that display, it made me nauseous, I'm not even kidding.

She deserves to be trashed

She needs to be fined

she probably deserves a three game suspension which would be the rest of this tournament. It was a bad decision but I don't think it makes her horrible. She doesn't have a history of this. There are plenty of other soccer players who behaved as bad or worse and went on to have great careers with a little controversy. Luis Saurez and David Beckham come to mind immediately.

I'm happy for Australia. I always root for the host country.

What does it mean for England if they don't have Lauren James?

R218 before the World Cup she didn't get a lot of playing time for the national team, so they can win without her. But she has been great for her club and played lights out in their last group match. By far the most impactful player on the pitch. They will miss her physicality and playmaking.

Gross

Go Japan!

Anybody but England.

R210 and R212

I didn't mean there was apathy in Australia and New Zealand to the current world cup - far from it. Although there was a clip shared on Twitter of a commentator saying what an amazing atmosphere there was in the stadium for one match with no empty seats as the footage was of a player making a throw in with rows of empty seats behind her.

But there is general apathy towards club football compared to other sports. Attendance at the A-League matches are really low for two nations known for a love of sport.

[quote]she probably deserves a three game suspension which would be the rest of this tournament. It was a bad decision but I don't think it makes her horrible. She doesn't have a history of this. There are plenty of other soccer players who behaved as bad or worse and went on to have great careers with a little controversy. Luis Saurez and David Beckham come to mind immediately.

David Beckham was lying on the floor face down and lifted his leg up - the Argentinian player who knocked Beckham over walked backwards into his leg and lost his balance. That's the extend of his on field controversies. Beckham was petulant but there was no violent intent. That's the extent of his on field behavioural controversies.

Luis Suarez, in comparison, is one of the nastiest most disgusting cheats we've seen in football. The cheating, the diving, the handball against Ghana, the lengthy bans for biting and racially abusing black Manchester United player Patrice Evra when Suarez was at Liverpool.

[quote]Lauren James was right to be red carded, not only that she deserves to be banned from this world cup and suspended fornthe next one too. What an utter disgrace, what trash behaviour. What a repulsive move by Lauren I was so disgusted by that display, it made me nauseous, I'm not even kidding. She deserves to be trashed

MARY!

R213, I'm not whoever said that Australia has an antipathy to football, but that's just one group of fans in one small section of the stands.

The next men's World Cup will take place in the US and no doubt there will be plenty of American fans in the stands. That won't mean that the US has suddenly become football mad.

"Over a million seats sold in a country of 5 Million, can't be all bad surely" - What are you on about, r212? By mid-July, only 320,000 seats had been sold in NZ. Even for Australia, the tickets sold are not all to Australian residents, but to the many from around the world who travel to watch their team (although, apparently fewer tickets have been sold to international fans for this women's WC than previous tournaments).

The Australian soccer/football scene sprung organically out of ethnic social clubs from the late 1930s onward. And so for decades it was sort of ghettoised as a sport for foreigners. And as sport for blokes who weren’t hard enough to play the more brutish and culturally-“Aussie” Rugby League or Rugby Union, which came from Britain, or Australian Rules Football, which is a bastardised stepchild of Gaelic football. And you’d get the Serbs fighting the Croats in the stands. The billionaire behind Westfield was a driving force to create the national A-League to synthesise city teams.

But the organisers have done a great job of getting word out to expats of the competing nations to turn up in droves. It’s been great. And I have to say the prices are very reasonable - if only more promoters would get the message! I wouldn’t have bothered to attend but at $40/ticket it was too good to miss and I’m glad I attended.

That's funny, r225, considering football is from England and the most prominent national team of all the ethnic groups playing in the World Cup is England.

But, yeah, it's great fun to go along to sports and athletics competitions if there are any on near where you live, especially for international games.

[quote] That's funny, r225, considering football is from England and the most prominent national team of all the ethnic groups playing in the World Cup is England.

What do you mean by ethnic groups?!

Colombia/Jamaica was a great, fun match!

Colombia is thorough to the quarterfinals after defeating Jamaica! Great goal. They will push England to their limits

It’s Colombia 1 Jamaica 0 and I just know how those Jamaicans feel.

R227, whatever r225 means by "ethnic social clubs".

while! France is looking good tonight!

France is stomping all over Morocco.

there were some shocking upsets earlier on in this tournament, but if you look at the final eight, none of them should be that surprising and none of them feel undeserving to be there. Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Japan, England, Colombia, Australia and France are all very good.

7 of the top 11 teams progressed to the QFs so reasonably predictable.

The 3 top 10 teams that didn't get out of the group stages all finished with 4 points and won, drew and lost a match. Brazil and Germany finished with a better goal difference than the second place teams. .

