The FIFA Women’s World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women’s national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the sport’s international governing body.
The recently concluded Women’s World Cup that was hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand has ignited some exciting predictions for the future of women’s football.
According to former New Zealand captain, Rebecca Smith, women’s football is poised to eventually surpass the men’s game in popularity.
Interestingly, it appears that the business aspect of the sport is also changing for the better.
Director of Product, Steph Foran, has explained that women’s football has always faced significant challenges in becoming commercially viable.
However, this year, they managed to sell out all their advertising inventory and had a lot of interest from investors.
The tournament was a resounding success, with almost two million fans attending – a significant increase of over 600,000 from the previous record.
Additionally, the average attendance was also up, with an impressive 30,911 spectators compared to 21,756 at the 2019 World Cup in France.
With FIFA setting a target of 1.5 million ticket sales for 2023, the future of women’s football appears to be bright and unstoppable.
The global impact of this event has been staggering, and it is thrilling to consider what the future holds for this ground-breaking sport.
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Award winners
Best Young Player: Salma Paralluelo (Spain)
Golden Glove: Mary Earps (England)
Golden Ball: Aitana Bonmati (Spain)
Golden Boot: Hinata Miyazawa (Japan)
Women’s World Cup 2023 Team of the Tournament (3-4-3)
Goalkeeper – Zecira Musovic (Sweden)
Defenders – Amanda Ilestedt (Sweden)
Wendie Renard (France)
Alex Greenwood (England)
Midfielders – Jill Roord (Netherlands)
Teresa Abelleria (Spain)
Aitana Bonmali (Spain)
Jennifer Hermoso (Spain)
Forward – Lauren Hemp (England)
Mary Fowler (Australia)
Hinata Miyazawa (Japan)
The tournament was a splendour with its twist and turns in various angles.
The USA, who were the favourites to win the trophy, fell short of their dream to win back-to-back cups, losing to Sweden. The USA have won the cup four times
Sweden claimed third place for the fourth time, while co-host Australia failed to bring home any medals.
Spain won the competition, becoming the first nation to hold the U-17 Women’s World Cup, U-20 Women’s World Cup, and the National Team FIFA Women’s World Cup.
