WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
A multi-racial U.S. squad heads to Women’s World Cup
A new era is dawning for the U.S. women’s national soccer team, as the most diverse squad the program has ever produced will pursue an unprecedented third consecutive title when the World Cup kicks off this month in Australia and New Zealand.
The squad represents a major shift from its early days and even more recent USA teams that were overwhelmingly white. Trinity Rodman will make her World Cup debut alongside veteran defender Crystal Dunn on a team that features seven Black players.
“The issue is partly about economics and partly about how hard it is to eliminate stereotypes people have about who can succeed at what sports,” said Jon Solomon, editorial director of the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program.
Retired USA goalkeeper Briana Scurry said, “for decades I was the only one of color on the roster that started.”
“(Now) you have players that are really making inroads and making impacts and impressions in more ways than one who are going to be there a long time because they’re very young,” she told Reuters.
Scurry’s penalty kick save in front of 90,185 fans at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, helped the United States win the 1999 Cup, turning the team into idols for millions of American girls, in what was seen as a turning point for women’s sports.
That squad offered little representation for girls of color. Scurry said she struggled to secure endorsement deals after her heroics, as the only openly gay player and as a Black woman
“I was always going to be authentically me. I never hid that I was gay. I just was being who I am,” said Scurry, a Hall of Famer and the host of the “Counterattack” podcast.
Scurry now sees the diverse soccer landscape she had wanted to be part of, and feels gratified that her pursuit likely provided some inspiration. “It’s awesome because now other young girls think that they can, too.”
Dunn helped the United States to its fourth overall title in 2019, but said last month she struggled growing up to feel she belonged.
“It hasn’t been the easiest road, obviously,” Dunn told reporters. “There are moments where I felt like I needed to conform to the environment and say, ‘Okay, let me tone down who I am because I feel like there’s very few of us on this team.’”
Dunn was often the only Black starter for her country in the 2019 World Cup, then celebrated as the most diverse U.S. women’s squad.
“There’s so many more great young players out there that are more of a better mixture of what this country is,” said Scurry. “This country isn’t just white.”
YOUTH ACCESS
The increased diversity at the highest level of women’s U.S. soccer coincides with a multi-year effort to get more minority kids onto the pitch.
“It’s often difficult and takes time to widen the demographic pool of young players,” said Aspen Institute’s Solomon.
The institute’s most recent survey found that 39% of Hispanic and 20% of white students had played soccer in high school versus only 10% of Black students.
A U.S. Soccer Foundation survey in 2008 found that even as the game experienced tremendous national growth at the youth level, large swathes of the country were being left behind.
“We developed a strategy and a business plan that focused and made a priority of increasing access and opportunity for underrepresented populations, particularly children in underserved, underrepresented communities,” U.S. Soccer Foundation CEO Ed Foster-Simeon said in an interview.
The foundation has provided more than half a million children from “under-resourced” communities with free programs, building more than 600 “mini-pitches” designed for the youth game across the country.
While minority participation has improved “quite a bit,” Foster-Simeon said, “it’s nowhere near where we want it to be.”
The problem has not been limited to soccer.
Girls at predominantly white high schools typically see 82% of the athletic opportunities boys do, according to a Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) report last year. That figure falls to 67% in schools where students of color are the majority.
Girls of color are “short-changed” in school and club programs, said WSF research head Karen Issokson-Silver.
“Sport is a microcosm of society, so a lot of the things that we see in society, whether that’s systemic racism or archaic gender norms … then you are likely to see them in sport,” she said.
WSF’s Sports 4 Life program, founded nine years ago in conjunction with espnW – the cable network’s women’s sports branch – works to increase participation for girls of color.
The chance to see a World Cup team with many diverse players will play a part for the next generation, said Issokson-Silver.
“When it comes to girls having an opportunity to see what’s possible for themselves, that kind of visibility, whether it’s a high school level, the collegiate level or… at the elite levels of play is monumental,” she said.
That message is not lost on the women of the 2023 U.S. national team.
“Growing up, I don’t really feel like that was something that I saw in professional soccer and on national teams,” 23-year-old defender Naomi Girma, who will make her World Cup debut, told reporters. “I feel honored to be that representation.”
At a media event last month, Dunn noted that even things like finding hair and makeup stylists who work with Black women for team events can be a challenge.
She hopes to leave the sport in a place where those that follow “don’t have to fight for the same things.”
“I can’t hide that I’m a Black woman,” said Dunn. “And so I think for me, just the more that I step into that space and I own it has really allowed and given other women of color the green light.”
