FIFA president Gianni Infantino has asked football fans to support the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup despite there being so many top players now.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup is taking place from July 20, with New Zealand vs Norway the debut match. This year’s edition is being hosted by two countries Australia and New Zealand. It is the first time a tournament is being co-hosted by two countries ever since the inception of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991.
Since then, the women’s game has been growing and has received much coverage in recent years. And yet, they still have more to do in order to get the same recognition as the men.
FIFA President on growth of Women’s soccer
Despite the meteoric rise of women’s football, people are still not interested in a tournament of this magnitude, showing a lack of recognition of the women’s game. Ticket sales reached a million last month, but further sales have slowed down, especially in New Zealand.
In fact, tickets for the opening game are still on sale. FIFA is clamoring to get these tickets sold before tomorrow in order to prevent an embarrassing debut match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Ahead of the tournament, FIFA president Gianni Infantino spoke at a press conference in Auckland, New Zealand. According to CNN, he asked fans to come to support their national team and to make the stadiums full.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino pleaded with New Zealand fans on Wednesday “to do the right thing” amid slowing Women’s World Cup ticket sales in the country https://t.co/v7SCkjUydv
— CNN International (@cnni) July 19, 2023
“New Zealand, we want you. We need you. It’s never too late to do the right thing. Come to watch the matches. We need full stadiums to warm us all up.”
President Infantino also further praised the development of the women’s game in recent years.
“Many people who still believe that women’s football is not, you know, great, a great game or it’s not so entertaining or it’s a kind of a bad copy of men’s football or some stuff like that.”
🗣 "When they watch a game for the first time, they will actually see that it is fantastic."
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) July 19, 2023
FIFA President Gianni believes the upcoming World Cup will win over anybody that remains sceptical about Women's football pic.twitter.com/1xe7O0RIA5
“Well, when they watch a game for the first time, they will actually see that it’s a fantastic game. It’s very entertaining. It’s great athletes playing, the level has grown incredibly in the last 10 years, and the best are coming here.”
Best nations to feature at FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023
The women’s game is clearly growing and it is best shown through the best teams that will be participating.
The best team at the FIFA Women’s World Cup is no doubt the USA Women’s national team. They are the defending champions and have won the title 4 times, which is the most.
They also boast some of the best women’s players such as Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and others.
Spain also has a great team, as they have Alexia Putellas, the current female Ballon d’Or winner. The team also boasts many regular winners from club football, such as from UWCL winning FC Barcelona Femeni team.
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Brazil is also noteworthy, along with Sweden and Germany. England has some of the best women’s soccer clubs and as such their team is also full of superstars like Sam Kerr.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup starts with New Zealand playing against Norway tomorrow.
