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The Making of the Women's World Cup: Defining Stories from a Sport's Coming of Age
Women's football is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, with over 30 million girls and women playing the game. Three million people watched England defeat France at the European Championships in 2017 on TV and in the United States over 25 million people tuned in for the 2015 World Cup Final victory - the most-watched football match in US history.
Kieran Theivam and Jeff Kassouf detail the most incredible tales from previous Women's World Cups to create a wonderful composite view of the women's game.
The FIFA Women's World Cup in France kicks off on 7th June 2019 in Paris and will conclude one month later in Lyon. This will be the eighth Women's World Cup, with the first tournament having taken place in 1991.
The book covers topics such as Michelle Akers, playing through the pain; the early years, including the 1996 Olympics; the US team's World Cup triumph on home soil in 1999; Germany's dominant years between 2003 and 2007; superstar Marta; Kelly Smith and the Golden Boot that changed the game in England in 2007; how Japan's team brought the first smiles to that country since the devastating tsunami; the beginnings of Australia's golden generation; the 122nd-minute USA-Brazil quarter-final equalizer; and the Laura Bassett own goal that broke English hearts and brought them together at the same time.
Kieran Theivam and Jeff Kassouf detail the most incredible tales from previous Women's World Cups to create a wonderful composite view of the women's game.
The FIFA Women's World Cup in France kicks off on 7th June 2019 in Paris and will conclude one month later in Lyon. This will be the eighth Women's World Cup, with the first tournament having taken place in 1991.
The book covers topics such as Michelle Akers, playing through the pain; the early years, including the 1996 Olympics; the US team's World Cup triumph on home soil in 1999; Germany's dominant years between 2003 and 2007; superstar Marta; Kelly Smith and the Golden Boot that changed the game in England in 2007; how Japan's team brought the first smiles to that country since the devastating tsunami; the beginnings of Australia's golden generation; the 122nd-minute USA-Brazil quarter-final equalizer; and the Laura Bassett own goal that broke English hearts and brought them together at the same time.
224 pages, Paperback
Published June 25, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 20, 2019
A delightful journey through some of the stories that have made this tournament so exciting over the past three decades. Each chapter focuses on a specific country, and generally centers on the specific tournament that defines that group. That means that each of the winners gets a chapter, but also allows for a few other interesting stories that don't necessarily result in lifting the trophy at the end.
For example, we get to follow the Australian teenagers as they work their way into a team on the margins of the event, and see them build up toward becoming one of the rising superpowers in the game. There is a similar chapter that focuses on England's transition from a fringe player to a serious contender.
This decision to tell narrower and more specific stories is very helpful, since it reduces the size and scope of the event, and allows emotion and experience to shine through.
The book also does a lovely job balancing between straightforward reporting on the action (who scored the goals, who made the saves, how the individual games ebbed and flowed) and broader discussion of the social and cultural experience. You don't just get a sense of what *happened* but also what it meant, and how people felt.
I do have two minor areas where I was left wanting a little more. The first is in the editing. This definitely reads like a book that needed to come out quickly to hit a deadline. It's by no means a huge problem. The writing is fine as is; it just could have been tightened up a bit with another round of edits. The second is more thematic. For completely understandable reasons, this is primarily a book about the big western countries (the US, England, Germany, Australia, etc.) with some other big names like Brazil and Japan in the mix. To be fair, those are generally where most of the big events have been. But it's certainly not the *only* place where interesting stories could be told. Maybe the authors will consider writing a follow-up book which focuses more on some of these other teams!
For example, we get to follow the Australian teenagers as they work their way into a team on the margins of the event, and see them build up toward becoming one of the rising superpowers in the game. There is a similar chapter that focuses on England's transition from a fringe player to a serious contender.
This decision to tell narrower and more specific stories is very helpful, since it reduces the size and scope of the event, and allows emotion and experience to shine through.
The book also does a lovely job balancing between straightforward reporting on the action (who scored the goals, who made the saves, how the individual games ebbed and flowed) and broader discussion of the social and cultural experience. You don't just get a sense of what *happened* but also what it meant, and how people felt.
