Welcome to the summer of soccer. The sport’s premier event, the Women’s FIFA World Cup, starts in less than a month.
The United States is favored to win and the U.S. Women’s National Team roster was announced this week. And the rest of the world is trying to keep the USWNT from winning three in a row.
This year’s Women’s World Cup, hosted by Australia and New Zealand, is on track to become the most attended standalone women’s sporting event ever with over one million tickets sold, FIFA said earlier this month. The ninth Women’s World Cup has sold 1,032,884 tickets, more than the previous tournament in France in 2019. Officials have changed opening game sites to the biggest stadium, featuring 83,500 seats, to meet the demand.
“The future is women, thanks to the fans for supporting what will be the greatest FIFA Women’s World Cup ever!,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said, emphatically, in a statement.
Bring it on.
Pencil in your summer calendar the group stage games: USA vs Vietnam, July 21, 9 p.m.; USA vs. Netherlands, July 26, 9 p.m.; and USA vs. Portugal, Aug. 1, 3 a.m.
But this week’s team announcement was clouded by disappointment.
Team captain and centerback Becky Sauerbrunn, the 38-year-old veteran and World Cup champion, was left off the roster with a foot injury. It’s a devastating loss for the team.
Her interview last week on Snacks, the podcast hosted by USWNT star forward Lynn Williams and former national team player Sam Mewis, should come with a trigger warning.
I literally had tears running down my cheeks listening to the Just Women’s Sports-sponsored podcast during my morning dog walk last week.
If you’ve been cut from a team or experienced a close friend, relative or teammate denied playing time in a big tournament or game because of an untimely injury, the interview really hits…
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