How the World Cup took women’s football to another level

Good morning. The Lionesses’ World Cup campaign reaches fever pitch today as they face co-host nation Australia, or the Matildas, in the semi-finals in Sydney. The winner of today’s match will secure a place in the final against Spain.

Regardless of who wins, the stage is set for history to be made. Neither Spain, England, nor Australia have competed in a World Cup final, let alone won the trophy. It’s been an extraordinary tournament in a competition that has been dominated by the USA for decades; and a healthy sign for the women’s game as it continues its remarkable growth.

For today’s newsletter, I spoke with Guardian football writer Sarah Rendell, who has been covering every twist and turn in this year’s World Cup, about the upcoming match, the impact the tournament will have globally, and all the great memes so far. That’s after today’s headlines.

Five big stories

In depth: ‘It’s nice the focus is actually on the football, rather than everything around it’

The 2023 Women’s World Cup has already been hailed as the most successful in history, with a record-breaking 1.4m tickets purchased for the 64 matches, which will culminate with Sunday’s final. And this time, the world is watching too. In Australia alone, the Women’s World Cup closed in on 10 million viewers at the halfway point.

It’s against this intensive backdrop that England will face the hosts, but both sides have tried to cool talks of an intense rivalry between them. “I think for us Australians, I don’t want to say ‘unbothered’, but we want to go out there and do the job, and that’s to play,” goalkeeper Lydia Williams said. “All the extra stuff, rivalries and stuff, it doesn’t really come about.” While England’s Keira Walsh said: “There is a rivalry with any team. So, for me, it doesn’t make much of a difference if the media is trying to talk about beating England.”

Do you believe them?

How far the game has come

So what’s it been like covering a World Cup that has packed such a huge emotional punch? “The biggest shock for me was Germany going out,” said Sarah, “[because] I thought they were going to win.” Germany were knocked out of the group stages for the first time in the tournament’s history after their draw against South Korea.

“I was messaging one of my good friends, who’s a big women’s football supporter, and we both ran out of things to say. We were just so speechless and thinking, ‘What’s just happened!’ Alexandra Popp was second to the Golden Boot at that time, but Germany were then out. It was so bizarre, but these emotional moments propel the sport forward. It gives the sport the respect that it deserves. You’ll always have those trolls that say things about women’s football, but they’ve really been silenced by this tournament.”

There have been any number of extraordinary moments of skill and athleticism, from Ireland’s captain Katie McCabe scoring a goal directly from a corner kick to the agonising 20 penalties that were needed for Australia to beat France.

“It’s nice that the focus is now actually on the football being played, rather than everything around it,” said Sarah. “Obviously, they’re still asked about attendance, they’re still breaking records and it’s great to highlight how far they’ve come; and how far the game still needs to go. But it is nice that we’re speaking about the goalkeeping efforts of Zecira Musovic and looking into the tactics; rather than it all being about the background and the politics around women’s football instead.”

That’s not to say politics is not still important, Sarah adds. While writing up Spain’s win against Sweden yesterday, she still had to provide context that some of Spain’s leading players made themselves unavailable for the World Cup squad because of an ongoing dispute with coach Jorge Vilda. “The football is great, but remember the context!”

‘I love all those little moments’

Sarah also points to the overwhelming number of memes and viral clips that have come out of the tournament, demonstrating the huge engagement from fans.

“There’s this moment between Alyssa Naeher, the US goalkeeper, and Musovic. Naeher was still arguing that Sweden’s winning penalty hadn’t gone over the line and Musovic grabbed her hand as a handshake anyway,” Sarah says before laughing. Naeher barely acknowledged the handshake, still standing in disbelief at what had happened.

The players themselves have also been brilliant at engaging fans online. England’s Lauren James was given a red card after she stood on the back of Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie during their match. Later, Alozie posted an image (above) of the incident with the caption “life”. It’s had almost 6m views, and was liked more than 200,000 times.

“I love all those little moments as they show the personality of women’s footballers as well,” Sarah said.

What the tournament means for women

The end of the tournament is now within sight, but what impact will the 2023 World Cup go on to have on women’s football? “In England, it will continue at the pace that it is. The big impact in this country came last summer when England won the Euros, so it feels as if that momentum is just building and growing,” Sarah said.

“Across different countries – like Colombia, Nigeria, Jamaica – seeing their teams not get the same amount of funding as some of the teams that they’ve beaten but still showing up, putting in amazing performances, and becoming real role models for the young girls getting into football; I think that’s where this World Cup will make its biggest impact.”

That impact is perhaps most visible in Australia, where tens of thousands of people across the country have packed out outdoor viewings, pubs, and stands to support the Matildas on their epic World Cup run so far.

“If the World Cup hadn’t been as unpredictable, then that impact wouldn’t have been there.”

What else we’ve been reading

• “People are far more similar than anyone would ever believe”: fans of Race Across the World will love Rachel Dixon’s vivid interview with Torbjørn Pedersen (above), who has travelled the globe without ever taking a plane. Hannah J Davies, deputy editor, newsletters

• The latest in the extraordinary How we survive series features Joe Yelverton, who details how he almost died in an avalanche that killed his friend, but still found a way to overcome the PTSD and addiction he developed as a result of the tragedy. Aamna

• Hit the bottle: Anna Berrill’s got a guide to the best pastes and jars to liven up dull dishes. Hannah

• The recorder is a 600-year-old school staple that is either a source of joy, or tool worthy of ridicule. Kat Lister, who loves her recorder, speaks to a network of passionate enthusiasts working to ensure the survival of the instrument dubbed the marmite of the woodwind world. Aamna

• Anna Delvey’s 15 minutes continue via – it pains me to say – a pretty entertaining interview with Variety. Hannah