The current FIFA rankings are

1. USA (second round, beaten by Sweden #3)

2. Germany (4 pts from group stage, beat Morocco #72, lost to Colombia #25 , draw with South Korea #17)

3. Sweden (QF)

4. England (QF)

5. France (QF)

6. Spain (QF)

7. Canada (4 points from group stage, beat Ireland #22, lost to Australia #10, draw with Nigeria #40)

8. Brazil (4 pts from group stage, beat Panama #52 lost to France #5, draw with Jamaica #43)

9. Netherlands (QF)

10. Australia (QF)

11. Japan (QF)

25. Colombia (QF)

R194 also missed the bit where an England player stamped all over a Nigerian player, so it's no surprise if the England players were a little contrite.

France ftw

Chloe Kelly’s penalty was more powerful than any Premier League goal last season.

Her penalty was hit at 111km/h, with the most powerful Premier League goal being 107.2km/h from Saïd Benrahma against Crystal Palace

I would love to see Spain, France or England win. Japan is my favorite to win but would personally love to see a new Champion.

There is another USWNT playing in a World Cup right now. Today is the first day of the Women's Baseball World Cup. USA is taking on Australia in Canada tonight.

[quote] Japan is my favorite to win but would personally love to see a new Champion.

I assume their women are more respectful than American women.

R241 i don't give a shit about that stupid right wing narrative. go watch some more piers morgan and tucker carlson

The American women didn't want to be there. I say deduct their pay.

What "right-wing narrative" did Piers say about his country's national team, r242?

Piers Morgan's issues with Rapinoe go back to at least 2019 when he took umbrage to her goal celebration.

Morgan is a genuine football fan and knows that men regularly do these celebrations but Rapinoe was unfairly criticised by many for being arrogant.

The USA went on to beat England in the semi final and the media created some kind of storm that people were offended by Alex Morgan's tea drinking celebration, which I found funny.

I’m in Team Anyone But England!

I'm a New Zealander r224, and the stadiums have been packed. It was a slow start, but people here really embraced it.

Remember, it's rugby season (we just had two Bledisloe Cup games, a yearly rivalry against Australia at the same time as the World Cup matches), the rugby World Cup starts in five weeks, and it's fucking freezing at the moment - it's unusually cold, even for winter.

But a lot of people are really excited about the games, and there has been heaps of support for the women.

Americans are such sore losers - it’s laughable.

Natalie Portman is in town (sans wedding ring) to promote Angel City. I guess everyone assumed the USA would still be in contention.

Why would the US men’s soccer team agree to pool and share prize money with the US women?

Because the deal helped the men reach a new contract with US Soccer that gave them significant raises, revenue sharing and $11 mil in back pay.

R240 I had no idea women’s baseball was a thing!

R251 it's growing but still in its infancy. so far there is no pro league but a few colleges are starting to field teams and they have a championship every year. obviously, it used to be a pretty major sport in the US, "a league of their own" is based on professional women's leagues. But it died off after the second world war. It's pretty big in Japan.

Neither did I!

Lauren James gets a two-game ban (meaning she could still play in a final if England get there).

we get an evening time game in the states tonight. Netherlands versus Spain at 9 PM Eastern. I'm rooting for Spain in this one.

Can they both lose??

typical Spain match right now. They have all the possession and all the chances and are playing beautifully connected football, but cannot score. And somehow Alexia is on the bench? The coach should've been gone years ago, but nepotism has kept him in his position. He really needs to go after this World Cup, even if they go through to the final.

most of the Spanish players didn't sing along to their anthem. Can data lounge start hating them now? And the Dutch coach didn't either.

Haha Spain deserves this, such a badly managed team

Man, no women's team can do the small passes like Spain can.

good finish for Spain.

this is the beautiful gsme

The Spanish national anthem doesn't have any words, r258. If they'd been singing as it was being played, it would have been weird.

Wow! Japan was my favorite to win it all. Sweden played much better today

Guaranteed now that we will have a first time Champion!

🎶 Well, I’d do anything for a blonde dyke 🎶 ⚽️ 💃🏼🇸🇪

Is that anything like a Klondike?

Who are you guys rooting for in the next two games? I am rooting for Colombia and France!

me too. with the final being Spain vs France

I'm kinda rooting for Sweden to win it all, now. If team USA was going flame-out....I'd rather they crash & burn against the team that WON the championship, you know? (as opposed to a team that lost in the next round).

I feel the same way whenever UCLA basketball loses in the NCAA tournament.

Wow...that was some insane shit/PKs! Good on you, Australia! Happy to see the home nation advance! 👏🏻

GOOD ON YA MATILDAS!

insane penalty shootout. 8 missed/saved penalties.

Did they win R271 & R272? On the news there were a lot of fuckwits standing out in the freezing rain at Fed square in Melbourne.

WOW!

R274 Yes, Rose-fuckwit, they did.

Australia is through to the quarterfinals. That shootout was epic!

Cram it R276. I Googled.

