The Story

Get ready to watch your favorite soccer players kick some grass.

Let’s gooooal. 

That’s the spirit. On Thursday, the quadrennial soccer tourney will get the ball rolling in Australia and New Zealand. And bets are that it’ll be the most attended women’s sports event, ever. Not to mention that it’s already the biggest in the tournament’s history: For the first time, 32 teams will go head-to-head for soccer’s most coveted trophy. That includes eight newbies, like Zambia, the Philippines, and the Republic of Ireland. It also includes a reported record-breaking 87 athletes who openly identify as LGBTQIA+. (The kicker? At the men’s World Cup, there were apparently, wait for it, zero.) And as is often the case with the World Cup, there’s already been some red cards. That’s due to broadcasting rights, treatment of players (see: France and Spain), and pay (see: England and Canada).

Crikey. Not to make this about us, but…

Glad you asked. This will be the first World Cup where the US women’s national team will receive the same pay rate as the men’s team, thanks to last year’s landmark settlement, which evened the pay-ing field. Seems fair since the USWNT is the two-time defending world champ — and the only women’s soccer team to score four World Cup titles. If the US squad wins this time around, it’ll be the first team — male or female — to three-peat at a World Cup. For now, odds are in its favor. But to net another W, Team USA’s rookies (like Trinity Rodman, daughter of Dennis Rodman) and vets (like soon-to-retire Megan Rapinoe) will have to fend off what some say is its stiffest competition yet. That includes England’s Lionesses, widely regarded as the second-favorite, and Canada, the reigning Olympic gold medalists.