The 2024 Paris Games haven't even officially begun, yet the Olympic soccer tournament has already been rocked by a controversy spurred by defending gold medalists Canada.
New Zealand lodged a formal complaint to the IOC on Tuesday, alleging that a Team Canada support staff member spied on their training session in Saint-Étienne using drone surveillance.
In response, the Canadian Olympic Committee immediately confirmed the incident and apologized, promising to conduct an "independent external review."
Local police saw the drone and arrested "Non-accredited analyst" Joseph Lombardi on Monday, charging him with "flying an unmanned aircraft over a prohibited area." He has since pleaded guilty and accepted a suspended eight-month prison sentence in addition to a €45,000 fine.
Team Canada has since dismissed Lombardi, sending him along with his direct supervisor Jasmine Mandor home from the Games and officially removing the pair from the team.
Canada boss Priestman to miss opening match
Canada head coach Bev Priestman accepted the decision to sit out her squad's Olympic group stage opener against New Zealand on Thursday.
"On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologize to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada," Priestman said in a statement.
"I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program. Accordingly, to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday," Priestman added. "In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld."
New Zealand has also reportedly asked FIFA that to bar Canada from earning any points in the opening match, regardless of the outcome.
Taylor Swift made headlines Sunday when she cheered on Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. But this is far from her first foray into sports.
The 12-time Grammy-winning superstar is a well-established fan and friend of the U.S. women’s national team, in particular veteran forward Alex Morgan. She hosted the 2015 World Cup-winning team on stage at her 1989 World Tour, and she announced Morgan’s place on the 2023 World Cup roster.
So in honor of Swift’s continued world domination, Just Women’s Sports has paired her albums with women’s soccer kits from the 2023 World Cup, the Women’s Super League and the NWSL.
Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
Australian superstar Sam Kerr and the Matildas’ bright World Cup kits drag us headfirst into the rankings. Does it get better than this?
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
World Cup champion Spain enchanted the crowd at the 2023 tournament with these coral reef-inspired kits.
Red (Taylor’s Version)
Arsenal crashed out of the Women’s Champions League in the qualifying round. Yet despite their run ending so suddenly, they have the whole Women’s Super League season ahead in their classic red kits. So: Begin again?
1989 (Taylor’s Version)
England isn’t out of the woods yet. Despite winning the 2022 Euro title, the Lionesses are still seeking their first World Cup championship after falling to Spain in the 2023 final. But their light blue kits for the tournament will never go out of style.
Reputation
Are you ready for it? This is the only album on the list not owned by Swift, who is in the process of re-recording her first six albums so she has control of her music. But pairing the edgy “Reputation” with the Thorns’ tattoo-inspired 2023 jerseys proved too tempting to pass up.
Lover
USWNT midfielder Sam Mewis is in her Lover era, she shared on the “Snacks” podcast in April. Don’t roll your eyes, but Angel City FC are in their Lover era too with their 2022 pink-accented kits.
Folklore
The Football Ferns’ World Cup kits pull from nature, as does Swift’s woodsy “folklore.” While July and August slipped away like a bottle of wine, the memories of the tournament Down Under (and of New Zealand’s first-ever World Cup win) will stick with us.
Evermore
Swift has spoken about the autumnal vibes of “evermore,” and while there are no flannels to be found on the soccer field, the Netherlands’ signature orange kits bring to mind the colors of the season.
Midnights
The USWNT did not have the 2023 World Cup run they wanted, but they still looked bejeweled in these Nike kits. Ahead of the tournament, Morgan attended Swift’s record-setting Eras Tour, which features “Midnights” tracks as its grand finale, and she had high praise for her uber-famous friend.
“She is so supportive,” Morgan said. “She’s all about women empowerment. We both share our favorite number, number 13, born the same year, in 1989. We’ve just been really supportive of each other’s careers.”
Ali Riley might have one of the most heartwarming stories of the 2023 World Cup, in a tournament that has been filled with them.
The New Zealand captain wore Pride-inspired colors on her nails because captains were not allowed to wear OneLove armbands in support of LGBTQ+ rights. She used nail polish to circumvent the “frustrating” FIFA ban, with the traditional rainbow Pride flag colors on one hand and the trans flag colors on the other.
