Every player at the 2023 Women’s World Cup will receive at least $30,000 in prize money from FIFA.

The move comes as part of FIFA’s plans to distribute some prize money directly to players rather than to national federations, as FIFA president Gianni Infantino pledged in March. Players have never before received direct funds from the women’s tournament.

Each player on the winning team at the 2023 World Cup will take home $270,000. The total prize pool for the tournament, which kicks off in Australia and New Zealand on July 20, is $110 million, a significant increase from the $30 million prize pool for the 2019 tournament.

The player payments could represent a substantial raise for some of the players at the tournament. The $30,000 minimum in prize money is more than the $14,000 average salary for club players around the world.

The prize pool still falls well short of the money available at the 2022 men’s tournament, which had a $440 million prize pool. But FIFA aims to have full pay equity by the 2026 and 2027 men’s and women’s World Cups, Infantino said in March.

The U.S. women’s national team did receive some of that money from the men’s tournament under its new collective bargaining agreement, which guarantees equal World Cup prize money for the USWNT and the USMNT.

The USMNT earned approximately $13 million for reaching the Round of 16 in Qatar. After factoring in the 10% given to U.S. Soccer, the USMNT and USWNT earned approximately $5.85 million each.

The winning team at the 2023 World Cup will take home $10.5 million. The USWNT won $4 million for its World Cup win in 2019, up from $2 million in 2015.

On Thursday, US Soccer announced that the USWNT will cap off its 2024 campaign with a December 3rd friendly against the Netherlands in The Hague — the team's 23rd game this year.

The match comes three days after the US side's previously announced meeting with 2022 European champions and 2023 World Cup finalists England at London's iconic Wembley Stadium. 

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To stay the best, the USWNT will play the best

Following their gold medal-winning run at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the USWNT reclaimed their world No. 1 ranking. In order to stay there, head coach Emma Hayes noted, the team must seek out matches against other top international foes.

"It was a fantastic summer for our team, and we’re going to take a lot of great lessons and memories from our time in France, but now we are looking forward to continuing our process,” said Hayes.

"In order for our team to keep learning and growing, and for the coaching staff to continue to evaluate players, we need to play the best teams possible. Playing matches in Europe against some of the world’s top teams will be an important part of our journey."

With England sitting at No. 2 in the world and the Dutch at No. 11, this final 2024 road trip is exactly what the US boss ordered.

The Dutch are a familiar friendly foe

In their 11 previous meetings with the Netherlands, the USWNT has only lost once: a 4-3 defeat in their first-ever matchup in 1991. In the years since, the States have had the upper hand, logging eight wins and two draws.

The duo has ramped up the drama in their matches, though, facing each other in world championships in three of their last four bouts.

The USWNT's 2019 World Cup final win is arguably the team's most meaningful Dutch defeat, though recent tilts have appeared significantly tougher. While the US walked away with the win in the pair's 2021 Olympic quarterfinal, they needed penalty kicks to do so. And in the States's admittedly disappointing 2023 World Cup run, they played the Netherlands to a 1-1- draw in the group stage.

How to watch the USWNT's European friendlies

The US will take on England on November 30th at 12:20 PM ET. Their meeting with the Netherlands will kick off at 2:45 PM ET on December 3rd.

Both friendlies will air live on TNT, or you can stream the games via Max and Peacock.

The NWSL, in collaboration with Tiffany & Co., dropped revamped Shield and regular-season MVP trophies on Wednesday.

The bold new hardware is part of a plan to “set a new standard for recognition in women’s sports” by giving the Tiffany treatment to all NWSL end-of-season awards. This year's two additions join the redesigned Championship and Championship MVP awards that kicked off the league’s partnership with the jewelry company last year.

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An NWSL Shield worthy of superheroes

Both awards are handcrafted by Tiffany & Co. The refreshed MVP award includes a silver soccer ball atop a tall base.

"The best players in the world play here at the NWSL, and it is only fitting that we work with Tiffany to honor the best of the best," said NWSL chief marketing and commercial officer Julie Haddon in the league's announcement. “It has been a long time coming to create a suite of awards that are as extraordinary as our athletes."

