Remarks Celebrating the 2019 Women’s World Cup Champions
New York City Mayor’s Office
New York City, New York
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Hello everyone! Mayor de Blasio, Governor Cuomo—on behalf of all of us at U.S. Soccer, thank you for hosting this amazing celebration!
If I can paraphrase one of New York’s greats, I feel like one of the luckiest people on earth. Because for the last few weeks, I’ve been lucky to travel with, laugh with, cheer for, celebrate with and be inspired by 23 of the greatest athletes that the United States of America has ever produced!
The only team to ever win 12 consecutive Women’s World Cup matches!
The highest margin of victory in a match—13 to 0!
Scoring in the most consecutive matches—Carli Lloyd in 6 consecutive games!
Goals by 9 different players!
The highest scoring team in Women’s World Cup history—26 goals!
Winner of the Bronze Ball—Rose Lavelle!
Winner of the Silver Boot—and equaling the most goals ever scored in a single match—Alex Morgan!
Winner of the Golden Boot—the tournament’s top scorer—and the Golden Ball—the best player—Megan Rapinoe!
And together, as one, united team, not just one, or two or three World Cup wins, but back-to-back championships and an unprecedented fourth World Cup title!
Today, we not only celebrate the team on the field, we honor the team behind them!
Coach Jill Ellis—the first women’s coach—and only the second soccer coach in nearly 100 years—to win back-to-back World Cup titles!
The entire 35-person staff behind the scenes—coaches, trainers, analysts, medical staff, equipment managers, and, last but not least, our administrators!
And our tireless staff back at Soccer House in Chicago—our players and our federation succeed because of you!
Finally, this is a celebration of soccer in America. We thank the millions of fans all over the USA. We thank the more than 30,000 fans who made the journey to cheer you on in France. And we thank all of you for being here today. We’re all part of U.S. Soccer!
And by the way, if you loved these players in the World Cup, then come out and cheer on your local NWSL teams this year. And join us for their Victory Tour across America this fall.
Today on that parade route, watching at home, and playing on fields in towns and cities across our great country, there are millions of young people—girls and boys—who look at these 23 world-class, record-breaking, history-making athletes and are saying, “I want to be like them!” Together, we can help those dreams come true!
To our Women’s National Team and the millions who support them, in recent months, you’ve raised your voices for equality. Today, on behalf of all of us at U.S. Soccer, I want to say, we hear you, we believe in you and we’re committed to doing right by you.
That’s why, over the years—from our development programs to our youth national teams to our professional leagues to our women’s national team—U.S. Soccer has invested more in women’s soccer than any other country in the world. We will continue to invest more in women’s soccer than any country in the world. And we will continue to encourage others, including FIFA, to do the same.
We believe that all female athletes deserve fair and equitable pay. Together, we can get this done.
Because as this team has taught us all, being the greatest isn’t just about how you play on the field, it’s about what you stand for off the field. It’s about who we are—as a sport and as a country. The 2019 Women’s World Cup Champions! The United States of America! One Nation, One Team! Go USA!