France saved 0-0 Australia score 0-1

France score 1-1 Australia saved 1-1

France score 2-1 Australia score 2-2

France score 3-2 Australia score 3-3

France saved 3-3 Australia hit post 3-3

France score 4-3 Australia score 4-4

France score 5-4 Australia score 5-5

France score 6-5 Australia score 6-6

France hits post 6-6 Australia score 6-7

Fuck that was exhausting

The amount of people watching the match out in the streets in Australia and in live viewing parties inside large arenas was insane!

The French coach changing the goalkeeper before penalties 🤯

R279 Don't forget the penalty that was taken twice - and saved twice!

Great win for the Aussies. Now a semi between England and Australia in Australia would be amazing. Colombia hoping for England taking their eyes off the prize.

1. France saved 0-0 Australia score 0-1

2. France score 1-1 Australia saved 1-1

3. France score 2-1 Australia score 2-2

4. France score 3-2 Australia score 3-3

5. France saved 3-3 Australia hit post 3-3

6. France score 4-3 Australia score 4-4

7. France score 5-4 Australia score 5-5

8. France score 6-5 (originally saved, penalty retaken after goalkeeper comes of line) Australia score 6-6

9. France saved 6-6 Australia saved 6-6

10. France hits post 6-6 Australia score 6-7

I missed the 9th round on the earlier post. If Cortnee Vine hadn't scored Australia's 10th penalty the keepers would have been up next.

Oh I think I got the penalty retake wrong. Never mind.

For those who like a penalty shootout, England Holland's under 21 broke the record for the longest one.

Some of then England players went on to have huge careers, the Dutch not.

There must have been some incredible partying going on in the pubs of Brisbane tonight.

Amazing goal by the Colombians.

Those Colombian women are playing DIRRTY. Fully expecting biting and hair pulling in the second half.

Not to sound like a snob but the BBC is SO much better at coverage than ITV.

As lovely as Eni Aluko's collection of wigs are, WE WANT GABBY LOGAN AND ALEX SCOTT

That's good, r290, because BBC tennis coverage is unbearable.

Looking at the semi finalists and how much travelling they've had to do. Sweden are the only team to have travelled between Australia and New Zealand, and they did it twice.

Spain - Wellington, Auckland, Wellington - Auckland - QF Wellington - SF Auckland

Sweden - Wellington, Wellington, Hamilton - Melbourne -QF Auckland - SF Auckland

Australia - Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne - Sydney - QF Brisbane - SF Sydney

England - Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide - Brisbane - QF Sydney - SF Sydney

All 4 teams have played a match to extra time and Spain are the only team who didn't face penalties.

the scenes from fans celebrating around Australia are amazing to see!

The Australian/ France game was the most watched Australian TV broadcast in over 20 years

The coach for FWNT Herve Renard is so hot! Too bad we won’t see him anymore! 😞

the france australia match was the biggest streaming event ever seen in Australia.

You're welcome

There was a street party and a big screen up for the Australia France game in my hood but I thought I’d do the smart thing and skip the glut of families, old folks and hysterical teenagers and book a table and watch from the comfort of my local pub.

It was an awesome atmosphere but in the second half someone brought in an actual child and no one felt they could swear in front of him. My tongue was a bloodied lump of gristle.

[quote]My tongue was a bloodied lump of gristle.

Ew, what does this even mean? Please don't ever become a writer. Your horrible misanthropic attitudes suck too.

Who do you think will win and who do you want to win?

Spain - Sweden

Australia - England

R299, its clear the person meant they were biting their tongue.

R301 Doesn't follow - gristle means "a part of a piece of meat that is very hard to chew".

I want the Aussies to win.

R300, I think Sweden will beat Spain, a result I'd be happy with as Sweden have played some really good football.

I'm English and obviously want England to win but if Australia do win I'll be genuinely pleased for the team and the nation in general and hope they win the tournament.

Cute footballing lesbians:

Lina Hurtig - Sweden

Élisa De Almeida - France

[quote]Élisa De Almeida - France

She really looks like a boy/Joan of Arc/Brandon Teena !

Im predicting a Spain v England final. Hope Im wrong about Spain.

Joan of Arc?!?!

Spain FTW

[quote]Joan of Arc?!?!

Yes. Like this. And she's French.

This is a more historically accurate imagining of Joan of Arc, produced just a few decades after her execution.

Venerable frau magazines in Australia like the Women's Weekly and New Idea have printed profiles of Sam Kerr, complete with heartwarming photos of her embracing her partner, who (you probably all know) is on the US women's team.

From a lez perspective, there are quite a few lesbians in the women's world cup. Just the sight of masses of fit, confident, assertive women all running around together of pleasurable.

R312, that so many of them like to snog each other is the icing on the cake.

R299 = thick as pig shit.