Inspired by ancient Greco-Roman armor, the 24K gold and sterling silver Shield features a unique, interactive design. It is equipped with a handle so it can be removed from its base and held like "a true shield." 

Orlando poised to handle the new hardware

As the still-undefeated league leaders, the Orlando Pride are the clear frontrunners to claim the redesigned NWSL Shield.

The second-place Washington Spirit, third-place Gotham FC, and fourth-place KC Current are technically still in the running. However, with four matchdays left, Orlando can clinch the Shield outright by either defeating the Spirit this Sunday or winning two other remaining matches.

The regular-season MVP award race is tighter. Though Golden Boot leader Temwa Chawinga (KC) and the league's next top scorer Barbra Banda (Orlando) have pulled away from the pack.

And if Banda snags the honor, both new trophies will likely be bound for Florida.

Two games into the best-of-five 2024 WNBA semifinals, and the back-to-back defending champion Aces are staring down elimination while the Lynx evened the score last night.

With Friday's Game 3 offering a venue change, Las Vegas will need every ounce of their home-court advantage to continue their playoff run, while Minnesota's aim will be to silence the Connecticut crowd.

Aces on the brink of elimination after Game 2 loss

Tuesday's second-straight loss, an 88-84 defeat by the No. 1 seed Liberty in Brooklyn, has No. 4 seed Las Vegas on the brink of playoff elimination. The Aces are now the first reigning champions to ever fall to a 0-2 deficit in a WNBA playoff series.

Las Vegas has yet to conquer the Liberty this season, falling a franchise record-tying five straight times to same opponent, all after defeating New York in the 2023 WNBA Finals.

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New York's Sabrina Ionescu and Las Vegas's A'ja Wilson led their teams in scoring with 24 points each, while Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot provided a crucial spark off the bench. 

Should Las Vegas turn things around when the series moves back to Nevada on Friday, they'd become the first team to ever bounce back from 0-2 to reach the WNBA Finals.

Aces guard Chelsea Gray put a positive spin on the challenge, saying "I love being in the history books, so might as well try to start there. That's going to be our mentality."

Lynx level up with Game 2 semifinal win in Minnesota

No. 2 seed Minnesota evened their semifinal score with No. 3 seed Connecticut on Tuesday, earning a 77-70 win in Minneapolis to send the series back East at one victory apiece.

Courtney Williams led the Lynx in scoring with 17 points, while a physical Minnesota defense held the Sun to less than 40% shooting from the field.

In the loss, Sun forward DeWanna Bonner became the third all-time leading scorer in WNBA postseason history. She also inked her name into the league record books as the player with the most appearances in playoff history at 83 games and counting.

Friday kicks off a guaranteed two-game run in Connecticut, with the home side on a mission to reach the Finals for the first time since 2022.

How to watch Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals

Las Vegas and Minnesota will look to pick up critical wins in Friday's Game 3, with the Aces facing a must-win scenario in front of what promises to be a rocking home crowd.

The Lynx will travel to Connecticut for a 7:30 PM ET tip off on Friday, October 4th, followed by a Liberty vs. Aces showdown in Las Vegas at 9:30 PM ET. Both games are scheduled to air on ESPN2.

In this week's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins takes a look at the first games of the 2024 WNBA semifinals, discussion whether or not Aces and Lynx fans can find the silver lining in their teams' respective shortcomings heading into Game 2.

Then, she shouts out the big winners and losers of this weekend's NWSL's slate, including this season's historic Golden Boot race and the competition to clinch one of the final playoff spots.

The Late Sub with Claire Watkins brings you the latest news and freshest takes in women’s sports. This is the weekly rundown you’ve been missing, covering the USWNT, NWSL, WNBA, college hoops, and whatever else is popping off in women’s sports each week. Special guest appearances with the biggest names in women’s sports make The Late Sub a must-listen for every fan. Follow Claire on X/Twitter @ScoutRipley and subscribe to the Just Women’s Sports newsletter for more.

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