I do have two minor areas where I was left wanting a little more. The first is in the editing. This definitely reads like a book that needed to come out quickly to hit a deadline. It's by no means a huge problem. The writing is fine as is; it just could have been tightened up a bit with another round of edits. The second is more thematic. For completely understandable reasons, this is primarily a book about the big western countries (the US, England, Germany, Australia, etc.) with some other big names like Brazil and Japan in the mix. To be fair, those are generally where most of the big events have been. But it's certainly not the *only* place where interesting stories could be told. Maybe the authors will consider writing a follow-up book which focuses more on some of these other teams!
July 13, 2019
This was an enjoyable, fast paced read that explored some of the most iconic moments in Women's World Cup history and helped to share the stories of a few of the tournament's stars, both past and present.
Eight of the ten chapters focus on western teams, with more than half of those centring on the United States, while Brazil and Japan get a chapter apiece. I would have liked to have learned more about teams from elsewhere in the world, however I understand that due to poor funding and other factors it has been harder for teams from elsewhere in the world to create those defining world cup stories and moments that this book centres around.
My favourite chapters personally were chapter 8 (about the movements for equality that have gained a foothold since the 2015 World Cup artificial turf battle) and chapter 10 (about Japan's 2011 triumph in the aftermath of the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami). I consider myself to be a pretty big woso fan who is familiar with many of the stories in the book, but I was never bored reading due to many interesting anecdotes like the pasta sharing between the U.S. and Sweden in '91 and learning that two Japanese players actually worked in the nuclear plant in Fukushima that melted down in 2011.
At some points it did feel like this book was rushed to get it out in time for this summer's world cup. The book could have benefited from more thorough fact checking and editing. For example, chapter 8 mentions that Colombia was one of the countries making their first world cup appearance in 2015 when they actually debuted in 2011. Chapter 10 repeatedly says Saki Kumagai was 21 at the 2011 world cup when she was actually 20 during the tournament and didn't turn 21 until October 2011.
If you enjoyed this book I recommend checking out the authors' work at equalizersoccer.com and listening to old episodes of the women's soccer zone podcast!
Eight of the ten chapters focus on western teams, with more than half of those centring on the United States, while Brazil and Japan get a chapter apiece. I would have liked to have learned more about teams from elsewhere in the world, however I understand that due to poor funding and other factors it has been harder for teams from elsewhere in the world to create those defining world cup stories and moments that this book centres around.
My favourite chapters personally were chapter 8 (about the movements for equality that have gained a foothold since the 2015 World Cup artificial turf battle) and chapter 10 (about Japan's 2011 triumph in the aftermath of the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami). I consider myself to be a pretty big woso fan who is familiar with many of the stories in the book, but I was never bored reading due to many interesting anecdotes like the pasta sharing between the U.S. and Sweden in '91 and learning that two Japanese players actually worked in the nuclear plant in Fukushima that melted down in 2011.
At some points it did feel like this book was rushed to get it out in time for this summer's world cup. The book could have benefited from more thorough fact checking and editing. For example, chapter 8 mentions that Colombia was one of the countries making their first world cup appearance in 2015 when they actually debuted in 2011. Chapter 10 repeatedly says Saki Kumagai was 21 at the 2011 world cup when she was actually 20 during the tournament and didn't turn 21 until October 2011.
If you enjoyed this book I recommend checking out the authors' work at equalizersoccer.com and listening to old episodes of the women's soccer zone podcast!
January 18, 2021
I’ve given this book 4 stars despite some flaws because ultimately what is here is really good. It’s a well researched book that brings together interesting stories in the tournament’s history and fills in some gaps one might have not otherwise known. I enjoyed each chapter and am really glad I read it.
One flaw is the repetition and lack of any kind of thru line. I believe the two authors wrote separate chapters, and if not it reads that way with how events are mentioned more than once in ways that aren’t connected and in how it feels a little like it skips around time wise. It’s part a result of the way each chapter focuses on different countries and so delves into history that overlaps with other chapters, and part a result of the multiple authors.
