The USWNT are champions again. But regional powers are starting to flex their muscles

On their way to another international title, the US confronted the increasing depth of talent in women’s soccer in Latin America.

So did the hemisphere’s other traditional powers during the inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup, which the USWNT won on Sunday night by defeating Brazil 1-0.

Mexico earned their own ‘dos a cero’ moment by defeating the US, 2-0, in group play. The four-time champions of the Women’s World Cup recorded just their second loss in 43 matches against La Tri, and only the second overall on home soil in 10 years.

In other surprising results earlier in the tournament, Puerto Rico – 103rd in Fifa’s rankings – upset Panama, who went to their first Women’s World Cup last year, 2-1. Three days earlier, Las Boricuas held Brazil to one goal in a 1-0 loss.

Then in one quarter-final, the reigning Olympic champions, Canada, needed extra time for a 1-0 victory against Costa Rica – who almost won in second-half stoppage time. In another quarter-final, Mexico survived Paraguay’s late surge to secure a 3-2 win after taking a 2-0 lead. Mexico’s Esthefanny Barreras made two successive saves in the second half – the first on a penalty kick, the second from point-blank range on the rebound – to keep Paraguay at bay.

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“A lot of players coming up now are extremely crafty. They have the ability just to make magic out of nothing,” said USWNT striker Alex Morgan, who used one of her teammates to amplify her point. “We saw that with Rose Lavelle eight-to-10 years ago. But now we’re seeing every single player just have the gift with the ball at their feet.”

Morgan, who has played in four Women’s World Cups and three Olympics since 2010, also notices increasing tactical refinement. “You’re seeing now that when you’re getting the ball into the box, it’s just one-time finishes,” she said. “Defenders are closing down spaces so quickly now that there’s not enough time to take two or three touches. I think the space is closing in the center of the field, so using the width is a huge component.”

With players competing in the US and increasingly in Europe, women’s soccer in Latin America is becoming more sophisticated. Yet as the sport matures, it faces spotty development throughout the region in the two areas most fundamental for its growth: domestic leagues and financial support.

Mexico showed how pivotal a domestic league can be in cultivating talent. When they debuted at the Women’s World Cup in 1999, 12 of their 20 players were born in the US and played at American colleges.

“We didn’t have a league back then,” said Andrea Rodebaugh, who started in that tournament and now serves as the Mexican federation’s director of its national women’s teams. “All we did have was amateur leagues in different parts of the country. There was a big gap in preparation between the best players in Mexico and the international level.”

After allowing its internationals to play in the US, the federation formed Liga MX Femenil, which began play in 2017. The men’s clubs in Liga MX organized the women’s sides, which originally prohibited foreigners and overwhelmingly featured Under-23 players.

In each of the next four seasons, the league increased the age limit before eliminating it in 2020-21. In 2019-20, Mexicans born overseas could play. In 2021-22, each team could field two non-Mexican players and start youth programs.

Because of that gradual approach, 19 of the 23 players on Mexico’s roster for the W Gold Cup played domestically.

“Mexico is doing things right and serves as an example for the region,” said Costa Rica defender Valeria del Campo, who plays in Liga MX Femenil. “It has an organized league. It has a strategic plan. It has firm goals. In the end, it’s obviously going to generate positive results for its players, its teams – and, evidently, for its national squad.”

Costa Rica also has a domestic league but players receive no salaries and often train in substandard facilities. “I believe every player strives to become professional despite not having the best conditions,” del Campo said. “I’ve seen how Costa Rica tries to work with what it has. Certainly, it’s not the best. That’s the reality for a lot of national teams in Latin America.”

Defining that reality is the conflict between resources, priorities and expectations. Panama forward Marta Cox, whose team finished last in their group at the W Gold Cup, expressed the frustration many players around the region feel.

“We went to a World Cup and I don’t see a change,” said Cox, who also plays in Liga MX Femenil. “We have to improve. For me, the best thing is for people who have been through this to get involved with women’s soccer in Panama, who believe in it. As long as there isn’t a league in my country, as there should be, we won’t be able to compete at the level as other teams do. A teammate isn’t going to train at home because we lack a lot of things we need.”

Argentina, who played in the past two Women’s World Cups and won the 2006 Copa America Femenina, are recovering from a similar conflict. In 2015, the federation discontinued the women’s program to invest in the men’s team. When the federation reinstated the women’s side in 2017, players went on strike to receive a promised increase in travel expenses.

“We are a country where women’s football is growing but our development has been delayed, for sure,” said Germán Portanova, Argentina’s manager. “I think it would be great to have the goal of winning the Copa America or the World Cup, obviously, but that’s the last step on a long journey with a lot of steps and hard work.”

Mariana Larroquette, who has played for Argentina since 2014, described some of those steps. “We now have a semi-professional league and we now have people working with the youth teams,” she said. “Financially, we’re not receiving support but the federation is scheduling more Fifa fixtures. With infrastructure that allows us to train in Argentina, I believe the financing is going to be coming in the long term.”

Puerto Rico, whose players protested in 2018 for more support, are taking similar measures. The nation’s federation organized Under-15 and Under-17 leagues to nurture local talent, and works with Fifa to identify players and develop coaches. The island has a senior amateur league whose players “often work or study through university scholarships to sustain themselves,” said midfielder Danielle Marcano, who was born in New Jersey, attended college at Tennessee and plays professionally in Turkey.

As Mexico did 25 years ago, Puerto Rico relies on players born in the US with experience on American collegiate teams. With their help, the island tied Costa Rica for eighth place overall on points, goal differential and goals scored at this year’s W Gold Cup. Costa Rica needed to have their name drawn from a jar to reach the quarter-finals.

To accelerate the development of women’s soccer, Concacaf devised the W Gold Cup to provide its national teams with more competitive matches. The 12-member field included four South American squads. Two of them, Brazil and Colombia, qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

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The W Gold Cup belongs to what Concacaf calls “a multimillion-dollar strategic investment” in women’s soccer that involves “six-figure travel and preparation grants” and “further financial distributions and prize money totalling $3.7m.”

“We have a very large group of girls, of future players, watching games that are really attractive and exciting for the fans,” said Pedro López, Mexico’s coach. “I’m not talking about women’s or men’s soccer. I’m talking about attractive soccer. I think beautiful and attractive soccer is going to grow the women’s game in each one of these countries. I also think it’s going to help the business of soccer on the marketing level because many businesses and brands are seeing an attractive product.”

Those businesses might be encouraged by the attendance at the W Gold Cup final: 31,528, the largest ever for a Concacaf women’s match.

Even with increased financial support, some nations have further to go than others.

“A baby can’t walk before it can crawl, and we’re still crawling,” said Eric Acuña, El Salvador’s manager. “In 15 years we hadn’t had any official games, and in three years, we’ve had 48. We don’t have to worry about the future because I do believe we’re going to get the support. It’s not optimal but we have to recognize where we are in relation to the men’s team.”

Yet Acuña, like many Latin Americans who support women’s soccer, anticipate the day when the baby stops crawling.

“Someday, we’re going to have to stop saying that word, ‘construction,’” he said. “Right now, that word fits the process. But someday, the team we build will have to answer with results. We have to show that we’re good. I hope very soon, within three years, we’ll stop doing that and we’ll start to compete against anyone.”