In 2019, the United States won the eighth edition of the Women’s World Cup over the Netherlands after one late penalty kick and another goal by Rose Lavelle. This final was the team’s fourth win and the second in a row, following their 2015 win in Canada against Japan.
The penalty kick came in the 61st minute by Megan Rapinoe, which was considered late, as the U.S. usually scored within the first 15 minutes of the game. Only 8 min after, Lavelle’s scored the second, securing the team’s win.
In an interview a few months later, Lavelle commented, “In the moment, I was just waiting for one of them to step to me so that I could serve it in to Alex but they didn’t do that so I thought, ‘OK. I guess I’m just going to keep going…’ and eventually decided to just take a shot.”
Rapinoe’s penalty kick was her sixth goal of the tournament and earned her the Golden Boot Award for most goals scored in a tournament. The whole team also set a record in the Women’s World Cup with 26 goals and 12 straight wins. The win marked the team’s second win under coach Jill Ellis, on that Jill commented, “In that moment, it was less relief and more just so proud.”
In 2016, the U.S. women’s soccer team filed a lawsuit against U.S. Soccer, accusing them of gender discrimination and for paying them way less than the men’s team. In an interview with Morgan, she said, ” As players, we deserved to be paid equally for our work, regardless of our gender.”
It wasn’t until 2022 that the case reached a turning point, as both sides agreed on a $24 million settlement that included back pay for the players and equal pay rates for all future friendly matches, tournaments, and World Cups.
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