The aftermath was bitter. While only one team won yesterday’s quarter-final showdown on the field (that would be the USWNT), France and Les Bleues won this tournament in another way.

It’s hard to overstate just how much French attitudes (including that of the press) have changed towards women’s football in the past few years, and that change was on display during this World Cup.

Here’s my recent piece on “Why France has won the World Cup, whatever today’s outcome,” that digs into just why all of this actually matters. PDF here.

For more present-day context, read this insightful piece by Huffington Post’s Jessica Luther, which helps pick this apart a bit further.

Lastly, those looking at some of the longer-term story on the origins of the women’s World Cup and the resurrection of the women’s game in France, here’s the New York Times’ Jeré Longman on that seminal period 1968-1971.