A long overdue final World Cup issue.
It’s taken me a long time to write this final World Cup newsletter. This is partly because I went straight into holiday mode the morning after the final, flying to Melbourne to catch up with friends and family. But it’s also because thinking about the tournament felt heavy. Heavy because of the end of England’s dream and heavy because of everything that had and has happened with the Spanish national team.
There has been some positive collective action and uproar across the football community since RFEF President Luis Rubiales’ grim actions on the podium and plenty of calls for his resignation. But there is plenty beyond the president that has remained unmoved in Spain. It feels like only a matter of time before the news cycle moves one, when the domestic women’s football season starts and life continues. Even if Rubiales does eventually resign, through gritted teeth, the issues across Spanish women’s football are deep, systemic and need serious reform.
It’s been tiring, shocking and actually laughable at times to witness the news cycle since the final. Rubiales mum going on hunger strike probably the most farcical development. I wanted to shut off and briefly forget about football after the final but I also couldn’t look away from the absolute shit show.
I thought there would be a natural time to write this issue but the fallout from the final still rumbles on. But it’s been while since the final so I felt like it was now or never to sit and reflect about the tournament, my time in Australia and what went down in Oz. So here are a few thoughts.
Meaningful change on the way, we hope
I’ve already mentioned it above but I’m hopeful that with the painful and frustrating aftermath from Spain’s win we might see some positive changes. I thought it was wishful thinking from many people who thought that Spain’s win might bring about Vilda’s resignation or empower the players that had previously protested. If anything the result briefly emboldened him and alienated those that stood down from the World Cup even more. But what Rubiales disgraceful performance has done is shine a global spotlight on a failing federation. It has graphically displayed the misogyny and sexism that runs throughout the RFEF. So maybe this will be enough to force change and turn a World Cup win into a movement rather than an unfortunate and untouchable victory for powerful men in the game.
England overachieved and outperformed some of the world’s best
It was absolutely gutting to watch England lose in the World Cup Final, I won’t lie. It was also especially painful because they played so poorly, let Spain cruise to the title in third gear. However, on reflection, the fact England even made it to the final is special. With the injuries, retirements and host of other issues that the team had to deal with in the past year, not many had them down for a World Cup Final. There were moments of luck, like every successful team is gifted, and moments of greatness. In their run to the final Sarina Wiegman’s team showed how different a beast they are now they have a European title under their belt. They fought back with 10 players to beat Nigeria on penalties, came from a goal down against Colombia and dismissed the hosts in front of a partisan crowd. They came up short in that final game when faced with the most frustrating and stubborn obstacle but it was an incredible World Cup for England. While USA, Germany, Brazil and France all fell, they made it to the last two and showed once again they are one of the best teams in the world. I just hope it won’t be the one and only World Cup Final for this team but something tells me there is more magic to come.
Australia got a big case of World Cup fever
With every major tournament there’s always a narrative that this one has been the biggest and best and that every local person has been wrapped to every second of the coverage. Australia had this narrative and watching the first chunk of the tournament from England I did wonder how much of this was true and how much was hubris. Last summer English fans did get behind the Lionesses and there were lots of records broken during the Euros but I didn’t feel like England was hosting a major tournament for most of the summer. You had to be a bit more plugged in to know what was going on and it took until the quarter final/semi final for the rest of the nation to get involved in England’s journey.
As soon as I got to Australia I could see that this wasn’t an exaggeration, Australia, a country where football is still a minor sport, had become absolutely obsessed with the World Cup. People who normally only care for Aussie Rules, NRL or cricket were watching football and it was women’s football that was drawing their attention. There was World Cup logos, merch, banners and posters absolutely everywhere. There were Go Matildas signs on the buses, trams, trains and on street signs. Newspapers had 15-page spreads all about the Matildas, even during the peak coverage of England’s Euros win I never saw that many pages on the Lionesses. Australia are a sports mad country and the way the Matildas were the biggest story and biggest show across the country was seriously impressive. It’s the closest thing I can imagine to what the 1999 Women’s World Cup was for the United States, the Matildas were like the Beatles for a few weeks.
It will be interesting to see the legacy of this tournament for football in Australia, whether they can draw fans and big names to the A League or it will just be the Matildas that carry the sport. The country desperately needs a stronger men’s and women’s domestic game to continue this journey they’re on but Football Australia and all the organisers deserve so much credit for what they delivered, it was one hell of a show.
The future of women’s football is so damn bright
I’m already thinking about the next World Cup, I’m counting down the days. I want England to try and go one better next time, obviously, but more importantly I’m just greedy for more greatness. I want to see more of the insanely talented individuals that lit up the tournament this summer. I want to see how Linda Caicedo evolves in the next four years, how Lauren James develops and Salma Paralluelo. I’m living off that in the next few years, dreaming of more magic. Hope it comes around quickly.