Category Archives: Women’s World Cup

Football Australia expects rainbow symbol clearance at Women’s World Cup

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  • Armbands could highlight LGBTQ+ issues and Indigenous rights
  • James Johnson ‘pretty confident’ after ‘good dialogue’ with Fifa

The chief executive of Football Australia has told the Observer that he is “pretty confident and optimistic” players will be allowed to wear rainbow armbands at the Women’s World Cup, after holding talks with Fifa. In a highly significant development, James Johnson said there had been “meaningful dialogue” between the hosts and football’s governing body and that it was likely to lead to players having greater ability to express themselves.

In an exclusive interview, Johnson also revealed that discussions had taken place over permitting Indigenous First Nation flags to be flown inside stadiums at July and August’s competition in Australia and New Zealand, saying it was an important issue for his country and its team.

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Four arrested after climate protesters occupy Dominic Perrottet’s office – as it happened

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Six teenagers and a dozen adults occupied NSW premier’s office, protesting approval of new coal and gas projects. This blog is now closed

We’ve got some more information on the news the Albanese government is set to spend $1.3bn buying 220 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, said Australia would be working closely with the US to get more missile capability.

Making sure we have longer-range strike missiles is a really important capability for the country. It enables us to be able to reach out beyond our shores further and that’s ultimately how we are able to keep Australia safe.

The cruise missiles are a critical part of that, as are the submarines that launch them.

Our banking system is really well capitalised. It’s well regulated. We’re well placed in Australia to withstand some of the vulnerability in banking systems.

Whether it’s Silicon Valley banks, and the steps taken by the Americans, or credit Swiss, and the loans provided by the central bank, we’re monitoring it closely.

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‘Why do we need a supermodel?’: Backlash after Fifa makes Adriana Lima Women’s World Cup ambassador

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  • Football body’s decision criticised as ‘tone deaf’
  • Players and administrators have questioned why athletes were not chosen

Fifa’s decision to appoint supermodel Adriana Lima as an official ambassador for the Women’s World Cup was “tone deaf” and unnecessary, according to former football administrators, players and gender equality campaigners.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino said Lima, a former Victoria’s Secret model, “lives and breathes” football and would be an “excellent link” between the sporting body and fans worldwide. Lima describes herself as a football fan, but appears to have had no official involvement in the sport before now.

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Saudi Arabia to sponsor Women’s World Cup and tighten ties with Fifa

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  • Tourist authority joins international brands on list
  • World Cup starts on 20 July at Eden Park, Auckland

Saudi Arabia’s tourist authority is to sponsor football’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this year, despite the country’s history of oppression of women’s rights.

Fifa is expected to confirm that Visit Saudi will join international brands such as Adidas, Coca-Cola and Visa in attaching its name to the 32-team tournament that will kick off in front of an expected 50,000 supporters at Auckland’s Eden Park on 20 July.

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‘We did it’: Joy and relief as Australia and New Zealand celebrate Women’s World Cup bid success

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  • ‘We freakin’ did it,’ says Matildas captain Sam Kerr
  • Result hailed as a ‘tremendous and exciting step forward’

Australia and New Zealand were celebrating on Friday as the nations awoke to the news that their joint bid had won the race to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup, with the success being hailed as a historic moment for women’s sport in the region.

“We did it. We freakin’ did it,” said Sam Kerr, the Matildas captain whose image had been projected onto Sydney’s Opera House in the buildup to the announcement in the small hours of Friday morning.

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Jaw-dropping sport moments of 2019: USA snub Trump … and enjoy it

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Megan Rapinoe walked it as she talked it, inspiring the USA to World Cup glory while posing important political questions

The cheeky fire-starters at Eight by Eight magazine knew exactly what they were doing when they waited six whole months until the business end of the Women’s World Cup to publish the interview with Megan Rapinoe they had recorded in January. At least as much as the impish American midfielder knew what she was provoking when asked whether the US women’s national soccer team she captains intended to visit Donald Trump if they managed the exceedingly rare feat of repeating as world champions.

“I’m not going to the fucking White House,” Rapinoe flatly stated. “No fucking way will we be invited to the White House.”

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USA v Netherlands: Women’s World Cup final – live!

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25 min: A cross from Dunn to Mewis gives van Veenendaal a difficult catch as she’s backtracking.

Neil Truby asks what it means to say, as I did earlier, that Mewis responds with a takedown. Basically, a wrestling move. But I should clarify that a few seconds had elapsed after Rapinoe cried foul.

22 min: Now the USA look more deliberate, passing around at the back.

Hubert O’Hearn with an interesting point: “What I’m going to suggest is by no means insulting, but this feels more like an FA Cup than a World Cup. You know, some hulking monster of a Man City, or Chelsea in their pomp, facing the gutsy team from mid-table or the Championship that went on a magical run. It’s actually rather charming – can’t remember the last time a World Cup Final felt so Favourite v. Underdog.”

