Four years in women’s football is a lifetime.
In the time since the United States swatted the Netherlands aside with ease in the 2019 World Cup final in Lyon, the landscape of the women’s game has shifted completely.
As the teams thrashed out a fiery draw in their Group E match at this year’s tournament in Wellington, it was clear that all the remained the same were the names of the two sides.
“What is left of their superiority?” Dutch head coach Andries Jonker had quipped ahead of the game.
The answer undoubtedly is that the consistent investment, expansion, and growth of the women’s game across the globe since the US picked up their fourth world title has shown that the rest of the chasing pack is finally catching up.
Cracks in the armor?
An air of invincibility surrounded the American team in 2019, with a key component of their victory undeniably that many teams were defeated even before they stepped onto the pitch.
That was true for the Dutch in France, who mustered just a single shot on target in 90 minutes as they sunk to a 2-0 loss in their first-ever World Cup final.
At a blustery Cake Tin in New Zealand’s capital, Jonker’s team produced perhaps their best 45 minutes of World Cup play as Jill Roord’s excellent strike from the edge of the box had given the Netherlands the lead against the run of play.
The goal was indicative of Jonker’s beliefs about the evolution of the women’s game as he questioned whether a gap even remains anymore between the United States and “the rest”.
“The intensity in European football really has grown the last couple of years, as well as the fitness,” Jonkers told ESPN.
“In the past, the American women were a lot fitter than the rest of the world but I really think those days are over. If you look at the Champions League nowadays, you see the same level of intensity.”
‘We are better or very close to them’
Although the US, with a side that had six players featuring in their first World Cup, struggled to gain their foothold in the first-half, forward Sophia Smith bristled at Jonker’s suggestion that the gap was closing because of fitness.
“No teams are fitter than us,” she told DW. “I don’t know what that comment is but we’re plenty fit, we’re plenty capable, we just didn’t come out on the front foot.”
But, with the Dutch having enjoyed 61% of possession in the first-half, Dominique Janssen — who agonizingly watched her dipping half-volley land on the roof of the net to make it 2-0, echoed her coach’s thoughts.
“Since the coach was here with us for the last year, he really made us fit,” Janssen explained to DW. “He really made us believe in everything we do, and he made us work really hard.
“We as a team, we keep developing. Obviously you see generally in women’s football how the level is just getting better and better. That’s what was showing today.
“It was nice to see we can get a point against the US, and hopefully one day we will also be able to get three points against them.”
Goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar, who saved well from Trinity Rodman and Smith in the second half to ensure her side walked away with a share of the spoils, went a step further.
A smiling van Domselaar added: “Four years ago is a long time ago and we’ve grown since then. I think we showed the whole world that we are better or very close to them.”
While the Netherlands put on an impressive display in Wellington, they are far from the only team to showcase the improvement in the game across the world.
Debutants impress
The 2019 tournament had begun with United States thrashing Thailand 13-0 in their opening match, registering the largest-ever margin of victory in the process and leaving the Thai players in tears.
With the competition having been expanded from 24 to 32 teams this year, there were understandable fears of many more lop-sided matches.
Yet, 2023’s debutants have equipped themselves well against the more experienced European and North American powerhouses.
Although Vietnam fell to a 3-0 loss against the US, goalkeeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh pulled off several impressive saves, even keeping out Alex Morgan’s penalty.
Morgan spoke of the clear improvement by the lower ranked teams, saying: “There was a concern over the quality but that was squashed pretty quickly in the first few games.”
Fellow debutants Haiti fell to a somewhat unfortunate 1-0 loss against European champions England and Jamaica earned their first-ever World Cup point against a much-vaunted French side.
This came as no surprise to US head coach Vlatko Andonovski, who explained: “The teams ranked between 15-40 in the world are probably the ones that have grown the most and are the ones that make this tournament interesting.”
Fight for equality continues
For Morgan though, the most important difference between the 2019 World Cup and this year is that the team’s battle for equality is behind them.
She recalled fighting a legal battle whilst also simultaneously trying to win the biggest tournament in football as an unwelcome and draining distraction.
Heading into this tournament players from Canada, France, Spain, Haiti and Zambia all found themselves embroiled in issues with their federations.
However, while the United States’ own struggle may be over, Morgan and the entire team are aware of their responsibility to bring players around the world up alongside them.
“Not having distractions like having to fight for equal pay or equal work conditions this at all ever again is massive,” she said. “I hope that will soon be the case for all the players around the world.”
“As much as we can, in any ways they want, we’ll keep supporting all the other players who are fighting the fight that we fought for so long,” she said.
For many that fight will go on for much longer but four years on from the final between the United States and the Netherlands, there is no doubt that the conversation has changed around the world.
Edited by: Michael Da Silva
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