Fútnotes, Volume 27

This World Cup has been an entertaining one so far, with so many good storylines. From teams like New Zealand and the Philippines getting their first ever wins (and in the case of the Philippines their first ever appearance) to breakout performances from Linda Caicedo and Ary Borges, we are witnessing a changing of the guard in women’s soccer.

While we almost always have the narratives of it being a player’s last tournament, emerging breakout stars, and other good stories, this one has been particularly fruitful because of the sheer number of teams in the tournament, with eight more teams than the 2019 edition corresponding nicely with the eight teams making their debuts. We’ve also seen attendances and viewing records all around the world fall, with women’s soccer occupying a prominent place in the world’s news landscape.

This narrative isn’t a new one however. Chances are that if you’re reading this you realize that there’s a wealth of talent outside of just rich nations that predominantly speak English. You also realize there are valuable stories waiting to be told. We are however seeing the rest of the world finally being forced to take notice of this, and hopefully it will shift the tone of conversation about nations from the Global South from being about simply overcoming adversity and being feel-good stories to stories about some of the best players in the entire world playing for some of the toughest national teams.

México

Liga MX celebrated its sixth anniversary on July 28th! (Liga BBVA Femenil Twitter account)

México’s Katia García refereed the match between New Zealand and the Philppines. (FIFA Media Twitter account)

Tigres wunderkind Deiry Ramírez underwent successful surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Ramírez also suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in the same knee. (Futbolera)

Speaking of Tigres, they signed Nigerian-Swedish forward Evelyn Ijeh from Växjö DFF in Sweden. (Tigres English Twitter account)

Tijuana finally announced that Renae Cuéllar has left the club after eight seasons with Xolos Femenil. (Xolos Femenil Twitter account)

FC Juárez’ Sumiko Gutiérrez suffered a broken ring finger on her left hand, which required surgery. (FC Juárez’ Twitter account)

Thank you for reading Golazo del Gringo! If you enjoyed reading this post, please share it with anyone who enjoys women’s soccer.

Rest of the World

Twitter (or X or whatever) apparently placed ads for USA Today, National Women’s Soccer League, and other major brands on a terrorism-linked neo-Nazi account. (Media Matters)

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who spent every time at all 64 matches of the men’s World Cup in Qatar, left the women’s World Cup after just a week to go to Tahiti. (Sky News)

“After attending every Men’s game in Qatar, the Swiss Federal Council has rejected the invitation to watch the Women’s National Team in New Zealand at the FIFA Women's World Cup. This despite the fact the Foreign Minister will be in Wellington next week.” Hat-tip to @swisswnt on Twitter for finding this story. (Watson.ch)

Molly Hensley-Clancy of The Washington Post wrote about how FIFA has failed to protect women’s soccer players from sexual abuses.

The BBC has apologized for a reporter (CNN) who asked Morocco’s captain “We know that gay marriage is illegal, are there any gay players in the team, and how it’s like for them?“ (Morocco World News)

The Canadian Women’s National Soccer Team released a statement saying in part that they “have been forced to choose between receiving a fair share of the rewards from our teams’ successes at the World Cups and our commitment to equal pay and equal treatment with our Men’s National Team.” (Canadian Soccer Players’ Twitter account)

Tamera Griffin did an amazing interview with Ary Borges for The Equalizer.

Jeff Kassouf wrote a good article on the history of New Zealand’s Women’s National Team for The Guardian.

The Philippines got their first ever goal and first ever win at a World Cup, downing hosts New Zealand 1-0, and Henry Bushnell talked to the person who started it all. (Yahoo! Sports)

Theo-Lloyd Hughes’ interview with Paolo del Rosario about del Rosario’s call for the Philippines’ goal is a joy to listen to. (Squad Depth)

Women’s Transfer News tweeted out that Brazil’s TV Globo averaged about 11.5 million people tuning in to Brazil’s 4-0 win over Panamá.

The Sports Bra, a women’s sports-only bar in Portland, Oregon decided to host a midnight watch party for the upcoming match between the United States and Portugal. The event sold out in just 18 minutes. (The Sports Bra Twitter account)

Don’t ever let them tell you no one pays attention to women’s soccer.

If you have something that should be included in this segment, please reach out to me via twitter or email me at [email protected].