Women shine on the global stage: Reflections from coverage of the 2023 World Cup
Players on the U.S. women's national team soccer team are no strangers to making history. In fact, it's kind of their thing.
The team has four World Cup titles under its belt, the most of any country. They've scored more World Cup goals than any other team.
They've spent more time atop the FIFA women's world rankings than any other country.
In 2022, they won equal pay through a settlement with U.S. Soccer Federation. Male and female U.S. players now earn equal salaries, an effort that was many years in the making, but reached peak publicity during the 2019 World Cup.
You get the point.
At this year's FIFA Women's World Cup in New Zealand and Australia, the team did make history, but it wasn't the kind of history they had in mind. The team made its earliest ever World Cup exit in the round of 16 – a far cry from the "three-peat" (three consecutive cup titles) it had set out for.
The U.S. women survived three matches in the group play stage, advancing to the round of 16, where they faced Sweden.
More on the World Cup: USA Today columnist's Nancy Armour's ongoing coverage of the U.S. Women's National Team
The teams drew, 0-0, and Sweden defeated the U.S. in a nerve-wracking penalty shoot-out, 5-4. Sweden went on to place third in the World Cup, England placed second, and Spain became first-time champions.
Thirty-two countries played 64 matches across 10 venues in 9 cities, over the span of a month. The quadrennial tournament has never been as dynamic and competitive as it is now.
I took the long journey to New Zealand and Australia to photograph the U.S. team for USA Today Sports Images.
I spent more than two weeks in Auckland, New Zealand, with a short trip to Wellington in the middle. The final bit of time was spent in Melbourne, Australia, until the team was eliminated.
By embedding at a weeks-long, large-scale sporting event like this, I was able to hone some new technical skills and felt my inner-dialogue and sense of confidence improve, game-by-game.
In Indiana, NFL and racing are the professional sports I photograph most, and those environments tend to be male-dominated. It was inspiring to step into the world of women's sports, especially an event of this caliber, and be surrounded by so many female media colleagues.
These are my favorite photos from three weeks down under.
Jenna Watson is a photojournalist for IndyStar, part of the USA TODAY Network. Contact her by email at jenna.watson@indystar.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @jennarwatson.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Women shine on the global stage: Reflections from the 2023 World Cup
