Women & Sport: From protests to pay parity, women entered spotlight at men's World Cup

The men’s World Cup comes to an end Sunday with a classic matchup between Argentina and defending champion France. The final will be Argentina legend Lionel Messi's last World Cup game ever.

What a wild ride it has been.

There were major upsets almost daily, and Morocco became the first African team to make it to the semifinals in World Cup history. There were game-time controversies, and what may have been the conclusion of some of the most prominent athletes’ World Cup careers in addition to Messi's. Across New Jersey, fans were glued to their TVs, whether in their living rooms or inside crowded bars. And despite this being a men’s tournament, women were often at the center of the conversation.

Protest for women's rights

One can’t talk about women and this year’s men’s World Cup without talking about Iran. When the Iranian national team took to the pitch in their World Cup opener, players opted to not sing their national anthem before their match against England. The gesture was an apparent nod to national protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while being held by Iran’s morality police. She was detained for wearing her hijab too loosely.

It wasn’t long before the wave of national protests set off by Amini’s death found their way to the World Cup stage. Fans in Doha wore T-shirts and waved signs that read “Freedom for Iran” or “Woman, Life, Freedom.” Some fans wore jerseys bearing the names of female protesters killed by Iranian security forces. The Associated Press reported that in the 22nd minute of the England and Iran match, some fans chanted Amini’s name, before the chant slowly faded to “Iran.”

Though Iran failed to make it out of the group stage, the World Cup offered a unique platform to spread awareness. Though tournament rules barred broadcasters from airing the protests in real-time, that didn’t keep images of the protests from going viral on social media. For some Iranian women, simply being at the World Cup was a protest. In Iran, women are banned from attending men’s matches.

Pioneers on the pitch

This year marked the first time that female referees were front and center at a men’s World Cup, and history was made again when the first all-female referee team officiated the match between Germany and Costa Rica. Stéphanie Frappart of France was the center referee of the match with assistance from referees Neuza Back of Brazil and Karen Diaz of Mexico. The trio was only half of the women in this year’s referee pool.

Frappart is no stranger to making history, either. The 38-year-old was the first woman to officiate a Ligue 1 match in 2019, and was also a pioneer in the UEFA Champions League and men’s World Cup qualifying. In May, she was named the head referee in the Coupe de France final. She’s also no stranger to World Cup tournaments, having refereed the women’s World Cup in 2015 and even the 2019 final between the United States and Netherlands.

But Frappart remains humble. According to The New York Times, Frappart told French reporters she was aware her appointment had the ability to inspire. She also added: “I don’t want to be judged differently because of my gender but because of my refereeing skills.”

Equal pay victory for all

For a moment, the World Cup buzz revolved around the United States women’s national team.

Thanks to the historic labor agreements announced by the national team’s players unions in May 2021, the women’s national team was guaranteed a split of the prize money the men’s team brought home from Qatar. Since the men made it to the Round of 16, they earned at least $13 million from FIFA’s $440 million pot of award money for teams.

That estimated $13 million will be split between both national teams. That will come out to more than the combined prize money the women’s team earned from winning the 2019 and 2015 World Cups, where they brought home $4 million and $2 million, respectively. The uneven prize money between the men’s and women’s tournaments is determined by FIFA — and the U.S. men’s team, justly, opted to do something about the disparity.

When announcing the agreement in May 2021, Walker Zimmerman, a member of the USNSTPA leadership group, said: “They said equal pay for men and women was not possible, but that did not stop us and we went ahead and achieved it. We hope this will awaken others to the need for this type of change, and will inspire FIFA and others around the world to move in the same direction.”

The men’s team also stands to earn from the women’s run when they’re on the World Cup stage.

More soccer — coming soon!

As soon as that final whistle blew at the end of the U.S. national team’s disappointing loss to Netherlands in the Round of 16, soccer fans in the United States quickly turned their focus to 2026 when the United States, Canada and Mexico will host the next men’s World Cup.

But luckily for those who can’t stand the wait, there’s more soccer to be watched as soon as this summer when women’s World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand. The United States women’s national team, ranked No.1 in the world, will be vying to bring home the World Cup title for a third time in a row.

It’s sure to be another wild ride.

Women & Sport is a NorthJersey.com column devoted to female athletes from the rec league level to those in college and the pros. If you've got a tip on an athlete from North Jersey who should be noted in the column, no matter how young they are or how old, please drop me a line at anzidei@northjersey.com.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: From protests to pay parity, women played role at men's World Cup