World Cup presents 'paradigm shift' in women's game, says Rapinoe

The tournament kicks off on July 20

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The World Cup will be a transformational moment for women's sport, U.S. forward Megan Rapinoe said on Tuesday, four years after a bitter pay dispute between her team and federation hung over their successful 2019 campaign.

The Americans are seeking an unprecedented third consecutive title at a time of major growth in the women's game, as FIFA believes the tournament in Australia and New Zealand is on track to be the most attended standalone women's sporting event ever.

"The sort of acceptable cognitive dissonance and just denial of what we actually are and how incredible women's sports are... those days are, you know, pretty much long gone. And that would be quite a tough and embarrassing position to still keep," said Rapinoe.

"It feels like this is a paradigm shift or a moment we'll look back to and say that nothing was ever the same after this Women's World Cup." The 2019 Ballon d'Or winner was a leading voice in her team's equal pay dispute with U.S. Soccer and famously sparred with former U.S. President Donald Trump while competing in the 2019 tournament.

Rapinoe's circumstances could scarcely be more different this time around: The players and federation resolved their dispute in 2022 and when the U.S. World Cup squad was named last week, U.S. President Joe Biden offered a video message cheering the team on.

The domestic National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) saw a boost in ratings and attendance following the 2019 campaign and Rapinoe, who collected the Golden Boot and Ball in France, said she expects a ripple effect from this year's tournament.

"It feels like a real opportunity to kind of like blow the lid off just in terms of fanfare and media and sponsorships and the sort of larger business around this sport," Rapinoe told reporters at the U.S. team's pre-tournament media day.

"Everybody is thankfully pushing in the right direction and pushing in the same direction now. And sky's the limit from here."

'GETTING TOUGHER'

With 14 of the 23 U.S. players making their World Cup debuts and head coach Vlatko Andonovski at the helm after a stretch of extraordinary success under previous manager Jill Ellis, American fans can expect a different team from 2019.

"The competition is not going to be any easier than the previous ones," said Andonovski, who travelled to Qatar last year to work with the U.S. men's team.

"We keep hearing how the competition is getting closer and how it's getting tougher. I actually think that the competition started getting tougher 25 years ago and we just had a great staff."

Andonovski, who led the team to Olympic bronze in Tokyo two years ago, stopped short of naming a new captain on Tuesday after defender Becky Sauerbrunn was forced to miss the tournament due to injury.

But he made clear he will rely on a tight group of experienced players - including Rapinoe, star forward Alex Morgan and midfielder Lindsey Horan - to guide the team in the right direction. "I'm not worried about the inexperience," he said. "They're going to lead the young group."

The tournament kicks off on July 20.