Women's sports matter:

Australia's Elle Carpenter is dating Holland's Daniëlle van de Donk who used to date England's Beth Mead who is dating France's Vivianne Miedema who used to date Scotland's Lisa Evans.

My favourite lesbian is England's Rachel Daly who is dating SURPRISE fellow footballer Millie Turner.

My mother is dining out on the trivia that she chatted to Mary Foster and her mother in the local shopping centre 5 years ago.

Lesbian footballers are definitely way better about being out and proud compared to male gay footballers. You see the same thing with sports like tennis. Although with some sports like athletics I can't think of any out lesbians offhand.

There were protests at the women's road race yesterday, part of the cycling world championships because Emily Bridges, who holds a British record set as Zach Bridges, wasn't allowed to compete in the women's race.

Lotte Kopecky won. She isn't a lesbian but she is Belgian.

[quote]This is a more historically accurate imagining of Joan of Arc, produced just a few decades after her execution.

A 'few decades'? Cute. This person probably never even saw her in person.

But he no doubt had better accounts of her available to him than the political ideologues and historical revisionists of the 21st century, r321, who don't know the first thing about medieval France or Joan of Arc.

[quote]But he no doubt had better accounts of her available to him than the political ideologues and historical revisionists of the 21st century, [R321], who don't know the first thing about medieval France or Joan of Arc.

Nope. Stop being naive. Would you be able to accurately portray someone whom you had only been told about? No photos, no video. Even assuming that they had even met her.

Who was protesting r320? Apart from Emily?

Patrick Harvie, the Green Party leader and Scottish government minister was involved.

"Eleven of the Matildas are based in England, playing and training at leading clubs. Their rivals on the pitch will include club team-mates, giving both sides an insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the other team.

Australia, who are hosting the competition alongside New Zealand, have more players at English clubs than any team other than England and the Republic of Ireland."

This is the women's football world cup thread, not the men trying to interfere in women's cycling thread. Let's not get OT, especially when we're discussing something positive about women's sport, with the added bonus of hot, fit lesbians.

I kind of want to Spain to win just because of how badly the players have been treated, and hopefully a huge historic World Cup win would change some attitudes in Spain. They have the worlds best player who has been mismanaged and underutilized. She's a vocal leader on her club team, but Alexia has been completely absent during this tournament and not doing any press. Initially, the entire team was refusing to play under their current coach, who is the son of one of the Federation's leaders. The Federation made no changes and most of the players came back because they didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to play in the World Cup. Some of their best players are still at home though. after the win in the quarterfinals, you can see all the players celebrating with the assistant coaches, and each other and completely ignoring the head coach.

in Spain the growth in women's club football has been fantastic. They have broken records in attendance with over 90,000 fans watching the Barcelona/Real Madrid match. Barcelona has won the European championship but the national team has been lagging in resources and infrastructure. Maybe this changes that and they become a long term powerhouse

Alexia Putellas is another lezzer. The Spanish team is full of them.

Certainly in the UK a lot of families prefer to attend the women's league matches rather than then men's. They're generally a lot cheaper for family tickets and the atmosphere is a lot more family friendly.

Over half of Spain's team look like lezzies

[quote] Australia's Elle Carpenter is dating Holland's Daniëlle van de Donk who used to date England's Beth Mead who is dating France's Vivianne Miedema who used to date Scotland's Lisa Evans.

Lies, all of it

Vivian isn't even French

Apologies R333, Vivian is of course Dutch.

[quote]I kind of want to Spain to win just because of how badly the players have been treated,

Assuming you're not Spanish, why? Because the (unearned) glory would go to that coach.

I love Tobin Heath and Christen Press’s videos! I love their insights and discussions. Also, they are so cute together!

The Spanish team seems to be a bunch of crybabies. Go Sweden!

Every fan has a favorite style of play they like to watch. Mine is what Spain has been doing all tournament. Quick intricate passes, complete domination with possession, very fast on the attack, always pressing, playing out of tight spots, always trying to score, very quick on recovery, a lot of connected teamwork. It's very risky as we saw in the Japan game but so fun to watch. I think Sweden pulls this out but Spain is my guilty pleasure as a neutral

R336 love their show! a lot of great insight

Sweden comes out strong early in the second half

Salma Paralluelo!

Wow!!!

Wow again!!!

That Spanish set piece was Beckhamesque.

Well done Spain!

Yessssssss

Arantxa Sánchez Vicario

Conchita Martinez

Penelope Cruz

THE SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM

I’m such a hater. I think it’s hilarious Sweden got their asses beat by Spain.

can anyone figure out what the Spanish players specific allegations against the coach were? The only articles I've seen have been extremely vague. Did he yell too much or did he not get the results on the field that they wanted or did he train too hard, or not hard enough? did he assault anyone or make misogynistic remarks? Did he sexually harass people? I don't think they ever made clear what they think he did wrong. It just sounds like they didn't like the coach and wanted the Federation to remove him and they said no.