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Sweden beat England to Women’s World Cup bronze with help from VAR

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Rotherham in November does not have too much in common with Nice in the searing 30C heat of a June evening but there was a definite sense of deja vu on the Côte d’Azur on Saturday night.

Phil Neville readily admits that one of his toughest moments as England coach came in South Yorkshire late last year where a soul-crushing 2-0 defeat inflicted by Peter Gerhardsson’s side “ruined” his Christmas.

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Alex Morgan’s World Cup tea celebration against England causes a stir

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US goal celebrations were a talking point yet again during Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final against England. After Alex Morgan scored USA’s second goal of the game, she raised her fingers to her lips, miming a sip of tea.

Alex Morgan sippin tea #USAvENG pic.twitter.com/oyiyeaFzKQ

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‘You can’t win without gay players,’ says USA’s World Cup hero Megan Rapinoe

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• Coach Jill Ellis is unconcerned at Rapinoe speaking out
• France’s Corrine Diacre will not quit after 2-1 defeat

Megan Rapinoe showed no sign of stemming her outspoken ways after scoring the goals that saw USA march one step closer towards the World Cup final.

“Go gays!” she said after the 2-1 quarter-final victory over France in Paris and when asked to comment on whether it being Pride month made her contribution more personally significant. “You can’t win a championship without gays on your team - it’s never been done before, ever. That’s science, right there!

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Megan Rapinoe double sends USA past France and into England semi-final

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It was fitting that the social justice activist Megan Rapinoe, the focus of unwanted presidential attentions before the game for her “I’m not going to the fucking White House” comment, was the player to power the USA into a semi-final with England, her two goals emphatically ending France’s hopes of a men’s and women’s World Cup double.

“Le Grand Match” was a slightly more measured billing from Fifa than Rapinoe’s hopes of a “total shit-show circus” but either way this meeting between the holders and the hosts did not disappoint. Rapinoe is more than a mouthpiece, she is, in the words of her teammate Kelley O’Hara, “a baller”. No player has been directly involved in more goals in the World Cup than Rapinoe since she made her debut in the competition in 2011 and, although Wendie Renard’s header launched a spirited late fightback, Les Bleues were not able to find the equaliser in an end-to-end spectacle.

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England v Argentina: Women’s World Cup 2019 – live!

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The breakthrough! Argentina push forward for a change, but when they lose the ball England break fast and in numbers. Mead gets it on the left and her first-time cross is low and precise; Correa is stranded at the near post and Taylor turns it into an empty net!

59 mins: “According to Jonathan Pearce on BBC ‘The goalkeeper’s in electrical form.’” reports Paul Thompson. But what electrical? Perhaps a washing machine: quite good at securing clean sheets.

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Ruthless USA break World Cup record as they hit 13 past hapless Thailand

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It was clear what kind of match this would be a few seconds before the whistle blew. The US put seven attacking players on the halfway line while just three defenders hung back with the goalkeeper. Once the game started, those seven US players sprinted past the Thailand midfield toward the goal. The game largely continued like that, with proceedings taking place almost exclusively in the Thailand half.

Related: Sweden strike late against Chile after torrential rain stops play

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Women’s World Cup fever yet to take hold in Paris as tournament nears

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The biggest Women’s World Cup in history is kicking off at the Parc des Princes on Friday but in the city there is not the air of anticipation you would expect

With the biggest Women’s World Cup in history kicking off at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Friday, the head of the local organising committee was bullish in his response to criticism over the lack of atmosphere and marketing in the French capital.

“Depends what you’re expecting from posters and setting up an event in the city?” shot back Erwin Le Prevost. “The means we have available to us are becoming bigger in every competition thanks to Fifa support. It’s a Women’s World Cup by Fifa, the main aim is to fill the stadiums and to have the biggest TV audience possible.”

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‘You get used to the gunfire’ – filming the Libyan women’s football team

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Denounced on TV, they train at secret locations watched by armed guards. We meet the woman from Hastings who made a fascinating film about Libya’s guttsiest football squad

‘Just what our country needs!” rails the imam sarcastically on Libyan TV. “A women’s football team! And what’s more, they chose tall, young beautiful girls for the team – and for months their legs will be exposed.”

Women’s football may be getting its moment in the spotlight with the World Cup about to kick off. But, as the absorbing new documentary Freedom Fields reveals, the Libyan women’s national team has some way to go. As well as that imam, the film also features this statement from extremist group Ansar al-Sharia: “We strongly refute what the supporters of immoral westernisation are doing under the pretext of women’s freedom. This might lead to other sports with even more nudity, such as swimming and running.”

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