9 Women's World Cup Moments That Show How Sexism Is Alive And Well In Soccer

On Sunday, Spain won the Women's World Cup in a stunning 1–0 victory against England.

But, despite viewership breaking records, there is still a long way to go when it comes to achieving equality in soccer. Here are just a few examples of inequality from this year's World Cup:

1.FIFA increased the prize money given for the Women's World Cup by 300% from 2019 to $110 million this year, with $10.5 million given to the winning team. In the Men's World Cup last year, the prize pot was $440 million with $42 million given to the winners. The tournaments had the same amount of teams.

2.This means that both the men's teams for England and Spain — who reached the Quarterfinals and Round of 16 respectively — earned more in 2022, despite performing worse.

3.Jamaica's soccer team needed fundraisers, including a GoFundMe made by a player's mom, to be able to play at the Women's World Cup. Their draw sent home Brazil, one of the best-ranked teams in the world.

4.The US team were subject to a right-wing backlash after they lost in penalty kicks to Sweden in the round of 16. That included former President Donald Trump blaming the team's performance on their being too "woke" and anti-American. The backlash comes a year after the US team secured equal pay.

5. No member of the British royal family — including the President of the Football Association, Prince William — attended the Women's World Cup Final. The palace said in 2022 that Prince William would possibly revise his schedule if the men's team reached the later stages of the competition.

Twitter: @KensingtonRoyal

Prince William apologized for being unable to attend in a social media video with Princess Charlotte. Queen Letizia and Princess Sofia of Spain did attend.

6.England's manager, Sarina Wiegman, has taken two teams to the Women's World Cup final. She reportedly earns around $510,000. Gareth Southgate, the men's manager, reportedly earns over $6 million.

7. Spain's manager, Jorge Vilda, was protested by 15 players in September 2022 in letters that alleged that his lack of professionalism had an "important effect on [their] emotional state and by extension [their] health." He was booed at the final and appeared to be celebrating separately from the team. The Royal Spanish Football Federation has continued to support him, and the official account for Spain's team tweeted "Vilda in" after the win.

FRANCK FIFE / AFP / Via Twitter: @SEFutbolFem

8.The president of the Spanish football federation, Luis Rubiales, grabbed player Jenni Hermoso and kissed her on the lips as the team collected their medals. Hermoso later said in a livestream that she “didn’t like it.”

9.Finally, the host of the 2027 Women's World Cup has still not been decided. The men's 2026 host country was decided in 2018 and will have the most teams of any World Cup.