IF YOU'RE FEELING OVERWHELMED AHEAD OF THE WOMEN'S WORLD CUP

I listed it out for u

We're now ridiculously close to the women’s world cup kicking off. Mere days in fact!! HOURS.

There's a lot that's been going on and, not gonna lie or sweep anything under the rug - it can feel really overwhelming to take in and keep up with all the information and content. At the same time we want to engage in all the things that are being produced/written/filmed/recorded for this month-long party!!

I also embrace the irony of putting together a long list of things to engage with, as if that’s not overwhelming or anything.

SOME GOOD THINGS

Here’s a good, ever expanding thread of some players who might’ve flown under the radar, youngsters and other players to keep an eye out for.

This is a lovely article by Samantha Lewis about Lydia Williams, who has played a huge part in the development of women’s football in Australia.

Marta and Christine Sinclair are both playing their SIXTH world cup, which is insane.

This is a brilliant site built by Alison Gale which will show you the World Cup playing schedule in your own time zone, and you can filter out results based on team and/or city. Not all heroes wear capes.

Mariam Kourabi, under the name SHE scores bangers, makes a lot of great and insightful content about women’s football. She’s got a youtube channel and is also very active on Twitter.

Indigenous flags will be allowed to fly at the tournament which is beautiful to see! Of course mark the fact that it had to be allowed, as if they should not in fact be a given on indigenous land, but sure.

Megan Rapinoe’s book, which is an incredible read. It comes off the back of Rapinoe announcing her retirement from the game after this season, and this incredible gay anime advert Nike made came out!!

A breakdown of the African teams participating: Morocco and Zambia are heading to the tournament for the first time (and Zambia wrapped up their pre-tournament preparations by winning 3-2 against Germany!) It’s the second time for South Africa and Nigeria are veterans, having appeared in all previous eight editions of the tournament.

12 young potential breakout stars at this tournament to read up and keep an eye on. We love potential!!

This story about the start of Diaspora United, Shea Butter FC, and Gal Pal Sport. About black people, heavily underrepresented in sports media, taking matters into their own hands and creating the media outlets they wish existed. “It’s not just fans that appreciate quality, Black-centered coverage. “You'd be amazed at the players that show up in our inbox and thank us,” Bullock says. “They want that coverage. They want it, and they want it from Black media. Like straight up, they want it from Black media, and they want it from Black women in particular.”

About how traditional media, already shrinking, does not do a good enough job of hiring people who *actually* know something and are passionate about women’s football, and the power of community and independent media (spoiler: money was raised for these podcasters to go down to Australia and NZ to cover the tournament).
”Ryder and Anderson were in France during the 2019 World Cup, and found themselves disappointed by how little coverage the games seemed to be getting. And what coverage they did see left them cold. “The coverage that we were getting was a lot of like, ‘Look at her go! She's so strong!’” says Ryder, well aware that the tone of women’s sports coverage often and too easily tips over from empowering to patronizing.“

A straightforward cute guide to the basic set-up of the tournament. Send this to anyone who needs it.

A beautiful article about USA’s central defender Naomi Girma, her background and her potential in the game.

The podcast My New Favorite Futbolista, or Mi Mundialista Favorita, features some big names including Crystaln Dunn, Christine Sinclair and Estefania Banini. Big big up for the podcast being available in both English and Spanish.

Kelley O’Hara’s chaotic energy is great.

SOME SHIT THINGS

FIFA finally made a decision regarding the controversial OneLove captain armbands, which they’re banning from being used at the tournament. They’ve developed eight other armbands that the teams get to select from, covering different topics, but a notable absence is one that addresses LGBTQ rights explicitly. Lol.

Brenda Elsey has written a great article covering the issues in the Colombia national team which include sexual harassment. “To love women’s soccer is to feel constant ambivalence punctuated by moments of joy and horror,” Elsey writes. “That’s because women’s soccer operates under a corrupt system steeped in misogyny. And the men who wield power within that system have escaped consequences time and again.”

Also Zambia’s national team has been plagued by reports of sexual harassment.

This is a comprehensive list that summarises some of the key absences at the tournament. It makes for dark reading, because it makes you realise that there are a lot of different factors that work in different ways and come together to create perfect storms like the ones we’re witnessing this tournament, with mass absences of some of the best players in the game.

There’s still been no reports confirming that Japan has a national broadcaster for the tournament. Such a shame for the Nadeshiko team, who won the tournament in 2011 and were in the final in 2015. The Philippines do also not have a national broadcaster for the World Cup according to reports.

Currently located in Sweden, I’ve been trying to plan out where I’m going to be watching the world cup games and with who. Turns out that’s going to have to take place at home, by myself. There are no public viewings currently organised, despite pressure being put on the big cities by frustrated supporters, and this is not the first time. In the Soft Hooligan Facebook group (some of you might remember the beautiful yellow wave of Swedish support that landed in England for last summer’s Euros) many people have aired their grievances. I just want to scoop us all up and place us in a big beautiful park with a massive screen, a breakfast buffé and lots of black coffee.

The fact that players are tearing ACL’s mere days before the tournament is set to start. Germany’s Carolin Simon just underwent surgery after tearing her ACL in the last friendly game against Zambia, who lost their own first-choice goalkeeper Hazel Nali days later, confirmed with having torn her ACL as well. Switzerland’s Iman Beney, the 16-year-old wonderkid, tore her ACL in training the day after being confirmed for the World Cup squad.

Reporting on the Nigerian team, which has been locked in a power-struggle between the federation, the team and their coach. The issues have impacted the whole build-up to the tournament. This has been the same for the likes of Canada, South Africa, and Jamaica, amongst others. Where players have been clearly demanding to get the resources, and the payments, they deserve.