We really are living through a golden era of women’s football. You might have thought (foolishly) that last year’s incredible Euros performance was a blip, a moment – but you’d be wrong. This cohort of Lionesses have smashed record after record – as has this tournament more generally.

This competition has been one to remember for all the right reasons. From the fans on the ground to the support back home, we’ve finally proved that women’s football is here to stay – and that people care about it. And while we may have conceded the World Cup trophy to Spain in the most nail-biting of finals , England has so much to be proud of. So let’s take this opportunity to bask in how bloody brilliant this group of women is.  

The England women’s team has made it to the semi-finals of a World Cup before, but we’ve never progressed right to the end. It’s the first time any England has made it to a World Cup final since 1966 – the legendary tournament that seems to have plagued the men’s team for the past 57 years.

More astonishing is the fact that the Lionesses have made it this far only 12 months after winning the Euros. It’s safe to say that this is the most successful team we’ve ever had – male or female. The USA Women’s team has won the most World Cups to date, but we’re reasonably confident – judging by their performance this year – that our pack is primed to take that crown in the near future. 

More than 11 million people tuned into the BBC’s coverage of the nail-biting semi-final match against the Matildas – whether that was on live TV, iPlayer or via BBC Sport’s digital platforms. That is absolutely bonkers, when you consider that kickoff happened at 11am on Wednesday morning – bang in the middle of the working week. Presumably, the near 3 million people who have been rewatching the game on the BBC’s digital channels had actual work to do at the time.  

Over in Australia, 11.15 million Aussies tuned in to see their team make history; this was the first time they’ve made it to a semi-finals, and the best-watched women’s game ever.  

We’ve been following them since day dot, but hundreds of thousands of fans have now joined us in following the squad’s every move on Instagram. This week, their official team account finally reached 1 million followers. With excellent action shots, BTS videos and spinetingling build-up posts, we’re anticipating the account will quickly double that number. 

Before it even kicked off, the 2023 tournament broke records for the most tickets ever sold at a women’s World Cup. Nearly 1.4 million tickets had been snapped up before that opening game in New Zealand, while tickets for the final had almost sold out before a single ball had been kicked. The previous ticket record for a women’s world cup was set during the 2015 competition in Canada, where 1.35 million tickets were sold.  

For the first time, 32 teams came together to battle it out for the cup. When the tournament was born in 1991, only 12 teams took part, but in recent years, the standard number has been 24. This year, with an increased number of participants, we saw the number of games rise from 52 to 64. 

There’s a massive pay disparity between the men’s and women’s games. We already know that. In fact, the Lionesses have been in dispute with the FA regarding World Cup bonuses for a while, but decided as a team to put that on ice until the end of the tournament. 

But Fifa (which runs the World Cup) has upped its game slightly, by offering three times the prize fund that was on offer in 2019. Each Lioness received £10,000 to help get their families down under to support them – which is in line with what the men’s team receives. Fifa also guaranteed that each player would earn £24,000, even if they got knocked out in the group stages. That rose to £47,000 for a place in the last 16, £70,000 for the last eight and £128,000 for a place in the semi-finals. The winners each take home £213,000.

For context, teams who qualified for the men’s 2022 World Cup were paid $1.5 million (£1.2m) for simply participating. The current World Cup prize pools sit at $440 million (£345m) for men, and $110 million (£86m) for women. Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino (you know, the guy who said ‘Today I feel… gay’), said on Friday that demands for equal prize money were simply a “slogan” that “would not solve anything”. 

Let’s hope someone with more sense is in charge before the 2027 Women’s World Cup kicks off.

Images: Getty