There were similarly solid turnouts in New Zealand, where more than 700,000 fans attended 29 matches. For all the above, this was a tournament that brought an immense amount of hope and confidence that respect for women's football is actually headed in the right direction. But as Dr Ali Bowes - a lecturer in the sociology of women's sport at Nottingham Trent University - recently told BBC News , "sport is a microcosm of society". What kind of upside-down world are we in? On the biggest stage, where you should be celebrating, Jenni [Hermoso] has to be physically assaulted by this guy." The shirt saga and support for players Fans resorted to makeshift versions of Earps' shirt

Stadium Australia was filled with yellow shirts in the stands - Colombia fans were on their feet waving scarves around their heads following any advance over the halfway line and they whistled loudly when England were in possession. Contextualising and chronicling the gender equality provisions in FIFA’s 2016 governance reforms: Situating the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 It wasn’t just the co-hosts that enjoyed healthy viewership. Notably, 53.9 million viewers in China watched the country’s 6-1 defeat to England during the group stages. Elsewhere, the draw between the US and the Netherlands was watched by 7.93 million viewers on Fox and Telemundo, making it the largest combined English and Spanish-language audience in the States for a Women’s World Cup group stage match. The USWNT’s round of 16 loss to Sweden pulled in an average of 2.52 million viewers and peaked at 4.07 million on Fox, down 20 per cent on the team’s equivalent fixture in the 2019 Women’s World Cup, which was played in a more favourable time slot. This book offers a critical examination of the 2023 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Women’s World Cup, being held in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Drawing on perspectives from sociology, history, political science, and management, it sheds new light on the development of women’s soccer and on women’s sport more broadly.

That aggregate attendance figure soared past the previous best set in 2015, when 1,353,506 spectators watched the games in Canada. The next edition four years later in France was attended by 1,131,312 supporters. FIFA 2.0, FIFA Women’s Football Strategy, and the bid process for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup: A new hope Two weeks before the 2011 World Cup began, Fifa issued its current gender recognition policies, which require teams to sign a declaration guaranteeing that players chosen for the World Cup are “of an appropriate gender”. Those rules state that: “It lies with each participating member association to … ensure the correct gender of all players by actively investigating any perceived deviation in secondary sex characteristic.” Interestingly, the Women’s World Cup seemed to drive a significant increase in the number of female punters betting on women’s soccer.

All told, Fifa’s Women’s World Cup accounts now have a cumulative 8.3 million followers, which the governing body claims is the largest global community for women’s soccer and sport. This was by no means an easy victory but the resilience and grit that England have been forced to demonstrate so far in the tournament once again helped them over the line, deservedly so, on Saturday. Russo shines as defence hold firm They got through it really well and got the win over the line. That was what we were trying to do and fortunately we did that." I speak as one who has (late in life) been won over to the beautiful game by this splendid team of valiant women. This is because they play spectacular football. Also, thanks to excellent commentating by their former colleagues, I have gained an understanding of how the game is actually played - something male commentators have never even attempted to provide. In addition to a greater appreciation of tactics and strategies, I have come to realise something sports journalists deliberately obscue - if one team is to win, the other must lose.Find out more about team profiles, venue guides and star players to watch out for with the definitive illustrated guide to FIFA Women's World Cup Australia/New Zealand 2023 that no football fan should be without. Taking place between the 20th July and 20th August which of the 32 teams competing is your favourite to win? While the Football Ferns exited at the group stages, the Matildas’ run to the last four fuelled bumper viewership in Australia, peaking at 11.15 million viewers for the semi-final defeat to England. The game drew an average audience of 7.2 million for FTA broadcaster Seven, which saw 18.6 million Australians watch its coverage of the tournament. In addition to being the most-watched TV programme in more than two decades, the semi-final was the most-streamed event ever in Australia with 957,000 viewers on the 7Plus streaming service. Arsenal striker Russo, who had only scored once in four World Cup matches prior to Saturday's quarter-final, worked tirelessly out of possession, earning her opportunity when she pounced on a kind deflection to drill in England's second.