2023 has been a game-changing year for women's football in Australia and around the world.
Whether for club or for country, whether on the field or off it, the sport has experienced a number of significant moments over the past 12 months, from record-breaking viewership figures to cultural and political reckonings, the retirement of old stars to the emergence of new ones; all of which has gravitated around the biggest Women's World Cup in history.
So, as we reflect back on the year that was, let's take a look at 10 of the most important decisions, themes, moments and teams that have shaped women's football in 2023 (in no particular order).
10. FIFA commits to equal World Cup prize money
While FIFA has copped a lot of (rightful) criticism for under-resourcing the women's game in the past, 2023 saw the sport's global governing body finally start to rectify one of the biggest and most public inequalities in the game: prize money.
A few months before the Women's World Cup began, about 150 players signed a public letter calling on FIFA to equalise the prize money of the men's and women's tournaments, continuing the momentum started by the Matildas and the United States women's national team, both of whom called for equal pay back in 2019.
A couple weeks after the open letter, FIFA president Gianni Infantino publicly announced that FIFA would aim to equalise World Cup prize money by the 2026/2027 editions.
For context, the Women's World Cup prize pot this year was roughly $US110 million ($160 million), while at the men's World Cup last year in Qatar, it was four times as much at $US440 million.
The men's pot is also expected to grow for the next tournament in North America in 2026 to $US896 million distributed among 48 teams, while the women's tournament the following year (which is yet to announce a host) will likely distribute a smaller overall pot, though an equal amount relative to the men's edition, among 32 teams.
While inequality between men's and women's football remains widespread, and goes far deeper than the money on offer at the top of the game, this small commitment indicates the bigger shifts currently occurring in the sport where women footballers are finally being recognised and rewarded what they have always deserved.
9. Players finding their voice
As women's football has grown in visibility and popularity, the players who have been fighting behind the scenes have begun to recognise the power of their own voice in forcing change at both the club and national team level.
In the lead-up to the Women's World Cup, a number of competing nations experienced their own moments of reckoning where players stood collectively to protest against environments, cultures, and structures that they deemed unacceptable.
Players from all over the world either boycotted, resigned, or protested this year, with varying levels of success. France ousted its problematic head coach Corinne Diacre as well as its federation president, Canada forced a government inquiry into its federation's operations and lack of support for its women's national team programs, while Nigeria triggered a lawsuit against its federation due to years' worth of unpaid wages and bonuses.
At the league level, the USA experienced a complete overhaul of its player protection policies, with a number of coaches and club owners resigning after overseeing environments where abuse and harassment were widespread.
But none were arguably as powerful or as game-changing as the Spanish women's national team. Following the sexual harassment of striker Jenni Hermoso by former Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales during the final trophy presentation, the entire playing group refused to represent Spain until changes were made.
Their protest kicked off the #SeAcabó ("It's Over") movement across global women's football, with the entire game standing in solidarity with the players and creating public pressure so acute that Rubiales, as well as head coach Jorge Vilda and several other Spanish administrators, had no choice but to resign.
It was a long-overdue moment of reckoning for Spanish women's football, and the highest-profile example of players knowing their worth and finding their voice to change the game for the betterment of women everywhere.
8. A record-breaking year
When FIFA announced that the official slogan of the 2023 Women's World Cup would be "Beyond Greatness", most of us rolled our eyes and dismissed it as yet another empty corporate phrase that wouldn't speak to anything tangible or long lasting.
But boy, were we wrong. Women's football truly did go beyond almost every single metric that is available to measure success this year, from domestic to international, club to country.
Starting with the World Cup, not only was 2023 the first edition of the tournament to break even financially — proving that the women's game is capable of providing returns on the investment poured in — but it smashed records across broadcast viewership, stadium attendance, digital engagement, merchandise sales, and government and corporate sponsorship figures.
In Australia alone, it set new benchmarks for the biggest women's football crowd ever (75,784), the most-attended Women's World Cup ever (1.8 million tickets), as well as the most-watched television program in Australian history (Matildas vs England semifinal, 11 million people).
Just beyond our doorstep, New Zealand twice broke their own record for the most people at a women's football match (43,217), while China set the record for the single-biggest television audience for a women's football match anywhere in the world at 53.9 million people (China vs England group stage).
Elsewhere across the game, women's club football has continued to break records for match attendance, membership and ticket sales, television numbers, player transfer fees, and lucrative broadcast deals. Nine of the top 20 most-attended women's league games in history happened this year, including three of the top five.
FIFA was right. 2023 really did go "Beyond Greatness".
7. A new world order
While the Women's World Cup totally changed the game off the field, the tournament also showed how things were changing on it.
Historically, women's international football has been dominated by a handful of well-resourced countries, most notably China, Germany, and the United States. However, this edition saw a shake-up of the world order, with countries from Africa, South America, Asia and the Caribbean all going on history-making runs.
This was the first World Cup where nations from all six confederations won a game, and it included the first-ever tournament win for seven countries. South Africa, Morocco, Colombia and Jamaica all qualified for the knock-outs for the first time ever.
