U.S. women's soccer is ranked No. 1 going into the World Cup. Here's another reason you should watch them.


There's just as much going on off the World Cup field as there is on it.
The FIFA Women's World Cup starts on Friday in Paris, with the home team facing off against South Korea at 3 p.m. ET. Team USA, meanwhile, doesn't have its first match until Tuesday, but following their fight for fair pay can keep fans busy in the meantime.
No matter whose World Cup projections you look at, the U.S. women tend to come out on top. They're 2015's defending champions, they're currently first in FIFA's world rankings, and they have a chart-topping 7-4 odds to take home this year's title. Those accolades come as no surprise seeing as America has top-tier, longtime players including Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, and Megan Rapinoe leading the way. Still, FiveThirtyEight's rankings do suggest France has a slightly higher chance of winning the cup, and Germany and England could sneak in a surprise win as well.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Behind the scenes, the American women are also fighting an absurdly obvious pay gap. Their World Cup-winning coach made less than a tenth of what the men's team coach did in 2017, despite the men's coach being fired the year before. That's one of the many reasons why players sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination in March. And it seems the gap extends around the globe, because whichever team wins this year's world cup will only bring home $4 million — just a fraction of the $38 million France's men's team received when they claimed the World Cup last year.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
The state of Britain's Armed Forces
The Explainer Geopolitical unrest and the unreliability of the Trump administration have led to a frantic re-evaluation of the UK's military capabilities
By The Week UK
-
Anti-anxiety drug has a not-too-surprising effect on fish
Under the radar The fish act bolder and riskier
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
Sudoku hard: April 21, 2025
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster show
Speed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top Grammys
Speed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own room
Speed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talks
Speed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tour
Speed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamation
Speed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box office
Speed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
By Peter Weber, The Week US