Women's World Cup | USA Faces Vietnam in First Match

On the second day of the Women's World Cup being held in New Zealand and Australia, the U.S. women's national soccer team will compete against Vietnam on Friday night, Iran time. Predictions indicate an easy win for the U.S. team, which is the defending champion from the previous Women's World Cup. The U.S. has won the championship twice before and is seeking a third consecutive title. Out of the 23 players on the U.S. women's national team, 13 are experiencing the World Cup for the first time. However, the team includes experienced players who have participated in several World Cups. The average age of the U.S. team is 28 years. Alex Morgan, a 34-year-old forward and star of the U.S. team, plays for San Diego Wave FC and has scored 111 goals in 159 international matches. She played a significant role in the U.S. women's national team's championships in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. Megan Rapinoe, 38 years old, is the captain and another prominent player of the U.S. women's national team, playing for OL Reign in the U.S. league. In addition to her participation in the U.S. team and winning the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, she was also part of the team that secured third place in the 2011 World Cup. Rapinoe, who publicly came out as a lesbian ten years ago, is likely participating in her last World Cup. On the eve of the U.S. women's national team's first game, Abram Pili, head of the Office of the Special Representative for Iran, wrote in light of this game, hoping for a day when every country has a women's team that can express themselves freely. The U.S. team, the previous champion, plays against Vietnam today. On the first day of the tournament, New Zealand, one of the hosts, won 1-0 against Norway. Australia also defeated the Republic of Ireland by the same score. The match between Nigeria and Canada ended in a goalless draw. On the second day of the tournament, Switzerland managed to beat the Philippines 2-0, and Spain defeated Costa Rica 3-0. The last match of this day will be between the U.S. and Vietnam. For several years, women soccer players in the U.S. have been campaigning for equal pay with male players. Apparently, this message has reached FIFA as well. This year, there are significant changes in the Women's World Cup prize money compared to the previous tournament. The champion team will receive $4.5 million, while the second to fourth place teams will receive $3 million, $2.6 million, and $2.4 million, respectively. A few months ago, the U.S. women's national team won a lawsuit to receive equal pay with the men's team. This case highlighted the 'discrimination in World Cup bonus payments.' In the 2014 World Cup, the men's team received about $5.3 million after reaching the round of 16, while the U.S. women's team, which became the World Cup champion a year later, received $1.7 million. Besides Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, several other stars are expected to shine in this tournament: Salma Paralluelo, a left midfielder for FC Barcelona and a member of the Spanish national team; Marta (Vieira da Silva), a 37-year-old player for the Brazilian national team who has scored 17 goals in 20 World Cup matches and has been named the best female soccer player in the world five times; Linda Caicedo, who plays as a forward for Real Madrid's women's team and is a member of the Colombian national team; and Melchie Dumornay, a midfielder for Lyon in France and a member of the Haitian national team. For the first time in the Women's World Cup, all players will receive at least $30,000.