How Women's World Cup is inspiring a new generation

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 final between England and Spain in Sydney on Sunday will be the culmination of an amazing tournament that has showcased the power of the women’s game and inspired women and girls around the world to get involved with football.

The expansion of the tournament to 32 countries has demonstrated the strength in depth of women’s football across the globe as established footballing nations have met their match in up-and-coming countries below them in the rankings.

Almost two million spectators have watched the tournament across Australia and New Zealand, a record, with the 75,784 fans who watched Australia’s match v Ireland the highest WWC attendance for 24 years. Almost two billion fans across the world have tuned in to watch the 62 matches until this point.

Both England and Spain are aiming to be crowned world champions for the first time, with both reaching their maiden finals.

Many of the final’s players are regulars in English club football and will be on display in the Women’s Super League that starts on 1 October.

See: WSL schedule

Twenty of the England squad play in the WSL, all for clubs who are in the Premier League.

The England squad have already been an inspiration to women and girls throughout the nation, even before their Euro 2022 triumph on home soil.

And there are more opportunities than ever for girls and women inspired by the stars on show Down Under to participate in playing or getting involved in football.

Some 67 FA Girls' Emerging Talent Centres (ETC) across England are being funded by the Premier League with the aim to double the number of female players aged 8-16 engaged in The FA programmes from 1,722 to over 4,200 by the end of this season

“Opportunities at the younger age groups have changed, developed, grown since I was a young player coming through as we see with the evidence today at the Emerging Talent Centres that have been heavily invested in by the Premier League,” said Fara Williams, England’s most-capped player.

“So, [it’s] heading in the right direction, in my opinion, that the game has been trying to get for many years.”

The funding for the ETC is part of some £21million that the Premier League is investing in women’s and girls’ football over the next three years.

Premier League Kicks, run by 90 clubs up and down the country, offers girls the chance to play football for free on a weekly basis.

The Premier League Primary Stars Kit Scheme is providing 4,000 sets of Nike football kit to schools with a girls’ team, while the Premier League Primary Stars School Tournament offers schools’ girls teams with an annual tournament on a Premier League pitch.

And with the growth of the women's game so has a benefit to football as whole, as the latest viewing figures from Sky Sports demonstrated. 

Of Sky's eight million viewers from their opening weekend, 2.9m were women, a 50 per cent increase from last year.