The U.S. women’s soccer team made history on Sunday, beating the Netherlands 2-0 in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup final and becoming the second women’s team to ever hoist the World Cup trophy in two consecutive World Cup tournaments. Along the way, they delighted a massive contingent of traveling American fans and stirred up more than a few controversies at home.
With the celebratory confetti still settling on Lyon, France’s Groupama Stadium, Game Plan looked at out how media around the world covered this year’s biggest moment in women’s soccer.
“Still Unstoppable” — Chicago Tribune
The confident headline from Chicago’s leading newspaper tells the story of a team that, despite injuries, a pending lawsuit with its organizing body and the distraction Twitter fight between its captain and the President of the United States, found a way to beat the best teams in the world for the second tournament in a row.
The Chicago Tribune dedicated the entirety of its above the fold space to the historic U.S. soccer moment, including a massive cover image.
In addition to its coverage of the news, the paper also included additional stories on the equal payment of women in sports, a topic that has reached a domestic boiling point and will continue to be discussed long after the final victory parade.
“After the Tears Comes the Pride” — De Telegraaf
The Oranje had their home country fans buzzing throughout the tournament, so it should come as no surprise that the team earned nearly the entire front page of the Netherland’s biggest newspaper De Telegraaf, despite its 2-0 loss to the U.S.
The headline reads “Na De Tranen Komt De Trots,” translating to, “After the Tears Comes the Pride” — a targeted message for a young European champions, a team that could be a force for many World Cups to come.
France’s L’Équipe Trolls Trump
France’s L’Équipe may earn top honors in newsroom irony with a celebratory U.S. women’s national team gracing the paper’s front page, accompanied by the biting headline “Great Again.” A poke at the polarizing slogan of President Trump — a political figure that took issue with some players representing the stars and stripes not after, but during, the tournament — the L’Équipe spread is an original and provocative blend of sports and the current day.
Above the Fold, Center Stage
The U.S. women’s victory scored prime front page real estate in a number of noteworthy domestic newspapers — a nod not only to the team, but to the growing importance of women’s soccer in the global sports landscape.
The Wall Street Journal dedicated its featured front-page image to the team with a title, “U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Keeps Its Grip on the World Cup.”
After providing extensive coverage of the tournament from France, the New York Times alluded to the importance of this particular 2019 U.S. team, launching its front-page headline, “U.S. Wins World Cup, Becomes Champion For Its Time.”
The Washington Post marked the occasion with a statement of its own, running the headline “U.S. more than ‘equal’ to the task.” Despite out-performing the U.S. men’s national team in World Cup play, the U.S. women’s team is currently earning a fraction of their male counterparts’ pay. The U.S. women’s team is currently suing it’s organizational body, U.S. Soccer, and the issue has become one of the most galvanizing of the tournament.
The Washington Post, it seems, got the memo.
Grant Wahl Champions Sports Illustrated Coverage
American soccer reporter Grant Wahl has become one of the mainstays on the American soccer beat (both domestically and internationally), and he proved why at the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
Reporting for Sports Illustrated, Wahl was absolutely everywhere with a bandwidth that would make Apple’s Siri jealous (in between near daily posts, interviews and video pieces he somehow even penned a soccer-based tribute to his late mother). As a result, his coverage was arguably the most-trafficked throughout the tournament.
The day of the final was no exception, as Wahl put out a final video cast and then jumped immediately into writing a 2,500-word feature for Sports Illustrated’s print magazine.
Can’t knock that hustle, Grant.
Bleacher Report Confused Everybody
The popular sports news and commentary site had their finger on the trigger after the final World Cup whistle, but delivered a strange finale to what otherwise was a solid tournament content-wise.
Instead of congratulating the 23-woman U.S. team roster for their accomplishments, they published a patriotic portrait mural of the U.S. women’s national team and what we can only assume are other American heroes?
Beyond the initial weird factor, the mural also only includes 15 of the 23 players on the roster, while including Zac Efron, Andy Samberg, the entire cast of FRIENDS and, umm, Iron Man?
Needless to say, before Bleacher Report could take the Tweet down (which didn’t take long), the Internet had a field day.
New York Post Adds Tabloid Effect
It can be hard to stick out in today’s media world, but the New York Post did its best to capture everyone’s attention with a front and back cover spread of the U.S. women’s historic World Cup win. Full of flags and painful puns, the New York-based tabloid gave plenty of real estate to the Golden Girls of Summer ahead of their scheduled victory parade in the Big Apple this coming week.
Even Google Got in on the Fun
Okay sure, this might not be fully press-related, but U.S. soccer madness even permeated the all-powerful Google, which featured a customized U.S. women’s soccer graphic on its homepage a day after the U.S. lifted the biggest trophy in women’s soccer.
