If you’re not yet watching the World Cup, now is the time to turn it on. The tournament has been turned upside down with favourites like Germany (ranked 2nd), Canada (ranked 7th), and Brazil (ranked 8th) knocked out, while the US (ranked 1st) was also within 1-inch of sharing the same fate.
Panama scored its first goal in World Cup history…and it is truly epic.
Whilst they did not advance, this celebration is one of most joyous things you’ll ever see.
Jamaica, who had to create a GoFundMe to even get to the World Cup, are through to the round of 16.
Prolific Brazilian player Marta – who is the leading World Cup goal scorer (man or woman) with 17 goals – gave a touching pep-talk to Bunny Shaw after Jamaica effectively knocked them out through their 0-0 draw. And, be sure to watch Marta’s post-game interview: “Cry at the beginning, so you can smile at the end.”
The African nations of South Africa, Morocco, and Nigeria are also through to the Round of 16 with unprecedented wins.
South Africa gave us one of the most jubilant locker room celebrations.
Ireland’s Katie McCabe scored an incredible Olimpico.
Even from this angle, and knowing it’s going to happen, I still can’t tell it’s about to curl into the top far-side corner.
Japan were scoring machines.
The gap in the women’s game is closing, and even teams with little-to-no investment are pulling together and accomplishing greatness (which…just imagine what they could accomplish WITH funding.) If these group stages were just the start, the upcoming round of 16 is poised to be truly remarkable.