And her small gesture took on a life of its own, even inspiring a mental health patient in an Auckland children’s psychiatric ward, she said on the latest episode of Just Women’s Sports‘ World Cup show “The 91st.”
“I just thought, this is a way to show what I believe in and to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and to show people that I love them and I support them and I celebrate them even if I can’t wear this armband,” she said.
Following New Zealand’s tournament-opening win – the Football Ferns’ first-ever win at a World Cup – her nails went viral, which she didn’t realize until well after the game. In her postgame interview, cameras caught a clear view of her nails, which inspired one young patient to paint her nails in the same way.
After the victory, Riley received a message from someone who spends time with patients in a children’s psychiatric ward in Auckland, who shared Riley’s impact on one young girl in particular.
“She had been admitted because she had tried to take her own life, and they came into her room the day after the game, and she was painting her nails,” Riley said. “They were asking what she was doing.
“She said, ‘I saw Ali Riley on TV last night and I saw her nails and it gave me hope and I don’t feel alone anymore.’ And they just saw something change in her and saw a light,” Riley continued, noting that she believes the girl has since been discharged from the hospital.
“I would love to meet her one day,” she said, calling the message “the most incredible thing” that she’s ever received. “And again this was through somebody else, but it gave me so much perspective, which again helped me through the rest of the tournament. When I was very disappointed and heartbroken that we couldn’t achieve our goal of getting out of the group, I just thought, wow, the impact we make with our platform and with this gift and this privilege of playing on the world stage. It was never anything about me, but it motivated me even more to continue to do whatever small gestures.
“One small gesture can go so far and it was such an amazing reminder of that. Football is a game. And getting knocked out sucks. But to impact people’s lives in a positive way, that’s winning.”
From the U.S. women’s national team posting its worst-ever group-stage result to Olympic champion Canada making an early exit, those watching the 2023 World Cup may notice some differences from years past.
Alongside the obvious markers of change, such as the expanded 32-team format, unexpected results have underscored the shifting women’s soccer landscape. What are some of the signs of history in the making? Just Women’s Sports takes a look.
Canada becomes first Olympic champion to exit in group stage
Canada was eliminated from the tournament in a crushing 4-0 loss to Australia, becoming the first reigning Olympic champions to go out in the group stage. The result caps a months-long dispute with Canada Soccer over their pay, which finally reached a tentative conclusion over the weekend – just before the team was set to fight for its World Cup life. The loss made an already tough couple of months for Canada even tougher. But after the match, players and coach Bev Priestman refused to put the blame on their struggles off the field.
“Has it been a really really tough year? Absolutely,” Priestman said. “But at the end of the day, we came here tonight thinking we should have been able to win. And we didn’t. And we have to reflect on that.”
Christine Sinclair, who was playing in her sixth career World Cup for Canada, agreed, but she did express hope that the result would serve as a “wake-up call” for the national federation.
“We’ve been battling our federation for support but I can’t put this [loss] on [Canada Soccer],” Sinclair said. “We’re 23 players and staff and we didn’t get it done tonight. More of it is a wake-up call for our federation, the lack of a professional league [in Canada], the lack of support for youth national teams, I think you’re just going to continue to see teams reach our level, surpass us, whatever you want to call it, if things don’t change.”
New Zealand is first host to bow out in group stage
Tournament co-host New Zealand started with a bang, earning its first-ever win World Cup win with a 1-0 result against Norway. It was a historic moment, and it captured everything the World Cup should be: the beauty of the game, the emotions of the players, what women’s football can mean for a country if we let it.
Yet while the Football Ferns made some positive history, they also made an unfavorable mark in the World Cup record books. They followed up their win with a stunning loss to the Philippines in their second game, then a draw with Switzerland, finishing third in their group and becoming the first tournament hosts eliminated before the knockout stage. Still, captain Ali Riley remained upbeat.
“I really think that we’ve inspired the country,” she said. “I hope that little girls across New Zealand and the world now will start playing sport and feel like they can achieve whatever they put their mind to and just dream bigger.”
Colombia hands Germany its first group-stage loss since 1995
Colombia has been one of the most exciting countries to grace this tournament, led by 18-year-old Linda Caicedo.
