Spotlight firmly on women’s soccer this summer… and it’s about time!

Women’s soccer has gotten the spotlight this summer once Qatar 2022 was moved to November. Here’s how the spotlight shifted to the women’s game this month. 

This is the time of year every four years when soccer fans are coming down from the high of the men’s World Cup.

Not this summer.

It’s a weird time in the soccer calendar. After FIFA moved Qatar 2022 to this coming November to mitigate the effects of the high summer temperatures, this summer has become one where the women’s game has gotten the spotlight.

And it was about time.

At the moment, when European clubs are playing preseason games and transfer moves dominate news feeds, the women are actually playing in tournaments that matter.

The U.S. team is currently competing in the CONCACAF W Championship, while the Women’s European Championship and South American Copa America Femenina are being contested at the same time. Toss in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and the Oceania Women’s Nations Cup, and July is now easily the month where the most women’s games can be seen.

The Women’s Euros had originally be scheduled for last year, but moved a year because of the pandemic. That created a summer of jam-packed games, giving soccer fans over the past few weeks matches to watch that actually matter.

It’s been a women’s soccer bonanza this summer for sure, and that’s great for the growth and development of the game.

USWNT, NWSL merit the spotlight ahead of Qatar 2022

There are also storylines galore. Can the USWNT’s youth movement pay off in the form of a trophy? Can the Netherlands repeat as European champion after recent displays by England and France? Will Brazil solidify their place as the best women’s team in South America or can rivals Argentina change that? There are these unanswered questions and more to look forward to in the coming days.

Both the Euros and Copa America have reached the quarterfinal stage, while the USWNT will play rivals Canada in the CONCACAF title on Monday night after already having secured qualification for next year’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand. In fact, the Americans have a chance to win a trophy against last year’s Olympic gold medal winners, a game that certainly won’t be lacking in intensity. The winner will also automatically qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

“The vibe is really good,” Mallory Pugh, the stellar USWNT and Chicago Red Stars forward, recently told FanSided ahead of the CONCACAF tournament. “I think that it’s a good group right now. And there’s a lot of different experience levels, but I think overall, we all know what the job is and that’s qualify, and yeah, hopefully we get that done.”

All this talk of the women’s game will certainly help, including giving attention to the NWSL, which has increased sponsorship, broadcast opportunities, and prize pools headlining their 2022 season, not to mention winning a hard-fought battle for equal pay. The league is where the bulk of the U.S. players ply their trade and serves as the engine to help foster female soccer talent in this country.

If you haven’t already checked out any of these tournaments, there’s still time to do so. After all, it’s really the only international soccer being played at the moment. It’s also a chance to give women’s soccer the attention it firmly (and finally!) deserves.