I did a bit of a deep dive, and it seems like the players who wanted him gone were basing it mostly on his decisions in the game and how he was handling the minutes of injured players. They felt like the team was not getting the results they were capable of because of his mismanagement. some of that has definitely improved this go around. But the disagreement on tactics has been twisted on Twitter and other social media to be "players fighting against abusive coach" I think the soccer media has done a poor job of explaining what the grievances were and how they have succeeded since.

The Spanish coach sounds like a bully

[quote]He allegedly forced players to leave the doors to their hotel rooms open at night so he could verify they were in their rooms. He was said to have also checked the contents of their bags if they left and returned.

England's Fara Williams commented on the coach issues on the BBC coverage and said that a lot of people in Spain would be wanting to team to lose because of their protests against the coach. Spain isn't known for progressive attitudes towards women.

Sarina Wiegman was only female coach in the quarter finals, so another reason to root for England.

I don't understand why so many men are coaches. It should be at least 50/50 but it isn't even. And in men's football they're all men. I'm supporting England because of that too.

[quote]He allegedly forced players to leave the doors to their hotel rooms open at night so he could verify they were in their rooms. He was said to have also checked the contents of their bags if they left and returned.

I'm sorry, but that just sounds like basic coaching to me. You don't want your players out partying and doing drugs before important games, do you? In any case, the results speak for themselves.

R352, I've never heard of a men's team being treated that way.

Nor me R353, not even at club level, and there's also something creepy about a man denying women basic privacy and security.

Major red flag.

Just finished watching Sweden v. Spain. What a game! I was rooting for Sweden but I am OK with Spain winning. I am rooting for Australia to win versus England. Not sure which way the game is going to go.

Australia would be such a good story for what it means to be fans and the country. But I foresee a Spain versus England final with England winning.

R351, coaches are almost always former players themselves. Women's football hasn't been at the necessary level for long enough to have produced a crop of top footballers who have since moved onto coaching. In the coming years we will see more top-level female former footballers becoming coaches.

R357 case in point, Brandi Chastain got her coaching license and is trying to break into the game and Amy Rodriguez will be the new head coach for the expansion Salt Lake City team in the NWSL.

time to go to sleep so i can wake up in 8 hrs to watch the Australia/England match

I have to record it. There’s no way I’m gonna be up between 2 and 5 AM PST!

The BBC have got one of England and Australia’s dual citizens for some top quality promo

England!

OMG! SAM KERR!!!!!!

It’s coming home

It’s coming home

It’s coming

FOOTBALL’S COMING HOME

i'm glad Australian fans got to see that sam kerr goal. I'm sure it went absolutely nuts across the entire country when that went in. England deserved the win and it should make a fun final. I would think England is the favorites over Spain?

Australians will feel totally despondent but their team played great football, and that Sam Kerr goal was just out of this world.

And the atmosphere was incredible.

after the last two men's World Cup in Russia and Qatar, it was really fun to watch a World Cup that created genuine excitement in the country and who's team was competitive. Also nice that they have some human rights and stuff.

[quote]I would think England is the favorites over Spain?

I think it's more like 50/50. I'd find that one hard to call.

[quote]i'm glad Australian fans got to see that sam kerr goal. I'm sure it went absolutely nuts across the entire country when that went in.

You ain't whistlin' Dixie. We did.

I would be genuinely happy with either a Spain or England win. But it's really hard to root against Sarina Weigman. The first coach to take two different nations to a world cup final. She also took two separate nations to euro finals and when it comes to the women's World Cup, I always have a hard time rooting against a female coach. There's not enough of them out there.

Hell, the USMNT should make an offer to Sarina

Sarina in the Press conference after the match... Q: Sum up the game. A: Well, we won.

Q: What did England have that Australia didn't? A: 3 goals.

I'm surprised. I thought Australia would win the tournament. Well done to England, though. Would be happy for either them or Spain to win.

Do you think will see Lauren James in the final?

The team made a point of including Lauren in the celebration photos.

I'd expect the same starting 11 from England. Lauren is a great impact player to have on the bench regardless of the score and will have trained with the rest of the team.

I loved that Chloe Kelly wasn't needed today and only came on in the last 5 minutes.

Millie Bright has a very pleasant face.

Sarina Weigman is one hot mama.

Japan's Hinata Miyazawa is still the leading contender for the Golden Boot with five goals.

These women who are still in the tournament have three goals each: Alba Redondo (Spain), Jennifer Hermoso (Spain), Aita Bonmati (Spain), Lauren James (England), Alessia Russo (England), and Lauren Hemp (England).

The record is held by the US's Michelle Akers who managed to score 10 - including 5 in a QF against Chinese Taipei (aka Taiwan).

The English FA announced today that Sarina Weigman will be considered as manager of the men's national team, if/when Gareth Southgate steps down.

