Young fans celebrate England's advance to the Women's World Cup final. Photo: Victoria Jones/PA
Under Sydney's deep cobalt blue skies, the students of the Lionesses gather for a special occasion. A couple hundred with the cross of St. George on the steps of the Opera House. The same number of people hang around the Cheers Bar on George Street to watch Alex Scott's Football Trick. It seems discouragingly polite on the eve of England's first appearance in a World Cup final since 1966. No drunken crowds, no one trying to do something nefarious with the flash. Everything is festive, reflecting the mood of the team, obsessed not so much with hype as with history.
But don't let the calmness fool you. England is on the cusp of a truly monumental feat that could resonate across generations. For 57 years, the history of the World Cup has been written only in terms of pain. Today, Sarina Wigman's team has changed the paradigm to the point where there is now not only hope, but a tangible expectation of beating Spain at the Stadium Australia. It's quite a psychological shift. Fatalism has given way to fearlessness.
On Sunday morning, a group of traveling Free Lionnesses will gather at Manly Beach before their last ferry ride across Sydney Harbor, looking forward to a glorious conclusion. Demand for tickets far exceeds the stadium's capacity of 80,000, and for good reason, given that few can tell when that chance will come again. After all, England's appearances in World Cup finals are little more than sightings of Halley's Comet. The day calls for capture.
Millie Bright poses for a photo. Credit: The FA Collection
You feel the importance of the speed with which politicians of all stripes are tying their wagon to the search for England. First it was Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, who suggested a harrowing staged photo shoot with a pint of lager. For what speaks of love for Lionesses in the same way as going to a pub with your own photographer? Now Lucy Fraser, Minister of Culture, is making the final push to Sydney. Everyone recognizes the capital that flows when they join the winning cause.
The tournament pedigree of this team is undeniable. In less than a year, the English have become European champions and World Cup finalists, mocking conventional wisdom that these adventures always end in anger and pain. The question of why women were needed to turn the story around is intriguing. The most compelling answer is that Lionesses are simply less obsessed with anxiety, less burdened by memories of past failures. While men can play like they're weighed down by a terrible legacy once the heat heats up, their female counterparts only look to script their own ending on their own terms.
Captain Millie Bright admitted that it was the game of their lives. But she did it brightly, carelessly, without the slightest fear. It is this eerie self-confidence that explains why the commercial value of this team is not so much hot as melted. The latest estimate is that their brand value will almost triple after this World Cup, from £94m to £235m, with more sponsors every month. The surge of electricity they brought with them during their Euro triumph has now turned into an unprecedented power surge.
The public has little desire to hear that this is nothing like the 66th, or how Brazil lost 3-1 to the Queensland Under-15s in last month's warm-up. Women's football is in its prime and demands to be judged by fairer standards than old chauvinism. Just this weekend, a betting company known for its guerrilla tactics released an ad that doesn't think about alienating much of its demographic by stating, “Bored ladies are waiting for your opinion on women's football.”
It no longer seems appropriate to scoff at the fact that nobody cares when it's obvious to a huge community. Cities across England have already sold out almost all the tickets to watch this final on huge screens. The councils are asking for pubs to be allowed to open at 10 am so that one can have a drink an hour before kick-off. The London Eye is illuminated in red and white. This suggests not a culture of indifference, but an audience ready to be caught up in a rapid cultural transformation. It wasn't until 2007 that the Women's World Cup was broadcast live on terrestrial television. It's a national obsession in 2023.
Sarina Wigman (center) took Lionesses to the next level. This is the argument that Rishi Sunak should be in Sydney to represent the country. The same applies to the Prince of Wales in his role as president of the Football Association. Both would certainly go if the men reached the final.
Their absence is doubly conspicuous by the fact that the event will be attended by Queen Letizia of Spain with her daughter Sofia. If the goal is indeed equality between men's and women's games – as FIFA President Gianni Infantino points out, albeit in his usual clumsy manner – then there should also be patronage parity.
Wigman sometimes struggles with English idioms. At this World Cup, she was taken aback when asked about the “sliding door moment” or “was the cat out of the bag.” But here, she had no problem expressing what the women's game had to do next. “What you see, you can be. You must have a philosophy, a vision. You need to perform at the highest level, and to show it. This team has been such an inspiration to the entire nation.”
One last push as the England team is put to the test in training. Getty Images/Naomi Baker
Sometimes talking about inspiration can seem like glib slogans. But in this case, it's the right choice, reflecting the dramatic changes that have taken women's football from an abandoned niche to a must-see spectacle that is expected to reach more than 10 million TV viewers on Sunday morning.
On this day all roads lead to Sydney. Those who believe in heavenly powers might be tempted to see a certain karmic symmetry in the fact that it was in this city that England achieved another major world success at the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The prevailing atmosphere is one of serenity.
There is no excitement, no worries about the lack of players, no anguish about whether the Spaniards are superior in technical superiority. This is as far from England's time-honored World Cup dysfunction model as you can imagine. Such is the joy of Lionesses: the rejection of stereotypes.
On any other hand, you'd be worried about the favorite tag tempting fate. For these young women, this is a badge of honour, which they are determined to show in the most exciting way.
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