These emerging nations caused some huge upsets along the way too, most notably Colombia's 2-1 defeat of former winners Germany, South Africa's 3-2 defeat of Italy, New Zealand's historic 1-0 win over Norway, Jamaica's two 0-0 draws with France and Brazil, the Philippines' 1-0 win over New Zealand, and Haiti pushing both China and runners-up England.
The tournament also saw the downfall of some historic giants of the game. Germany failed to get out of the group stage, Norway was bundled out by Japan at the round of 16, and, perhaps most shocking of all, four-time winners the United States failed to reach the quarterfinals for the first time after losing to Sweden on penalties.
If 2019 was the World Cup that showed Europe finally coming to the women's football table, 2023 was the tournament in which the rest of the world began to pull up a chair.
6. Legendary retirements
Just as 2023 saw a new world order emerging, it was also the year in which the old guard waved a final goodbye to the international game.
This year's Women's World Cup was the last major international tournament for several legends of the sport including USA's Megan Rapinoe, South Korea's Ji So-yun, Nigeria's Desire Oparanozie, South Africa's Janine van Wyk, New Zealand's Ali Riley, Sweden's Caroline Seger, France's Eugenie Le Sommer, Brazil's Marta, and Canada's Sophie Schmidt and Christine Sinclair.
New fans who have discovered the women's game thanks to this year's World Cup may not realise or appreciate the contribution these veterans have made, not just to football but to sport more widely.
Rapinoe, for example, was the first white athlete to take a knee in solidarity with black NFL quarterback Colin back in 2016, when he was kneeling to protest against police violence and racism in the USA. Her leadership was also key in the US women's national team's years-long fight for equal pay with their federation — a fight it eventually won.
Brazilian legend Marta ends her career as one of the most decorated players in history, having been named FIFA World Player of the Year six times. She's Brazil's all-time top scorer, has the record for the most goals scored in any World Cup (men's or women's), and she was the first player of any gender to score at five different World Cups and Olympic Games.
Like Rapinoe, she has used her latter years to advocate for greater investment in women's football in her home country, while also calling on the next generation to go even further than she and her peers have done.
Finally, former Canada captain Christine Sinclair ends 2023 with perhaps the biggest record of the lot, bowing out as the all-time leading goalscorer in the history of the international game (men's or women's).
Her 190 goals in 331 appearances, which span two decades, are numbers that will likely never be matched in football's new age.
Off the field, Sinclair has also been an ongoing force for good, using her platform and voice to challenge the lack of funding for women's football in Canada and inspiring an entire nation of young players to follow in her footsteps.
These players have dedicated their lives and careers to dragging women's football out of the shadows of the past and into the light of a new world that is finally beginning to recognise the value of women in sport.
5. The ACL club grows
As the women's game continues to grow, with more and competitions being added to the calendar, the rapid acceleration is pushing some athletes' bodies to breaking point.
This year's World Cup was not just notable for the players who were there, but also for those who weren't: Dozens of international footballers sat out the tournament as they recovered from ACL injuries, which disproportionately affect women players more than men.
The reasons why are complex and multi-faceted, combining both the physiology of individual bodies with the environmental factors that influence the way they develop, train, play, and recover.
Increasing injuries are one of the side-effects of the rapid rise of the women's game. Although more matches are being added to domestic and international schedules, the resources and research that surround footballers to ensure that their bodies are able to handle the growing load has not kept pace.
Historically, medical and sports science have treated women athletes like "small men", using data and observations in men's sport and simply translating the findings into women's sport.
However, it's become clear over the past few years that this is not only inaccurate but dangerous. As a result, major footballing organisations — including FIFA — are now investing in their own research into issues that specifically affect women athletes, from ACL injuries to periods to hormones to post-childbirth returns to the game.
So while the product we see on the pitch has come a long way, there is still much work to do to ensure the game's best and brightest stars continue to shine.
4. Representation matters
The growing visibility and accessibility of women's football has led to a boost in the many different types of people who participate in the game.
This year's World Cup was momentous in this way, with two players in particular breaking new ground for representation and diversity.
First, Moroccan defender Nouhaila Benzina became the first athlete ever to wear a hijab in a senior World Cup, immediately becoming a role model to millions of Muslim women and girls around the world. It was an especially significant moment given FIFA had banned the wearing of headscarves in its tournaments for almost a decade, only lifting the ban in 2016.
Second, when Canada midfielder Quinn took to the field against Nigeria, they became the first "out" non-binary player in World Cup history.
Since coming out in September 2020, Canada Soccer and FIFA have allowed them to drop their old first name and instead go by the mononym (a name composed of only one word) "Quinn" while using the pronouns they/them. They were also the first openly trans Olympian when they won gold with Canada at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
More broadly, 2023 has been a watershed year in the growing visibility of LGBTQIA+ athletes in the women's game, with countless players — including Matildas captain Sam Kerr — becoming more public about their sexualities, relationships and families.
