WHY Europe is dominating the women's game

I agree with the main premise of this video... the European game has really improved, their leagues have improved, modeled after the men;s leagues, and they are producing most of the top new talent. A top 6 European team against the U.S. is a tossup now. I'm rooting for our girls, and a few of them are in fine form, but they look better to me. Maybe our American spirit and competitiveness will come through, we'll certainly need it. Australia and Japan and others also look really good at times.

Vlatko is NOT building his team around Morgan and Rapinoe. Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman are the key forwards now. Rapinoe might actually play very few minutes.

Fact check: Catarina Macario didn't skip college to play in Europe. She was a 2x winner of best college player award.

If I'm not mistaken Germany also lost 2 of their last 3 matches (to Brazil & Zambia). Would be hilarious if in the end it's neither US nor Europe :D

They have always competed with the USWNT, it was never easy for them, they won in extra times, via penalty shootouts and by fine margins, so they were usually dragging and outlasting their opponents even in their best year. When the top 8 plays, those matches are frequently very close and come down to sheer luck.

Colombia 🇨🇴 played great the other day.

Is the fact that the last 3 ballon d'or winners were european proof that the europeans are truly better? or simply that the committee doesn't watch the US domestic league. Further, it's a bit funny to mention the strength of the Frauen Bundesliga (of which I am a fan, mind you) when you consider that most of the teams still are only semi-pro and the German starting lineup will basically come from 2 clubs. I think professionalization is the next big hurdle for women's football in Germany, or they truly will be left behind by the fully professional WSL.

Good points, but a counter: Opposite to the men's game, the Olympics and international invitational tournaments (She believes Cup as an example) provide enough opportunity for other nations to develop, there's a good quantity of interregional friendlies as well. Also the players for teams like Australia and Brazil play in those competitive leagues, Rafaelle and Sam were really good this season in the WSL. The European dominance might come in 2027, but for now I have my doubts.

I appreciate this view. I'm all in for USA but good to see which teams to look out for!!

My favourite for a dark horse is Norway. Hegerberg, Reiten, Maanum, Mjelde, Graham Hansen. Big question is whether they will defend well enough.

I’m so excited for this World Cup I am an Australian and my friend played in two World Cup tournaments and was a defensive back for Australia throughout the 2010’s so know a lot about women’s football in this part of the world following my friend throughout her career. My friend retired from international football in 2017 and played in our local league which is where players like Sam Kerr got their start

Great analysis. Came here after US eliminated by Sweden. And several new contenders.

Fifa awards are normally European players (or marta) cause they are the only ones Europeans watch or have heard of. Even when the US has had the best players. If it's a female footballer of the year the europeans often pick the european name they know. That's just how it is.

Really gooood

As a former USWNT fan all I can say is... they're going home... they're going home...Rapinoe is going home!!!

I think the home fans will help push the Matildas to the final.

Hi soccer lovers, I love all your passionate comments and love for the USWNT. The US women pioneered the model of how women can succeed in something that not long time ago was considered a "Men's job only." Almost a century ago, Rosie the Riveter was a symbol of equality with men. Should they keep that continuity? Not necessary. They established something that was taken as a model worldwide, and now, my soccer lovers, let's love the whole game regardless it is being played in Australia, Senegal, Sweden, or anywhere else. Love it because the USWNT pioneered it. Love you all

I agree with everything in this video. But cmon guys are not even going to mention Sweden as a contender for the title? They have performed semis and finals in the last couple of big tournaments. They are ranked third in the world for gods sake.

The last men's World Cup in Qatar showed how teams outside Europe and South America fared better. Even though the final was between the Europe and South America, teams from Asia, Africa, and North America had slight chances to upset. Take a look on how Morocco overcoming 3 European giants like Belgium, Spain, and Portugal, as well as Japan beating 2 former European and World champions Spain and Germany. Also, you can't even forget the same thing for Cameroon beating Brazil on the last group game to escape bottom place in the group, and Socceroos Australia reaching the knockout stages with only 3 goals in the group games and didn't suffered a heavy defeat against Argentina. The same thing can also be applied to the women's counterpart. Before this tournament had began, some countries tasted a better result. The Matildas Australia won against the European nations like Spain, Sweden, England, and France. Zambia also stunned Germany with a last minute winning goal. Even the Southeast Asian dark horse Vietnam didn't lost heavily to Germany (1-2)! I think some groups that are considered as Group of Death, notably Group B, E, F, and even G, will expect some surprising results. But I will consider that USWNT will top the Group F as usual, with Spain and Sweden must do the same thing so that Spain or Sweden will only face USWNT in the semifinal.

This narrative of "rest of the world catching up to the US Women" always seems to ignore the competitiveness that existed already. Germany in the 00s, Brasil in the 00s and 10s, Japan in the 10s, and now France/England/Netherlands in 20s. The US has always had tough opponents they have lost to or barely got by. The diagnosis in 2007 was that the US reign was over and would be left behind by other nations. They went on to make three finals, winning two. My point is if the US fails to win in 2023 it doesn't really show a massive change. In 2019 the brutal run of having to beat Sweden, Spain, France, England and Netherlands showed how close it could have been to going out at any point. All one has to do is look at the men's side and see that nations like Brasil, Germany, Argentina, France, and Italy don't reasonably expect to win it every time. I'm very proud of our women, but the expectations at times are ridiculous where a 3rd place is a disaster and we are always on the precipice of collapsing since 1999.