The largest edition of feminine cuts ended as he had promised from the beginning: historic. Farewell to the stars with a new title, the World Cup 2023 brought together great moments in the host countries, Australia It is New Zealand.

Oh Stadium separated the best moments of the Women’s World Cup. See the main highlights:

The 2023 World Cup was marked by the early downfall of several traditional women’s football teams. In the group stage, three big teams failed to qualify for the round of 16: Germany, Brazil It is Canada. The Europeans lost against Colombia and equal with South Korea in the first phase, which ended up prematurely ending the participation of the double world champions.

The reigning Olympic champions suffered a resounding beating against Australia in the last game of the group stage and bid farewell to the competition. This is the first time in history that the Olympic champion has been eliminated in the first phase of the tournament.

Canada, however, suffered from problems off the field: the Canadian Football Association did not pay what it had agreed with the women’s national soccer team. Throughout the World Cup, the players traded accusations against the organization and even reached a tentative agreement for equal payment, but they had to give up a good part of the tournament’s prize pool so that the federation pays the bonuses she owed to the men’s team.

Brazil even started well, beating Panama and delighting the world with good football. In the match against France, however, a difficulty in keeping possession and marking errors in aerial play decreed the Brazilian defeat. The team led by Pia Sundhage depended on themselves to qualify but failed to overcome the Jamaican blockade and saw Marta say goodbye to her last World Cup in melancholy fashion.

Eventually, the last major upset didn’t come in the group stage, but in the round of 16. The United States did not have a good campaign and almost fell to Portugal in the first phase. The four-time world champions were second in the group and in the match against Sweden for the first knockout game, they failed to put on a good game and ended up being knocked out on penalties. Prior to the start of the tournament, they were considered one of the favorites for the title.

The World Cup in Australia and New Zealand was also marked by the farewells of great players. Names like Brazilian Marta, Canadian Christine Sinclair and American Megan Rapinoe have said goodbye to the biggest tournament in women’s football. Interestingly, all the stars who announced their withdrawal from the Cup bid a melancholy farewell as their selections underperformed in the competition.

“Even in my worst nightmares with the World Cup, I would never have imagined this,” Brazil’s number 10 said after the elimination. “The Brazilian people are in renewal (in selection), the only old one here is me and maybe Tamires. They are talented girls, a huge way to go. I end here, but they continue. You asked for the renewal, it happens. I want the people of our Brazil to continue to have the same enthusiasm as at the start of the World Cup. May they continue to support us. Things don’t happen overnight.”

Rapinoe’s elimination was particularly cruel. On the bench for most of the encounter, the 38-year-old striker came on late and ended up missing one of the crucial penalties that eliminated the United States. She, however, laughed at the situation and called it a “bad joke”. Despite the sadness. Rapinoe said she felt her mission had been accomplished, after all she played a major role in winning two world titles for her national team.

“I heard what she said the other day, I feel that for her,” the American said while commenting on Marta’s farewell speech. “For what she has done for the game, for the way she plays. The joy with which she plays. I have never seen anything like it. About his speech, his desire to make the game better than when it started, I feel like I’m part of it. I’m very proud,” he commented.

The 2023 World Cup was the most watched Women’s World Cup in history. In the group stage alone, 1.222 million spectators came to the stadiums, with an average of over 25,000 people per game. These figures represent a 29% increase compared to the 2019 World Cup in France, at this stage of the competition alone.

The match between Spain and Sweden, valid for the semi-final of the World Cup, which took place last Tuesday 16, was followed by 43,217 spectators at Eden Park, in Auckland. The amount equals the stadium’s maximum capacity and equates to the highest attendance record for a football match in the country, for either men or women. The historic bar had already been reached at the 2023 World Cup in the quarter-finals between Japan and Sweden.

In Australia, the unprecedented success of the Matildas – they never reached the semi-finals of the World Cup – turned football into a national passion. The quarter-final match against France was the most-watched sporting event in the country since the Sydney Olympics in 2000. More than 7 million people watched the tense penalty shoot-out, which featured 20 penalties , and the surprising ranking of the Australian selection.

In Brazil, CazéTV and Rede Globo also recorded historic audiences for their shows. On Youtube, the channel of the presenter and streamer Casimiro Miguel has broken the women’s football streaming record on the platform. Over a million devices were connected in the 4-0 win over Panama.

On the Internet, Globo also broke audience records on free television. According to previous data, with the debut of the women’s team at the World Cup, the channel recorded the largest audience in the range (8:01 to 9:57) since August 2008, with about 16 points on the PNT. This represents 100% growth from the same range over the past four weeks.

If the tournament was marked by the early fall of giants, countless selections surprised and achieved historic campaigns. This is the first time that 32 teams have taken part in the women’s competition, before there were 16. In total, 8 teams have made their debut in a World Cup: Haiti, Morocco, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Ireland, Vietnam and Zambia.

Jamaica, Morocco, Colombia and Australia itself are among the teams that performed well and went further than expected. While the Caribbean and African teams reached the round of 16 for the first time, Colombia reached the quarter-finals and Australia the semi-finals.

Some critics of the new model have warned of the possibility of a larger technical gap as more teams enter the tournament. What did happen, however, was a fiercely contested competition in which the more traditional teams suffered and, in many cases, were unable to beat the ‘weaker’ teams.