The other flaw is the narrowness of scope. The focus here is on World Cup winners and big names or major nations, not actual development of the tournament as the centerpiece of a narrative. While the style of the book itself still makes that interesting it would have been nice to see a wider scope. There’s some great stories I’m sure in nations that are only mentioned in passing, or not mentioned at all. What about nations still building? Costa Rica? Argentina? Mexico? Eastern Europe? Any African nation at all? There are some real gaps in the narrative unfortunately, especially as the US gets multiple moments where they are highlighted.
Great read, but unfortunately it really left me wishing it had been a bit more.
One flaw is the repetition and lack of any kind of thru line. I believe the two authors wrote separate chapters, and if not it reads that way with how events are mentioned more than once in ways that aren’t connected and in how it feels a little like it skips around time wise. It’s part a result of the way each chapter focuses on different countries and so delves into history that overlaps with other chapters, and part a result of the multiple authors.
The other flaw is the narrowness of scope. The focus here is on World Cup winners and big names or major nations, not actual development of the tournament as the centerpiece of a narrative. While the style of the book itself still makes that interesting it would have been nice to see a wider scope. There’s some great stories I’m sure in nations that are only mentioned in passing, or not mentioned at all. What about nations still building? Costa Rica? Argentina? Mexico? Eastern Europe? Any African nation at all? There are some real gaps in the narrative unfortunately, especially as the US gets multiple moments where they are highlighted.
Great read, but unfortunately it really left me wishing it had been a bit more.
February 26, 2023
Great account of how the women's world cup came to be and has grown over the years. A must read for anyone who likes football history. And with the women's world cup around the corner, this great book gave me a better understanding of how important this is for women's football and equality in sports.
January 10, 2025
individual chapters on each nation make the book disjointed and the cause for so much repetition. Doesn’t go through the World Cup history chronologically by any means which makes it confusing to read. Was really looking forward to reading about a topic I’m so interested in but this didn’t measure up
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2023
4.5 ⭐️
Informative, entertaining and well researched history of the Women’s World Cup an by extension Women’s Soccer. Focuses more on on-field exploits than the off-field moves behind the tournament. Does a good job of highlighting different teams though it does have a bit of a USA slant.
Informative, entertaining and well researched history of the Women’s World Cup an by extension Women’s Soccer. Focuses more on on-field exploits than the off-field moves behind the tournament. Does a good job of highlighting different teams though it does have a bit of a USA slant.
June 29, 2019
Interesting introduction to the Women's World Cup, written with a new audience in mind as much as those who know their women's football. Recommended
November 22, 2019
Quite short, more sports-memoir-fluff than I thought something by two journalists would be. I could imagine a middle-schooler reading this to pieces, though.
February 11, 2020
Amazing history of the WWC. Loved hearing about each one from different country's viewpoint.
July 31, 2023
Sadly this is one of the only books on WWC so I didnt knew many of the stories, but sadly it is written so poorly that I cant praise it.
September 28, 2023
we need a sequel after this year’s WWC 😮💨
December 28, 2023
Slavisk gennemgang af hver slutrunde med nedslagspunkter. Tematisk for hver slutrunde, så der mangler en del kontekst, når man ikke har set alt.
March 23, 2020
amazing! I loved reading about all the world cups and the journeys of different nations. It’s truly incredibly how women’s football has grown
October 25, 2020
I gave up on the book when I realised I was skim reading pages at a time.
I felt this book was a series of unconnected chapters without an overall story threading them together. Many of the chapters seemed to be based on other's peoples writing and the referenced newspaper articles. I think I'd even read some of these articles when they were published, which may be why I skipped the pages
Really disappointed in the end, particularly as their doesn't seem to many books out there on women's football and I liked the premise of this one.
I felt this book was a series of unconnected chapters without an overall story threading them together. Many of the chapters seemed to be based on other's peoples writing and the referenced newspaper articles. I think I'd even read some of these articles when they were published, which may be why I skipped the pages
Really disappointed in the end, particularly as their doesn't seem to many books out there on women's football and I liked the premise of this one.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews