It’s hard to believe it was little over a year ago. Just 12 months ago, the best women’s soccer teams from across the globe and their fans converged on Australia and New Zealand to crown a new World Cup champion. We cheered on the perennial powerhouses and celebrated the debutantes. We saw some of the most incredible feats of athleticism…one goal after another reminding us why they call this the beautiful game. We got to watch legends of the game pass the torch to a whole new generation of ballers, many of them queer. We felt the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
It was glorious. So, let’s do that again, shall we? Well, minus the post-championship assault…let’s not do that again, ever (I’m looking at you, Bruce Mwape).
Twelve of the world’s best teams have earned their opportunity to compete for Olympic gold and their quests begin ahead of Friday’s Opening Ceremony. If you need some help preparing for 16 days of footballing action, I’m here to help. Here’s a look at how the Olympics work, who to follow for in-depth WOSO coverage, and, of course, the most important question of the day: who all’s gay here?
How the Olympics Work
As I noted, 12 teams will compete in this summer’s tournament, a far cry from the 32 nations that participated in the Women’s World Cup last year. What’s that mean? Simply put, every game will be competitive: these teams are the best of the best. The tournament will run from July 25 to August 10. That’s 15 days less than the World Cup so the schedule is compressed: whereas, for example, the US Women’s National Team had five days between their first two games of the group stage at the World Cup, they’ll have just three days.
Rosters for the Olympics only feature 18 players, including two goalkeepers. Each team is also allowed four alternates who, thanks to a rule change, can, in the event of injury, be substituted into the core 18 player rotation. That, ostensibly, gives each team a 22 player roster — still a player less than the World Cup — but those alternate players aren’t readily accessible. The schedule…the short rosters…it’s tough and, as a result, the Olympics can sometimes seems less like the beautiful game and more like a war of attrition.
For the Olympics, the host nation is an automatic qualifier and the other 11 slots are decided through qualifying tournaments. Back in March, each of the teams were put into pots, according to their FIFA World Rankings. The teams were then randomly drawn and slotted into one of three groups:
THEY’RE OFFICIAL! 🤩 Check out the groups for the women’s Olympic football tournament at @Paris2024!
Who are you backing?#Paris2024 | #Football | #FIFA | @FIFAcom | @FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/bQCBcS0RJC
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) March 20, 2024
In the opening rounds (group play), teams will face off with the other three teams in their group. Each team will play three matches between July 25 and July 31. There is no overtime (or extra time) in group play and games can end in a tie. Teams get three points for the win, one point for a tie and no points for a loss. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout round automatically and two of the best third place finishers, across all groups, will advance as well.
In the knockout round (starting August 3), it’s survive and advance. Ties in the knockout stage push the match into extra time (two 15 minute halves) and, if the match remains tied, to a penalty shootout. The winners of the semifinal matches will advance to the gold medal game (August 10) and the losers will play for the bronze medal (August 9).
Find the start times for matches in your timezone at olympics.com.
Who Should I Follow for More WOSO Content Online?
Sure, I’ll be around to yell about all the latest happenings on the pitch — celebrating each and every banger from our Olympics Rainbow Coalition — but if you’re looking for more in-depth coverage of women’s soccer during the Games, here are a few suggestions on who to follow for in-depth Olympic coverage:
- The Athletic: Accessing The Athletics‘s coverage requires a subscription but, for my money, you won’t find a better resource for WOSO coverage. You can also follow their team — Meg Linehan, Steph Yang, Tamerra Griffin, Jessy Parker Humphreys and Laia Cervelló Herrero — on social media or listen to their podcast, Full Time.
- Attacking Third: Available online or on the Golazo! Network, Attacking Third‘s rotating panels offers comprehensive coverage of women’s soccer.
- Futbol W: Just in time for the Olympic Games, ESPN is launching Futbol W, a weekly hour-long show about the women’s game. The show’s hosted by someone who knows a little something about winning football culture: Ali Krieger.
- Gal Pal Sports: Lesley Ryder and Emily Anderson are Chicago wives who balance their keen insights with humor. Their video content, in particular, offers a more approachable way to learn about the game.
- The RE-CAP Show: As we all bide our time until we get to see Christen Press back on the pitch for Angel City — she’s “day-to-day” according to head coach Becki Tweed — we can enjoy Press and Tobin Heath offering their takes on the latest action. Beyond the X’s and O’s of gameplay, Heath and Press offer some great insight on how it feels to go through the Olympic gauntlet.
- Shea Butter FC: For the first time in history, the USWNT has an all black frontline and, inevitably, misogynoir will find its way into the soccer commentary. Because of that, it’s even more important to diversify the voices you listen to…and you’d be hard-pressed to find a better option than Skye and Sylvs of Shea Butter FC.
WHO ALL’S GAY HERE?: WOSO EDITION
GROUP A
France
Maelle Lakrar (Real Madrid)
Maelle is dating Marie Levasseur, a left-back for Division 1 Féminine club Montpellier HSC.
Pauline Peyraud-Magnin (Juventus)
Constance Picaud (Paris Saint-Germain)
Constance and her wife are married and recently had a baby!
Colombia
Reserve – Wendy Bonilla (America de Cali)
Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid)
Daniela Montoya (Atletico Nacional)
As illustrated above, Daniella is dating fellow footballer Renata Arango Silva.
Leicy Santos (Atletico Madrid)
Leicy is currently dating motivational speaker Geral Matallana.
Canada
Kadeisha Buchanan (Chelsea)
Head Coach Bev Priestman
Quinn (Seattle Reign)
Kailen Sheridan (San Diego Wave)
Kailen married her wife, Dominique, in December of 2023.
