FIFA WWC'23 3 on 3: Season Finale
Reflections on the finals, and most importantly: What next?
England vs Spain
There were a lot of non-football things that pointed to things being an England win, if you were superstitious. The track record of having women coaches winning the major women’s championships in the past decade. The fact that when a European team won the women’s World Cup, they were also current European champions. The fact that England had never lost when I watched them wearing my 2022 away England jersey (and the only time they did - vs Australia in April, I wasn’t).
There were things going Spain’s way too: like World Cup winners are coached by someone from their own country. And the side winning normally wearing their home shirt.
But all it falls down to, really, was what happened on the pitch in 90 minutes, and while it looked evenly matched for the first 10-15 minutes, once Spain had a hold on the game, they held on tight. Tactically it looked like Wiegman blinked first, and changed her formation to see if that would have made a difference.
That’s all hindsight though. If it were me, I would have definitely brought James on, but for Toone and not for Russo. Have her in the 10-role to create, maybe Kelly for Stanway (who was getting frustrated) or Daly to ping it into the box for Russo as the target person. But what do I know? Sarina Weigman has back-to-back European Championships and World Cup final appearances; my U17s came third from bottom last season.
Football, right? It’s the hope the kills you. 90 minutes done and you think about a pass misplaced, a shot not taken, a mistimed run. Football is after all a series of moments, and moments not taken are moments rued in the aftermath.
What was achieved and what next?
The statistics that have accompanied the achievements of this World Cup have been staggering. Games in the latter stages for the Matilda’s broke long-standing viewing records in Australia. It is the second most successful World Cup — after the men’s event in Qatar late last year. A record number of goals were scored. 1.9m fans attended the games in person.
We saw debutant teams making it into the knockout round. We saw teams scoring their first ever World Cup goals. We saw the first hijaabi take the field for her country. We saw fans tuning in from all corners of the globe, despite FIFA’s fumbling of tv rights.
A success all round.
The way the game has picked up in Australia - where other codes of football as well as cricket have always taken precedence - is something many fans are optimistic about. The A-League - Australia professional football league - may experience the impact that Euro2022 had for the game in Europe. I am a bit hesitant on this - I do not want to rain on anyone’s beautiful parade but most of the Matildas play abroad, unlike players in the two teams competing in the finals.
But we’ve already seen the Australian government promising investment in women’s sports to the tune of AU$200m. We know, when we invest, we see rewards : this very championship is testament to that.
Teams that did not make it as far, have vowed to come back better. Standard bearers acknowledge they may no longer be the benchmark - but are equally open to the fact that this can only mean that people are getting better and that’s how the game will grow.
We are seeing change, and the game is all the better for it.
How far we still have to go
And yet, among all that jubilation and mutual back-patting, we also see how much further there is to go for women in football and in sports in general. Finalists England go home to see if they can resolve a longstanding dispute with the FA about their bonuses. Canada and Jamaica are demanding better investment. Nigeria and South Africa are looking to get paid.
And of course, there’s Spain. The concerns of the 15 players that were raised against coach Jorge Vilda - and ignored - was just the tip of the iceberg concerning the world in which the World Champions have had to operate in. The blatant way in which their own federation President acted on the world stage - ball grabbing while celebrating a goal, assaulting (kissing a player without consent) during the prize giving ceremony and the subsequent backtracking and flaccid attempts at trying to shoo-away the global concern of his behaviour - makes one think: what happens behind closed doors?
It makes me think of why there seems to be split tones of anger vs support between players coming from certain teams within that Spanish side. It makes me think of the absence of a safe space to raise concerns by players without fear of retaliation. It makes me think of how typical it is for men to grab the headlines when it is the women who have achieved the amazing feat of winning the World Cup.
And of course, the rot comes from the top. The blatant gaslighting by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, asking women to ‘pick the right fights’ and bring them to the men - as if this hasn’t been everything they have done over the years, and also why do men then decide on this, when we know we can govern our own sport too?
Infantino was booed at the awards ceremony, reminding me of the time I was at the 2012 Olympic gold medal game and the whole of Wembley booed his predecessor. Is being a sexist white man a pre-requisite to becoming FIFA president, one wonders?
So yes, we’ve made the friendship bracelets, we’ve taken our moments and we’ve tasted it — but there’s a long way to go still to get the respect due. Good thing is, we’re not on our own.