Sarina looks like a mix of Sarah Ferguson and Ginger Spice

Millie Bright has lez face , surprised she is straight

Samm Kerr has the face of a woman who has eaten too much pussy

not a single NWSL player will be in the finals this weekend

R382 and?

R383 in years past, we've had most of the best players across the globe playing for us. Now those players are going to Barcelona, and a handful of English French and German teams.

Do those European soccer clubs pay more money than American ones R384?

Australia's semi-final against England was the most watched event in Australian TV history - 11.15 million on Channel 7 alone.

Not just women's football, not just football, not just sport. Any TV programme.

R385 they are now that there is better infrastructure, also in Europe most teams have both men's and women's squads... totally different structure than the US where the MLs and NWSL are completely separate. in Europe they can share marketing and TV deals and even stadiums occasionally

r386 Wow that's amazing, especially since the total population of Australia is only 26 million!

Aww the aussie / England match broke the Wentworth viewing record

[quote]Not just women's football, not just football, not just sport. Any TV programme.

To be fair, the most-watched program in the history of Australian TV is always going to be sport. This one knocked off Cathy Freeman's 400m run in the Sydney Olympics.

You also have more people in Australia now compared to 2000 when Freeman won. Not fair comparison.

Will Weigman keep Ella Toone or switch her out for Lauren James? Everyone seems to pretty much agree that the rest of the starting team will likely stay the same.

I think Toone has earned her start. James can come in as a sub in the second half if they need a spark

Leave James out. That's the price she pays for being an asshole

So edgy R394

Vlatko Andonovski, the head coach of the United States women’s national soccer team, has resigned, the U.S. Soccer Federation confirmed Thursday.

His predecessor Jill Ellis coached the United States women's national team from 2014 to 2019 and won two FIFA Women's World Cups in 2015 and 2019, so no doubt it's because the U.S. team lacked success under him.

I just checked and Weigman is contracted with England until 2025 plus she turned down the U.S. job in 2019 so they probably won't be able to get her.

Considering how many men coach women's team it is a bit surprising how so few of them have played at the top level. The only two I can think of are England's Phil Neville who managed England at the last World Cup and Paul Konchesky who spent a year at West Ham.

Chelsea's Emma Hayes has never played professional football after an injury as a teenager but is the best in England and has been approached for the US job.

Is there any excitement for the third place game between Sweden and Australia? Do the teams just phone it in or will it be a competitive game?

[quote]Do the teams just phone it in or will it be a competitive game?

They get more prize money if they come third so that provides some motivation (although the men get way more). Individuals will get $11,800 more for coming third, on top of $150,000 more for the team as a whole. But generally, I think Australia will be motivated at home - I think I'd fancy them to win for that reason maybe.

"The prize money is distributed among all 32 teams at the tournament, which each team guaranteed at least $1.56m (£1.23m) for qualifying. Teams get more the further they progress in the competition.

Here’s how the prizes break down:

Group stage – $1.56m (£1.23m)

Round-of-16 – $1.87m (£1.47m)

Quarter-finals – $2.18m (£1.71m)

Fourth place – $2.46m (£1.93m)

Third place – $2.61m (£2.05m)

Runners-up – $3.02m (£2.37m)

Champions – $4.29m (£3.37m)

Additionally, each player will receive prize money on top of what their team is awarded.

All 732 players are guaranteed at least $30,000 (£23,500) in individual prize money, with those on the winning team taking home $270,000 (£212,000). Again, players get more the further they progress in the competition.

Here’s the breakdown of how much they will receive:

Group stage – $30,000 (£23,500)

Round-of-16 – $60,000 (£47,100)

Quarter-finals – $90,000 (£70,700)

Fourth place – $165,000 (£129,600)

Third place – $180,000 (£141,400)

Runners-up – $195,000 (£153,200)

Champions – $270,000 (£212,000)"

(If anyone's wondering, the men get 4x as much.)

Betting odds make Sweden the slight favs against Australia, and Spain the slight favs against England.

And deservedly so, R401. Men bring in more revenue.

R492, Spanish players are ungrateful players. They bad mouth their coach, who go them where they are now.

I feel sorry for the Australians but the Swedes are just much better.

One more morning of waking up way too early! I'm really excited about the final. Looking at it objectively I think the right teams are in there. Over the last two years they've been the most entertaining and consistent teams.

⚽️ It’s ⚽️ coming ⚽️ home ⚽️

I feel sick. Watching the BBC's coverage now and OMG, Fara Williams predicted 4-0 (yeah, I doubt that).

Toone is starting for England. Spain have chosen Cata Coll for their goalkeeper.

Let's go!!!!!

The Queen and Princess of Spain are at the match... as is the Spanish Men's national team coach

no Putellas in the starting lineup

[quote] I feel sick. Watching the BBC's coverage now and OMG, Fara Williams predicted 4-0 (yeah, I doubt that).