Caicedo provided the team’s first goal against powerhouse Germany, which stood as the lone goal in the match until the 89th minute. While Germany scored at the death, Colombia’s Manuela Vanegas wouldn’t let her team be denied. The 22-year-old scored the game-winner in the seventh minute of extra time to clinch the improbable 2-1 win and a spot in the knockout rounds.
While Germany dominated every aspect of the game, from shots to possession to passes, Colombia notched its biggest win to date — and the first group-stage win over Germany by any team since 1995. Colombia advances to the Round of 16 for just the second time.
“It’s a win that’s very, very important,” Vanegas said. “It’s a win against one of the World Cup favorites for a lot of people. But Colombia obviously played very well. It’s (a product of) all the work that people don’t see. We made history. What happened today is historic.
“We want to keep making history — not only today, but tomorrow, too.”
Four World Cup debutantes leave with group-stage wins
Four of the eight World Cup debutantes are leaving the tournament with a group-stage win: Morocco, Zambia, the Philippines and Portugal. Their success marks a historic moment for the tournament, which expanded to 32 teams from 24 this year, bringing it in line with the men’s World Cup.
Morocco is the first Arab country to take part in the Women’s World Cup, and it made its mark with a 1-0 win against South Korea. Additionally, Nouhaila Benzina became the first player to wear a hijab in a game in the history of the World Cup.
“We are just so pleased our efforts have paid off,” Morocco forward Ibtissam Jraïdi said. “This victory is for Morocco and Arabs — it’s the fruit of our hard work.”
USWNT wins just one group stage game for the first time
Add one more statistic to Vlatko Andonovski’s résumé: For the first time, the USWNT finished the World Cup group stage without at least two wins.
A 1-1 draw with the Netherlands and a lackluster performance against Portugal have the USWNT limping into the Round of 16. The possibility of a World Cup three-peat remains alive thanks to a goalpost; if not for a late Portugal shot ricocheting off the post to preserve Tuesday’s 0-0 draw, the USWNT would have made even more unfathomable history.
Perhaps what has been the most infuriating is Andonovski’s refusal to implement (or even consider) tactical changes. The group-stage results made clear that something needs to change, but he is unwilling to change it. The USWNT and its players might still hold the will to win, but what good is will when the way won’t change?
And as the runners-up in Group E, the two-time defending champions now face an even tougher road in the knockout rounds. The USWNT has never bowed out before the semifinals at a World Cup, but that could change this year.
Just Women’s Sports is here with your daily World Cup Digest, breaking down all of the biggest storylines from each day of action in Australia and New Zealand.
Today’s top World Cup news: Philippines shock New Zealand after controversial VAR call
The Philippines got their first World Cup goal – and subsequently their first World Cup win – against New Zealand on Tuesday.
The stunning 1-0 defeat came after New Zealand seemed to equalize in the 68th minute but had the goal disallowed on a VAR call. The video review showed the head of New Zealand’s Hannah Wilkinson crossed the offside line by the slimmest of margins before her shot.
“It’s so heartbreaking for everyone in this team,” New Zealand coach Jitka Klimkova said. “We played to win and it didn’t go our way. We were fighting until the end, but it wasn’t enough.”
On the other side, the Philippines celebrated a historic triumph. Sarina Bolden scored the game-winner, which made her the all-time leading international goal scorer for the Philippines. The goal meant everything, she said after the win.
“It feels overwhelming, crazy — it feels like I’m in a dream,” Bolden said. “It doesn’t feel real.
“I literally can’t put it into words. This has been a dream of mine as a little kid to just be here at the World Cup, let alone even score.”
SARINA BOLDEN WILL NOT BE DENIED FROM CLOSE RANGE 🇵🇭
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 25, 2023
Philippines gets its first-ever FIFA Women's World Cup Goal! pic.twitter.com/RflEAtLbIZ
Today’s top highlight: 18-year-old Linda Caicedo scores first World Cup goal
Linda Caicedo broke onto the senior international stage in thrilling fashion as she scored in Colombia’s 2-0 win over South Korea. The goal came in her senior World Cup debut, and marked the third time she’s scored at a World Cup in a year – the only player to ever start and score in three World Cups in the span of a year.
Yes, you read that right.
