AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Now that the United States women have won equal pay with their male counterparts, there’s no need for their supporters to again chant for fairness when the Americans play the Netherlands on Thursday in their rematch of the 2019 Women’s World Cup final.
The Americans defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in France for their second straight World Cup trophy, and fourth overall. They were in the midst of a lawsuit and a contract battle at the time over pay with U.S. Soccer, and the players were feted with shouts of “Equal Pay!” from the fans.
The team’s pursuit for equal pay was finally resolved last year, when a deal was struck that paid the women the same as the U.S. men’s team and, importantly, evenly split the tournament prize money earned by both teams.
“Everything where we were in 2019 to where we are now is almost the same but couldn’t be more different,” Alex Morgan said. “We were fighting a legal battle off the field and trying to also win over the the world on the field.”
So the crowd at Wellington on Thursday doesn’t need to fight for the Americans to receive equal treatment. They can instead focus on the rematch and cheer for another win over the Dutch.