Reserve – Shelina Zadorsky (West Ham)
New Zealand
Michaela Foster (Replacing Ali Riley)
Reserve – Annalie Longo (Wellington Phoenix)
Meikayla Moore
Meikayla is dating fellow footballer Allie Hess, who is a forward for MSV Duisburg of the German Frauen-Bundesliga.
GROUP B
United States
Tierna Davidson (Gotham)
Reserve – Jane Campbell (Houston Dash)
Jane recently married retired pro footballer Christine Campbell-Nairn.
Germany
Ann-Katrin Berger (Gotham)
Ann-Katin recently announced her engagement to Chelsea football star Jess Cater.
Sara Doorsoun (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Felicitas Rauch (North Carolina Courage)
Lea Schuller (Bayern Munich)
Schueller has been dating Austrian sport sailer Lara Vadlau since 2019 — and this year, both athletes will be competing in the Olympic games.
Australia
Mackenzie Arnold (West Ham)
Mackenzie is dating Kirsty Smith, a football player for West Ham.
Ellie Carpenter (Lyon)
Ellie Carpenter and Dutch professional footballer Danielle Van De Donk are a very beloved and very engaged sporting couple.
Caitlin Foord (Arsenal)
Ford is dating Irish footballer Katie McCabe.
Reserve – Sharn Freier (Brisbane Roar)
Katrina Gorry (West Ham)
Katrina Gorry has a baby with her wife, Swedish footballer Clara Markstedt.
Michelle Heyman (Canberra United)
Michelle is dating actor / comedian/pilates teacher Christine Aldridge.
Alanna Kennedy (Manchester City)
Teagan Micah (Liverpool)
Hayley Raso (Real Madrid)
Emily van Egmond (San Diego Wave)
Emily is in a relationship with digital creator Kat Thompson.
Cortnee Vine (Sydney FC)
Cortnee is dating footballer Charlotte McLean.
Tameka Yallop (Brisbane Roar)
Tamika is dating retired pro footballer Kirsty Yallop, who will be attending the Olympics as a member of the FIFA Technical Study Group.
No gays we know (yet?): Zambia
GROUP C
Spain
Teresa Abelleira (Real Madrid)
Teresa is dating footballer Patricia Curbelo.
Jenni Hermoso (Tigres)
Irene Paredes (Barcelona)
Irene is married to field hockey player Lucia Ybarra and they have a three-year-old son.
Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Reserve – Alba Redondo (Levante)
Brazil
Adriana (Orlando Pride)
Reserve – Lauren (Kansas City Current)
Lauren is dating Brazilian football player Mileninha.
Lorena (Gremio)
Reserve – Luciana (Ferroviaria)
Marta (Orlando Pride)
Marta is dating footballer dating Carrie Lawrence, who currently plays for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride.
Taina (America Mineiro)
Tamires (Corinthians)
Tamires’ partner, Gabi Fernandes, is a musician.
Tarciane (Houston Dash)
She’s dating footballer Thuany Siridakis.
No gays we know (yet?): Japan and Nigeria
Natalie you are my hero for assembling this list!! My friend and I have been having serious discussions about USWNT’s ball-dropping on LGBTQ rep this year (and everything that went down with Korbin Albert–hello, public apology when???), huge shame coming off previous years. But I’ll still be supporting obvi and extra support to Tierna and Jane <3 Aus you're putting us to shame lmao. Love to see the rep across all these teams from around the globe. Best of luck to all the teams this year!!
Natalie rightfully only included players who are publicly out, but the US fans can at least add Emily Sonnett to the list. Still a poor showing though!
Okay I did NOT know that Shelina Zadorsky was queer!!!!
On closer inspection, it appears she may be dating her CANWNT teammate Adriana Leon???? That’s Leon in the last slide of that carousel, and in at least one other couple-y shot on Zadoraky’s IG.
Can anyone else confirm?! As a Canadian soccer fan this is very exciting!!!
Zadorsky dated her Spurs teammate Rosella Ayane for several years. I think she and Leon are just long-time friends and roommates but would be excited to be wrong.
Australia may have just lost our first match against Germany. But we cannot be defeated in homosexuality!
In Spain we have waaaay more than those players in the list!! :D Both of the goalkeepers Cata Coll and Misa Rodriguez, then you have Patri Guijarro, Ona Batlle (dating Lucy Bronze openly!), Mariona Caldentey (who’s dating Lia Wälti)… and I think I might be forgetting someone else… Eva Navarro!
I didn’t want to say this out loud. But you did so I’m going to agree. I know about all of them too and was wondering why they were omitted. At one point in time the US Women’s Soccer team was champion and 10 lesbians and Alex Morgan. Now the Spanish team is champion and ten lesbians and Aitana Bonmati. (Ok just a joke! But kinda true.)
Great list! Thank you for all of your work. Although Gorry had Harper before she and Markstedt were together, Markstedt has raised her from a young age so I’d say they have 2 kids together. And EVE is engaged to Thompson.
Hey, Natalie,
I don’t know if you noted, but you forgot to write the last names of the athletes from only one country: Brazil. I’m sure it was just a mistake, of course, but I need to mention bc this can be a bit upsetting. As Brazilians, we are used to be mistreated and have our importance undervalued in the US medias, so when you feature all the other athletes with first + last name except our team looks a bit triggering for us -especially bc we know how much surnames represent respect in US culture…
Love your work :*
Okay I did NOT know that Shelina Zadorsky was queer!!!!
On closer inspection, it appears she may be dating her CANWNT teammate Adriana Leon???? That’s Leon in the last slide of that carousel, and in at least one other couple-y shot on Zadoraky’s IG.
Can anyone else confirm?! As a Canadian soccer fan this is very exciting!!!