Getty Images The referee has blown the whistle, the biggest Women’s World Cup in history has begun. On July 20, at the Eden Park stadium in New Zealand, the World Cup´s host country together with Australia, the ball rolled onto the pitch to start the ninth edition of the championship.
Until August 20, the date of the final, matches will have been held in nine cities, spread across the two countries. Thirty-two teams are competing for the title, eight more than in the previous Cup in 2019.
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) expects record attendance at stadiums. According to the organization, the more than one million tickets sold before the start of the championship surpassed the total of the French World Cup in 2019.
Brazil´s first match, broadcast by Rede Globo, saw a record audience being watched by around 11 million people. The match reached 16 points on the National Television Panel, the highest audience for this time slot since 2008. Each point is equivalent to about 268,000 households, or 717,000 individuals.
“This World Cup is being seen more and has greater repercussions because we are in the process of consolidating the sport, of acceptance, of cultural changes, especially in Brazil,” explained Luiza Parreiras, the coordinator of female football for the América Futebol Clube.
On August 2, the Brazilian team was eliminated in the first phase. Brazil´s best performance was in the 2007 World Cup, when the team was vice-champion.
Recognition
The recognition of female talent with the ball is reflected in the financial resources involved. The total prize pool of this edition will be 110 million dollars (527.3 million reais at the current exchange rate). According to FIFA, the figure is 300% higher than in 2019 and ten times higher than in 2015.
Still, the value is much lower than the prize for the men’s world championship, which, in the last edition, was of 440 million dollars (2.10 billion reais). For the first time, athletes will receive individual awards. There are 48.9 million dollars (234.2 million reais) to be distributed among the players (see the table on the side). The champion team, in addition to the cup, takes home 4.3 million dollars (20.6 million reais).
“The monetary value is in everything that is a part of football: awards, salaries, sponsorship, brand, investment and what the sport means to society. New values make the wheel turn positively,” says Parreiras.
THE AMERICAN TEAM IS THE GREATEST CHAMPION OF THE WOMEN´S FOOTBALL WORLD CUP
| YEAR | WINNING TEAM |
| 1991 | United States |
| 1995 | Norway |
| 1999 | United States |
| 2003 | Germany |
| 2007 | Germany |
| 2011 | Japan |
| 2015 | United States |
| 2019 | United States |
The most valuable in the world
According to the Soccerdonna website, specialized in women’s football, the Spanish national team is the one with the highest value: 4.17 million euros (21.8 million reais). Its player Alexia Putellas is the best in the world, according to the FIFA award The Best, and is worth about 550,000 euros (2.87 million reais).
Brazil occupies the ninth position in the ranking, with 1.98 million euros (10.36 million reais). Debinha is the most expensive player in the squad and is worth 250,000 euros (1.3 million reais).
Sources: GE, Valor Econômico, Forbes, O Globo, CNN and ESPN.