-Reuters
The Iranian women’s soccer team crossed the Turkish border into Iran on Wednesday to complete a fraught return journey from Australia, after five members withdrew asylum claims they had lodged there.
Australia had granted humanitarian visas to six players and one support staff member after they sought asylum, saying they feared possible persecution if they returned to Iran.
Concerns over their safety surfaced when several players failed to sing the national anthem at a women’s Asian Cup match earlier this month after the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran. Iranian state television had labelled them “wartime traitors”.
The team, which flew into Istanbul on Tuesday, took a flight to Igdir in eastern Turkey on Wednesday morning.
The players emerged from Igdir Airport, pulling their luggage and chatted in front of the terminal before boarding a bus to the border. One of them briefly smiled and waved at a TV camera before the bus departed. After a trip of around two hours to the frontier, they went through passport control at the Gurbulak border gate before crossing over into Iran.
A bus carrying members of the Iranian women’s national soccer team arrives at the Gurbulak Border Gate, a crossing point between Turkey and Iran, as they travel to their home country after five players withdrew the asylum claims they had lodged in Australia over safety concerns about returning due to not singing the national anthem at a women’s Asian Cup match earlier this month, in the eastern Agri province, Turkey, March 18, 2026. REUTERS/Ali Ihsan Ozturk
The team’s Asian Cup campaign began just as the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated from the tournament more than a week ago.
Five of those who had sought asylum in Australia subsequently changed their minds and decided to return home, with Australian media reporting the latest withdrawal on Monday.
They rejoined the rest of the squad in Kuala Lumpur, where the team had been staying since leaving Sydney last week.
The Iranian Football Association (FFIRI) said last week that those who had changed their minds would travel home with the rest of the team “to once again be embraced by their families and homeland.”
Two players are still in Australia and have been pictured training with a local A-League club.
-Reuters
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The two players from the Iranian women’s soccer squad who chose to remain in Australia after seeking asylum have been pictured training with a local A-League club as they begin their new lives in the country.
Midfielder Fatemeh Pasandideh and defender Atefeh Ramezanizadeh were among seven members of Iran’s delegation granted humanitarian visas amid fears of possible persecution if they returned home after competing in the women’s Asian Cup in Australia.
Concerns over their safety emerged after the players failed to sing their national anthem before their opening match on the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland. Iranian state media labelled them as “wartime traitors”, with the team’s campaign beginning as the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on Iran.
Five members of the group, however, subsequently changed their minds about Australia’s asylum offer and decided to return home.
Queensland-based A-League club Brisbane Roar announced on social media the remaining two players, Pasandideh and Ramezanizadeh, had joined a training session with its women’s team on Monday.
“Brisbane Roar officially welcomed both Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanizadeh to the club’s training facilities…and remain committed to providing a supportive environment for them whilst they navigate the next stages,” CEO Kaz Patafta said.
Photos posted by the club showed the two players meeting the Brisbane Roar squad and taking part in shooting drills.
“Thank you for everything,” wrote Ramezanizadeh, 33, under the post on Instagram.
Pasandideh, 21, also posted on her Instagram story on Monday a photo with FIFA Chief Football Officer Jill Ellis in Brisbane with a caption saying “everything will be fine”.
While the pair began their new lives in Australia, their former teammates made their way home to Iran from Malaysia.
The team was seen at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday evening, checking in on an Oman Air flight, although their destination was unclear.
-Reuters
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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Three Iranian women soccer players to return home after seeking asylum in Australia
Three members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who had sought asylum in Australia have decided to return to Iran, Australia’s government said on Sunday.
Australia granted humanitarian visas to seven Iranian footballers last week after they sought asylum, saying they feared persecution if they returned home after they failed to sing the national anthem at a Women’s Asian Cup match.
Four of the seven members have decided to leave Australia so far. Another member changed her mind last week.
“After telling Australian officials they had made this decision, the players were given repeated chances to talk about their options,” Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
“While the Australian Government can ensure that opportunities are provided and communicated, we cannot remove the context in which the players are making these incredibly difficult decisions,” he added.
The Iranian Football Association (FFIRI) named the players as Mona Hamoudi, Zahra Sarbali and Zahra Meshkehkar.
“After arriving in Malaysia and joining the rest of Iran’s women’s national football team, the three players will travel to Tehran in the coming days to once again be embraced by their families and homeland,” FFIRI added in a statement.
The Iranian team’s campaign in the Asian Cup started just as the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on Iran, killing the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated from the tournament last Sunday.
-Reuters
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