Finally, the last 12 months have also seen an increase in the visibility of women footballers with disability, with Australia's very own ParaMatildas (recently ranked world number one) and ParaRoos competing in live-streamed international competitions and growing their profiles across the Australian footballing landscape.
Women's football has always been a diverse and inclusive community that welcomes and celebrates all walks of life. 2023 was a year that invited the rest of the world to be part of it.
3. The next generation emerges
Just as a whole generation of legends departed the international game this year, a new generation of talented youngsters arrived to carry the torch forward.
Before the World Cup started, names such as Linda Caicedo, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Salma Paralluelo, Melchie Dumornay, Esmee Brugts, Sophia Smith, Jody Brown, Ary Borges, Giulia Dragoni, Vicki Becho, and Aoba Fujino were largely unknown.
But following break-out performances in the tournament, many of them have secured international recognition, lucrative club contracts, sponsorship deals, and reputations that have almost certainly changed the course of their careers.
Matildas midfielder Cooney-Cross, for example, signed for English giants Arsenal. Haiti star Melchie Dumornay moved to European heavyweights Olympique Lyonnais. Colombian winger Linda Caicedo secured a long-term deal at Spanish side Real Madrid.
Meanwhile Spain forward Salma Paralluelo, who plays for Barcelona, was awarded Best Young Player at the tournament, becoming the first player to win three World Cups in the space of two years (U17s, U20s, and seniors) in the process.
Notably, this is the first generation of players to emerge in the international game having developed in clubs, academies or training centres that have given them coaching, facilities and resources that few women players before them had from such a young age.
It's little wonder that the standard of football we see on the field continues to rise as more of these young players enter the senior game. Who knows how much further they can take it in 2024 and beyond?
2. Matildas go mainstream
Many of the current Australia players began their international careers when few people even knew who the Matildas were.
But 2023 changed everything.
While their popularity and visibility had been slowly growing over the past few years, the Women's World Cup catapulted the Matildas into mainstream public consciousness.
In the space of a few remarkable weeks in July, Australians who'd never watched a game of women's football in their lives were reciting the names from their preferred starting team, recounting their favourite players and goals, and buying jerseys and scarves with "Matildas" emblazoned all over them.
Television and stadium figures aside, the Matildas' real impact can be measured in bigger, broader ways: The fact that "Sam Kerr" and "Mary Fowler" were the two most Googled Australians in 2023. The fact that the team won one of sport's most prestigious awards, The Don. The fact that seven penguins at Taronga Zoo have been named after seven of the players. And the fact that "Matilda" was the Australian National Dictionary's Word Of The Year.
The players themselves have become national celebrities, selling out consecutive home games, gracing the covers of high-fashion magazines, starring in commercials and network television programs, and seeing their names and faces splashed across bedroom walls and homemade posters and social media pages as their popularity has hit the stratosphere.
Loading...Never again will an Australian women's national team player say that they began their career not knowing who the Matildas were or why they mattered.
And even if there's someone out there who's been living under a rock in 2023 and has no idea what this word means, well, they can just look in next year's dictionary to learn all about it.
1. The France game
If you think about the kinds of events that shape a country's collective memory, which capture a moment of national history in time, what comes to mind?
War. Climate catastrophe. Economic collapse. Civil unrest. Political assassinations.
Sport rarely makes it into those bigger, existential conversations. A game is rarely listed as one of those moments where you can remember exactly where you were when it happened.
But the Matildas' quarterfinal penalty shootout win over France feels like it will go down as one of those nation-shaping moments.
Millions upon millions of Australians flocked to live sites, pubs, living rooms, AFL stadium concourses, strangers' phones, orchestral pits, and even the small screens on the backs of plane seats to watch what became the longest penalty shootout ever in a World Cup.
Maybe only Cathy Freeman's famous gold medal run at the Sydney 2000 Olympics comes close to mirroring the way in which the France game brought the entire country together, watching spellbound as the group of 23 women made Australian sporting history by qualifying for a World Cup semifinal for the first time.
It wasn't just that they qualified, though. It was how they qualified. They'd navigated a turbulent two years under head coach Tony Gustavsson in the build-up, and after a shaky opening win against Republic of Ireland and a shock loss to Nigeria, came storming back to defeat both Canada and Denmark in do-or-die games.
But the France game felt different. Two of the world's strongest teams cancelled each other out for 120 minutes, running themselves and each other into the ground as they did so.
But it was the Matildas' perseverance, their "never-say-die" spirit, a bit of luck, and some spectacular goalkeeping from Mackenzie Arnold that saw them emerge from the fight, battered and bruised, having captured the hearts and minds of the nation in the process.
And while their exhausted bodies couldn't carry them through the next two games — the semifinal to England and the third-placed playoff to Sweden — it almost didn't matter.
They had, in their own way, already won something much greater than that: recognition that football, more than any other sport, is capable of bringing an entire nation of people together.
From 2023 onwards, the Matildas will be cited alongside Cathy Freeman as genuine icons of Australian sport; a team of powerful and empowering women who have inspired and continue to inspire generations. And we all remember exactly where we were when they did so.