Last August, Caicedo featured on Colombia’s U-20 team at the Under-20 World Cup in Costa Rica. She scored twice against New Zealand in the group stage. Two months later, Caicedo played at the U-17 World Cup in India, where she helped Colombia to a runner-up finish and was tied for the tournament’s top goal-scorer with four goals.
And last night, she made her senior World Cup debut, becoming the second-youngest South American player to score a debut goal since Marta in 2007. At just 18 years old, Caicedo already has beaten cancer (she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 15), signed with Real Madrid and made her name known on multiple international stages. Get ready, world. Linda Caicedo has arrived.
LINDA CAICEDO WITH A CERTIFIED BANGER ON HER WORLD CUP DEBUT pic.twitter.com/4tu7getKgR
— Diaspora United Pod (Crystal Dunn’s Lucky Charms) (@DiasporaUtdPod) July 25, 2023
Today’s results:
- Philippines 1, New Zealand 0
- Norway 0, Switzerland 0
- Colombia 2, South Korea 0
More World Cup news to know:
- At 16 years old, Casey Phair became the youngest player in World Cup history to appear in a match after subbing on for South Korea last night.
- Zambia cut its match preview press conference short Tuesday due to persistent questions about an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against head coach Bruce Mwape. Last September, Zambia’s FA announced that it had referred an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse to FIFA. In July, the Guardian revealed that Mwape was among those being investigated. When asked Tuesday if it would be good for the team for him to step aside, Mwape asked: “What environment affecting the team in particular? What are you talking about? I would like to know because there is no way I can retire without reason. Maybe your reason is because what you are reading from the media or from the press, but the truth of the matter should actually come out, not just on rumors.”
- Norway winger Caroline Graham Hansen was unhappy about starting her team’s game against Switzerland from the bench. The game, which was missing Ada Hegerberg due to a groin injury, resulted in a 0-0 tie. “It’s tough, I don’t know what I can say. There’s not much I can say, I feel like I’m standing here with my hands tied,” she said in an interview after the match. “I feel I have been stepped on for a whole year — everyone says all the time that we have to stand together as a team and as a nation, but I feel I’ve been on the receiving end [of a raw deal]. … Nothing comes for free in life, but I thought I had earned a certain amount of respect, but maybe that wasn’t the case.”
New Zealand’s women’s soccer team was temporarily evacuated from its hotel on Saturday after it caught fire. All players and staff are safe, New Zealand Football said in a statement.
The Football Ferns were reportedly evacuated through a stairwell and forced to go to a private dining room across the street. They had been staying at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland.
Firefighters called to the scene suspected suspicious activity, which is under investigation, according to the NZ Herald.
“New Zealand Football can confirm that the Football Ferns team and staff have been temporarily evacuated from the Pullman Hotel, their team base for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, due to a fire,” the federation said in a statement. “All of the team and staff are safe and accounted for.”
Four people were reportedly treated for smoke inhalation.
The World Cup co-hosts are coming off a 1-0 win over Norway in their opening match, an emotional affair for their first-ever World Cup victory. New Zealand is currently second in Group A and next plays the Philippines on Tuesday.
New Zealand secured its first-ever World Cup win Thursday with a shocking 1-0 victory over Norway in front of an exuberant home crowd in Auckland.
The Football Ferns rose to the challenge on home soil in front of 42,137 fans, a record for women’s and men’s soccer in the country.
“There was just belief, belief that we were going to win,” said Hannah Wilkinson, who provided the lone goal of the match. “We had so many Kiwis to make proud tonight. I think feeling that support all around us, we kind of just knew that this was gonna be it for us. We were gonna get this. We were creating chances and even before we scored, we knew that it was coming. So when you get that kind of energy, it’s kind of indescribable.”
New Zealand captain Ali Riley had said before the tournament that the team felt the pressure to get its first-ever World Cup win.
“I know if we do that, so many little girls want to take up soccer and it will help our program have a successful future, which is so important to me on the back end of my career, having played for the team now since 2007,” she said on Snacks.
“There’s so many things that I want to happen after this World Cup and it starts to feel like a lot. But I know that if one little girl is inspired to pick up sport that it will improve her life and have her experience some of the amazing lessons that I’ve learned and how much sport has helped me, whether she becomes a professional player or a national team player or not.”
After her team achieved its goal to open the tournament, Riley found herself overcome with emotion in her postgame interview as she described the history-making moment.
