Slogans can often be empty but, in ‘Beyond Greatness’, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ found both a mission statement and a fitting epitaph.
France 2019 had, after all, been genuinely great. The challenge for Australia and New Zealand, for FIFA and for the 32 teams involved, was to raise an already-high bar to an entirely new level.
Plenty had predicted the opposite would happen, and that this would be a Women’s World Cup of regression. The expansion from 24 to 32 teams, said the sceptics, would lower standards and result in more mismatches. The location, in two nations traditionally dominated by other sports - and in a time zone that provided awkward kick-off slots for major markets - would result in sparse, disinterested crowds and disappointing viewing figures.
Those doubts were first dispelled, then demolished. When FIFA President Gianni Infantino this week described this Women’s World Cup as “truly transformational”, he had ample evidence to back up the assertion. "In the host countries, we had almost two million spectators in the stadiums - full houses everywhere - and two billion watching all over the world,” said the FIFA President. “It's great sport, it's entertaining and people love it."
Australia and New Zealand proved perfect co-hosts, and the tournament comes to a close with attendance and viewing records having been ripped up and rewritten, and the beautiful game well and truly out of the sporting shadows. As Australia’s Minister for Sport, Anika Wells, said: “The sleeping giant has awoken. Australia is now a football country.”
As for the expansion, far from lowering standards, those additional teams - including eight debutantes - brought richness, variety and contributed to some seismic shocks. That unpredictability culminated in two first-time finalists battling it out for the trophy, and in Spain deservedly beating pre-final favourites England to win their maiden senior title.
“We knew they were the best possession team [at the World Cup] before the tournament, but they were even better [than we expected],” acknowledged Lionesses coach Sarina Wiegman. “They deserved this.”
Wiegman admitted to having been taken aback by the level of football across Australia & New Zealand 2023, lauding as a “very good decision” the expansion to 32 teams. “I think it was the perfect time for that,” agreed her Sweden counterpart, Peter Gerhardsson. “It perhaps wouldn't have been right in 2019, but a lot is happening in women's football right now. At the next World Cup, there will be even more good teams, even more even matches, and it will be harder to qualify in the first place.”
He is doubtless correct. Yet for now, 2027 – however mouth-watering that prospect might already be - can wait. Instead, it is time to remember and celebrate what made this a Women’s World Cup that truly went Beyond Greatness.
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