Fara Williams said 2-0 on the BBC, not 4-0.

both are going for it! i love it, and Spain is looking so good. England is pushing too

Mary!!!!!!

my nerves!

If Spain wins, first thing they need to do is apologize to their coach

[quote] offsite link on x.com

r412 fucking hell is that how twitter links show up on here now? I thought it was going to be spam.

Well done Spain. They didn’t get to the final by accident.

Proud of the England women and the impact they’ve had on the nation.

Congratulations Spain! Really well deserved

Spain are now the Champions of U17, U20 and the senior. never happened before, incredibly impressive

I wonder how Spain is reacting to this win today? Parties in the street? A welcome home parade? Spain has been behind other nations when it comes to supporting Women's Football so it will be interesting to see if this changes anything

I didn't realize the Spanish Men's Team only won one World cup, I thought they won multiple

r421 They are? I got dragged to the Athletic Club Bilbao stadium when I was over there and they promoted the women's team pretty heavily so I assumed it was pretty big thing.

Spain didn't even have a fully pro Women's domestic league until 2019

R423 Awesome! I hope the celebrations are massive!

Just seen a looong thread by Charlotte Clymer about Prince William not attending. Fucking hell he’s dumb.

Did not think that this thread would get over 400 replies when I started it

It was an own goal for William and the other royals to not bother, especially with Aus & NZ hosting and England in the final. The can't coast on the Queen's popularity anymore, they might actually have to make an effort. As it was Queen Letizia stole the show.

r426 Yeah twitter in general has spent most of the match whining about that. Not saying it wasn't a stupid PR decision on the royals part but its not the end of the world, and no reason to let it distract you from how well the Lionesses played this tournament.

Queen Letizia "stole the show" because Spain won, r428. She also didn't steal the show if your interest in watching was for the football.

The shit Twitter takes have been quite something. Always on brand though, always on brand.

Charlotte Clymer is an American who wants to destroy women's football and all women's sports, so I'm not sure why anyone should care about his opinion on William or the England women's team.

Clymer did an interview on British tv where he said one of the reasons he knew he was a woman and not a man was because he didn’t like sports.

Anyway, misogynistic dinosaurs like him can fuck off. Women’s football is only going to get bigger after this.

So football's again not coming home.

r434 spotted the scot

Prince William and Princess Charlotte posted a "Come on, Lionesses!" video before the game, with Charlotte holding a football. She is apparently a genuine fan.

A guy got 20k likes for criticising Prince William for saying "go out there and enjoy yourselves", because William would never have said that to the men's team.

Except there's a video of him telling the men's team to go out there and enjoy themselves before a match. Not the world cup final obviously.

I was a bit annoyed at first that William wasn't going, but in the end it wasn't that big a deal. There would have been a few shots of him in the stands and on the podium, but it would have all been fairly meh.

Did you guys see the Spanish FA president grab Hermosas head during the awards presentation and kiss her on the lips? it was super uncomfortable to see.

OMG! Spain announce that Olga Carmona's father has died.

The World Cup-winner was informed of the news following the final where she scored the game's only goal.

R439, that's Spanish guys for you. He even kissed the men (but not the lips).

He is a handsome daddy. I wouldn't mind the smooch.

Maybe her father had a hand in her victory.

It was a good game and I wanted England to win. But Spain was a better team. Congratulations to Spain!

I was so happy to the Spanish team win. They played at such a higher level than the Lionesses, who were also pretty nasty with spiking and other tactics. Not saying the Spaniards didn’t do some time wasting at the end but there were were no actual cleats on feet shenanigans.

Was Olga's father sick?

According to British media, Dutch football chiefs have said privately that Sarina Wiegman could make the shortlist for the Netherlands men's coaching job.

wow. it looks like the Spanish Govt might actually fire the President of the FA and the coach is actually more vulnerable now than ever. this is part of the reason i was rooting for them. the players have far more off a platform and more power to affect change since they won, nothing would change if they weren't the champions

R447, that would be fantastic, that guy is horrible. He's an actual fascist.

Former Spain goalkeeper and captain, Iker Casillas, has called for Rubiales' resignation

The RFEF will convene an Extraordinary General Assembly for next Friday at noon.

Oye! San Iker no nos falla!

Talk about over-reaction.

the president of Getafe has called for him to resign. if barcelona or real madrid turn on him then it's over

Just released... "Jenni Hermoso will pursue sanctions against RFEF President Luis Rubiales after he kissed her during Spain's World Cup celebrations. "

NEWS: FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee has opened up an investigation against Spanish Federation president Luis Rubiales.

I think it's much ado about nothing

!!! Luis Rubiales will resign tomorrow as president of the RFEF

And this is why I wanted them to win!

So many questions

Why did he think he could get away with this?

Jennie Hermosa didn't seem so bothered by it , she even mentioned they are close.

