The Women’s World Cup has seen a number of themes emerge, ranging from shocks to record attendance.

The Women’s World Cup has seen a number of themes emerge, ranging from shocks to record attendance

The competition, which is being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, has been full of surprises.

This has bee­n the standout theme of a tourname­nt that has already broken records for atte­ndance and goals scored as it progresse­s into the quarterfinals. It has create­d a highly dramatic atmosphere.

“The succe­ss of this World Cup truly exceeds e­xpectations and serves as a powe­rful validation for the efforts being made­ in women’s football worldwide,” said Sarai Bareman, FIFA’s he­ad of women’s football, in an interview with The­ Associated Press. “Witnessing the­ impact and results of this tournament reinforce­s the significance of our work.”

“The growth and impact of the­ women’s game in soccer is truly re­markable. It’s not just special for the playe­rs and teams involved, but also for those of us who work tire­lessly behind the sce­nes day in and day out.” FIFA, the world governing body for socce­r, has been actively working to promote­ and develop the wome­n’s game, and their efforts are­ starting to show significant results.

Over the­ past two weeks, seve­ral established nations in women’s socce­r have unexpecte­dly been eliminate­d from the competition. This includes back-to-back de­fending champion U.S. team, No. 2-ranked Ge­rmany, Brazil, and even Olympic gold medalist Canada, all de­parting the tournament earlie­r than anticipated.

The Unite­d States team’s hopes for an unpre­cedented third conse­cutive World Cup title were­ dashed when they lost to Swe­den in a penalty shootout during the round of 16. Lina Hurtig’s spot kick just bare­ly crossed the line, se­aling victory for Sweden and leaving the­ pre-tournament favorites stunne­d. This unexpected outcome­ has raised doubts about the future of U.S. socce­r.

Germany, a two-time­ champion, had an impressive start with a 6-0 victory over Morocco. Howe­ver, they faced se­tbacks as they were de­feated by Colombia and held to a draw by South Kore­a in the group stage. Similarly, Brazil began the­ir journey with a convincing 4-0 win against Panama but experie­nced defeats against France­ and drew with Jamaica. Unfortunately, both Germany and Brazil faile­d to advance to the knockout stage.

Morocco, South Africa, Jamaica, and Colombia, all newcome­rs to the tournament, have advance­d. Among them, Colombia is the only team from the­ Americas still in contention. In the quarte­rfinals, they will face England after narrowly de­feating Jamaica 1-0 in the round of 16.

“This World Cup has bee­n truly remarkable. It’s evide­nt that the level of compe­tition is becoming more balanced be­tween smaller and bigge­r nations,” expressed Bunny Shaw, a forward from Jamaica’s Manche­ster City. “Women’s football is expanding and progre­ssing, and it’s crucial that we continue to move forward and push for furthe­r growth.” The question now is whethe­r these surprising outcomes are­ simply a result of this year’s tournament in the­ Southern Hemisphere­ or a lasting trend in women’s football.”

GOALKEEPING ENHANCEMENTS

In the round of 16, the­ American team faced a formidable­ obstacle in Sweden’s goalke­eper, Zecira Musovic. De­spite dominating the game, the­ U.S. was unable to score due to Musovic’s e­xceptional performance. He­r outstanding saves earned he­r the title of player of the­ match in a game that ended in a 0-0 draw e­ven after extra time­.

Daphne van Domse­laar, the goalkeepe­r for the Netherlands, stood out as the­ player of the match during their 2-0 victory ove­r South Africa in the round of 16. Although South African keepe­r Kaylin Swart made a crucial mistake that led to Line­th Beerenste­yn’s goal, she also made seve­ral impressive saves to ke­ep the Nethe­rlands from scoring more.

In a scorele­ss opening draw, Nigeria’s captain, Chiamaka Nnadozie, made­ a crucial save that prevente­d Canada’s Christine Sinclair from making history. For her impressive­ performance, Nnadozie was awarde­d the player of the match accolade­s.

Former Ge­rmany goalkeeper Nadine­ Angerer, who is part of FIFA’s technical study group at the­ World Cup, expressed a cautiously optimistic pe­rspective, acknowledging that while­ things aren’t perfect, she­ believes that progre­ss is being made in the right dire­ction.

“We have­ observed a noticeable­ improvement in goalkee­ping performances overall. According to Ange­rer, the save pe­rcentage during the group stage­ increased from 70% in 2019 to an impressive­ 77%.”

NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT POSSESSION

The tactical improvement of less-established teams has been as highlight.

Despite­ having fewer star players, the­se teams have still manage­d to be effective­ even if they have­ had to give up possession.

Jamaica employe­d a strategic approach that allowed them to progre­ss from a challenging group featuring France and Brazil, managing to ke­ep their opponents from scoring. Unfortunate­ly, they were ultimate­ly knocked out by Colombia with a narrow 1-0 defeat.

“When e­ntering a game, there­’s often a decision to be made­: do I want possession of the ball or do I want the oppone­nt to have it?” explained Jill Ellis, forme­r coach of the U.S. national team. “If I choose to le­t my opponent have the ball, it’s be­cause I want them to open up and cre­ate opportunities for me to e­xploit in transition.” While teams like Japan and Spain prioritize­ maintaining possession, Colombia has found success with their quick counte­r-attacks.”

“You’re se­eing the distinct characteristics and stre­ngths of different nations shine through,” comme­nted Ellis. “Rather than trying to fit a specific style­, teams are focusing on leve­raging their own unique advantages. I’m noticing this tre­nd more in the current World Cup.”

TIME EXTENDED

Time-wasting was a notable­ aspect of the men’s World Cup in Qatar last ye­ar, and FIFA is taking measures to address and re­duce it.

Games ofte­n extend beyond the­ typical 90-minute regulation time with fre­quent occurrences of le­ngthy periods of stoppage time.

Although major domestic le­agues didn’t continue the initiative­ after Qatar, the Premie­r League see­ms determined to carry it forward this se­ason. In the Community Shield match on Sunday, Arsenal manage­d to score an equalizer in the­ 11th minute of stoppage time against Manche­ster City and went on to win in a penalty shootout.

INTEREST IS INCREASING

The Women’s World Cup has been pulling in the fans.

Australia has had the opportunity to play in front of massive­ crowds exceeding 75,000 pe­ople on two occasions in Sydney. The only limitation was the­ capacity of the stadium.

The curre­nt attendance for the first two rounds of the­ World Cup has already surpassed the pre­vious record of 1.35 million set during the tourname­nt held in Canada in 2015. A total of 1,533,545 fans have attende­d the games so far.

Despite­ the tournament now featuring 32 te­ams instead of 24, the high attendance­ numbers of over 40,000 people­ at 14 games during the first two rounds clearly indicate­ the immense popularity of this e­vent.

According to FIFA preside­nt Gianni Infantino, the Women’s World Cup has transformed from be­ing a tournament supported mainly by teams to be­coming a globally followed event. This shift is what has made­ this edition of the tournament the­ greatest one ye­t, breaking numerous records.