“I’m so, so proud. We’ve been fighting for this for so long and we had a clear goal, that we wanted to inspire young girls, young people around this country and around the world,” she said. “And I really think we did that tonight. Anything is possible.
“It’s the best time of my life. But I think with the performance, we deserved it. We believed in ourselves the whole time. It looked like we wanted it more, and that gave us confidence. And we were pushing to score.”
California native Ali Riley grew up dreaming of the U.S. women’s national team, but she will lead the New Zealand squad into the 2023 World Cup.
The captain of the Football Ferns (and of the NWSL’s Angel City FC), Riley is thankful for the doors opened to her by her dual citizenship, she said on the latest episode of Snacks.
Her dad is from Christchurch, New Zealand, but moved to the United States after college, where he met Riley’s mom. The family opted to live in Los Angeles while Riley grew up, but that didn’t stop the family from spending “a lot of time” in New Zealand.
“Now with the national team, I’ve probably been there at least once a year for my entire life,” she said. “But never in the capacity of hosting a World Cup. So that will be new.”
As a child in California, Riley imagined playing for the USWNT and “wanted to be Briana Scurry.” While the dream of becoming a star goalkeeper “died pretty early,” she instead aspired to be a star scorer, following in the footsteps of Mia Hamm. But a USWNT call-up wasn’t in the cards.
“I didn’t know about the New Zealand national team,” she said. “So I grew up dreaming of playing for the U.S., but that didn’t seem to be a possibility.”
When New Zealand began to invest in their U-20 team during the first U-20 World Cup, Riley’s eyes were opened to the possibility of the Football Ferns.
In 2006, Riley sent in a DVD of highlights to shoot her shot for the U-20 World Cup team. She eventually got invited to train with the squad and “just fell in love.”
“There was no choice. I was never choosing between two teams, I was choosing if I wanted to play for a national team or not at the time,” she said. “And then of course, in retrospect, it’s so easy to say, what if. And I’m honored that people even think that there could be a what if or to think about things that could have been different.”
The defender went from playing in the U-20 World Cup in 2006 to playing for the senior team at the 2007 World Cup. The 35-year-old has played in every World Cup since then (2011, 2015, 2019) and has continued to fight for resources for the New Zealand team.
“It’s a challenge,” she said. “The resources are definitely limited. And when I — playing in the U.S., playing for Chelsea, playing for Bayern Munich — see the resources, yeah, it’s a challenge. It’s also very motivating and what I get from playing here, especially from Angel City, what I learned, and the fuel it gives me to then fight for more and fight for better for my New Zealand teammates and being a part of FIFPRO.
“I just think it’s really shaped me to be the person I am and the player I am to start playing for the national team so young. So that’s kind of how it happened. But I still haven’t spent enough time to get that Kiwi accent. And they always want me to try but then are just offended. So I don’t know why they keep asking me.”
The 2023 World Cup, co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, could be game-changing for women’s soccer and for the Football Ferns. The tournament could be the most-attended in the history of the women’s game, which would bring more eyeballs to the national teams’ fight for more.
“It’s a huge opportunity to do so many things,” Riley said. “And it also comes with a lot of pressure to try to make a big impact to kick start something, thinking about what the ’99 World Cup did — of course, the U.S. won that World Cup.”
While the goal is always to win the World Cup, New Zealand is aiming to win its first World Cup match. Getting that on home soil, Riley says, would bring “chills.”
“There’s a lot of pressure to win a game and to actually have a good World Cup. So that’s our goal,” she said. “And I know if we do that, so many little girls want to take up soccer and it will help our program have a successful future, which is so important to me on the back end of my career, having played for the team now since 2007.
“There’s so many things that I want to happen after this World Cup and it starts to feel like a lot. But I know that if one little girl is inspired to pick up sport that it will improve her life and have her experience some of the amazing lessons that I’ve learned and how much sport has helped me, whether she becomes a professional player or a national team player or not.”
Huge congratulations to @RileyThree as she represents New Zealand at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup! 🇳🇿
— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) June 30, 2023
Playing all 3 group games at home, the Ferns will open the tournament on 7/20 against Norway, Philippines on 7/25, and Switzerland on 7/30.#WeAreAngelCity pic.twitter.com/aC2Os08pIr