If the woman is not bothered, why is everyone else?

Does he had a poor relationship with the women? Is there some history there?

R459, Spanish football is a morass of corruption and politics. This was probably a just good time to push him out.

R459 the original quote attributed to Hermosa that mentioned them being close was not put out by her. the Federation released that "statement" without her permission. She had put out a statement that the kiss was not welcome and she asked her union and her team to start sanctions against him. he has a long history of alleged harassment by women. other women have tried to take action against him and are starting to come forward with their stories.

I would given daddy some tongue action.

un-fucking-real. this morning the press was told to gather for a press conference where Rubiales would resign and Pedro Tocha would take over as the new President, instead Rubiales came out pounding the podium and screaming repeatedly that he refuses to resign. He says he will sue the former employees who have accused him of harassment. He says he will extend the contract of the head coach and he keeps yelling about "false feminism". He is blaming Hermosa for the kiss.

He is untethered at this press conference saying he will take legal action against members of the Spanish government. Both the head coaches of the men's and women's side are applauding him because he promised them both raises. I hope all the players boycott playing for this federation, men and women

Now is when the FIFA and UEFA investigations have to ramp up, and the Spanish govt can still fire him. La Liga teams can still pressure the federation.

He says that "false feminism is a blight in Spain" and he is a "true feminist" 🤮

Wow what a mess

I mean, they falsified a statement from their top player and feed it to the media. That by itself is enough for heads to roll.

Spanish striker Borja Iglesias announces he will not play for the Spanish national team in support of the women's national team after Luis Rubiales refused to resign as RFEF president. 🚨

“As a footballer and as a person, I do not feel represented by what happened today… I have made the decision not to return to the National Team until things change and this type of act does not go unpunished.”

The Spanish Sports Council has just now suspended Rubiales while they investigate 4 allegations against him.

all 23 members of the team that just won the World Cup plus 58 additional players who are eligible to play for the team have signed an open letter saying they will not participate with the team until he is fired and changes are made to leadership.

My brother lives in Spain and he said it's the number one story in the country right now.

FIFA Disciplinary Committee under article 51 of the disciplinary code has provisionally suspended Luis Rubiales from "all football-related activities at national and international level" for 90 days. Rubiales and RFEF must refrain from contacting Hermoso.

The entire Spanish women's national team coaching staff, aside from head coach Jorge Vilda, have resigned in protest of RFEF President Luis Rubiales.

Poor Luis

less than a week after winning the World cup the entire team has ceased to exist.

it is hard for me to believe that the World Cup final was exactly a week ago. With everything that has been going on in the Spanish national team, it feels like months have passed.

players are starting to return to their clubs. Ashley Sanchez and Sophie Smith both scored in the first games back. Unfortunately Sophie Smith left the game today on crutches. Barcelona also announced they're going to do a tour through Mexico and playing friendlies there.

RFEF's General Secretary, Andreu Campos, asked UEFA to suspend the RFEF (HIS(!) organization). That would exclude EVERY Spanish team from UEFA competitions. All to threaten the Spanish government for opening proceedings against Rubiales

Tonight the Nebraska women's volleyball team sold out the schools football stadium. 92,000 fans, that beats the Barcelona/Real Madrid match a couple years ago as the biggest crowd ever for a women's sports match

A school in Nebraska has a 92000 seater stadium?

Impressive that volleyball can get such huge audiences. Guess that's what happens when you don't put women's sports into small venues.

R482, it's fucking Nebraska. Not many options if you don't want to look at rocks.

I'd rather go watch a movie.

Volleyball was invented in my state (Massachusetts), but we don't really care about women's sports here despite being ultraliberal.

Julie Ertz just announced her retirement from soccer 😭

There is something about Julie Ertz

Spain men’s football team speaks out in support of the women’s team, condemning Luis Rubiales over non-consensual kiss to Jenni Hermoso:

“We want to regret and express our solidarity with the players who have seen their success tarnished. We want to reject what we consider to be unacceptable behaviour on the part of Mr. Rubiales, who has not been up to the standard of the institution he represents.”

Morata, Rodri, Azpilicueta and Kepa wanted the statement, made on behalf of the men's players, to be more emphatic in its condemnation, report El Pais. Multiple drafts of the speech were changed before its final edition. This report adds that Spanish FA officials stepped in to ensure men's players lowered the tone of their statement on Rubiales. Making them redraft the speech several times. Morata's use of the word "equality" is suggested to have caused concern.

Spanish newspapers are reporting that head coach Jorge Vilda will be let go this week

Vilda was officially fired today

RFEF names Montse Tomé as new coach of Spain's WNT. Tomé was an assistant to Jorge Vilda since 2018.

big news in women's football today, Chelsea has announced that Emma Hayes will step down after this season to pursue opportunities "beyond club football" The dominant rumor is that she will be taking over the USA women's team.