Yesterday the world’s most dominant football club returned to square-off against its biggest rival in a grinding match, delayed by a power outage but finally won at the nail-biting end on penalties. The footballeuses of Olympique Lyonnais (OL) Féminin clenched their ninth Coupe de France title, eeking past Paris Saint-Germain Féminine as the rain streamed down in Auxerre, and earning their 30th championship trophy, according to L’Équipe’s statisticians.

Despite the long pandemic pause that began in March, women’s football in France continues to gain traction. Hosting the FIFA World Cup last summer is widely considered a success for how it shined a spotlight on the sport, which drove greater recognition, mediatization, consumption, and participation—even though Les Bleues were eliminated by the United States in the quarterfinals.

The tournament’s Economic Impact Report, released earlier this summer by the French Football Federation (FFF), provides some notable points of information. The tournament contributed some €284 million to French GDP in 2019, a net capital gain of €108 million to GDP, and breaks down the many ways that serving as host paid a wide range of dividends. Importantly, the report also breaks down the environmental costs, a nod to the country’s eco-consciousness, one of the very factors at the heart of their successful bid for the 2024 Summer Games. But also of note is the report’s emphasis on the ways the tournament helped foster a greater sense of women’s football heritage in France. This, too, is considered a success by football officials one year after the tournament, but time will tell whether it truly takes hold among the public. 

There are some encouraging signs that the needle is moving in a positive direction. Buried in the recent reports of how Lyon tried to sign stellar Parisian attacker Kadidiatou Diani, whose breakout with the national team last summer led to interested by the NWSL’s Portland Thorns, is how Diani now turns heads on streets. She confessed that she’s more frequently by the public, but is still far away from being considered a celebrity on the same level of fellow Parisian Kylian Mbappé.

Will female footballeuses in France one day attain that level of recognition?  

Perhaps, perhaps not. Culture can be very slow to change.

But what’s encouraging is how the World Cup spotlight has only served to further stoke investment by established professional clubs in their women’s teams…or to acquire one. Its hard to say whether this drive is purely to be au courant with the times, recognition that future economic development can exist in women’s football, or (perhaps more likely) to be competitive with other owners of Europe’s Big Five leagues who have spent considerably in the past few years to try to dethrone Lyon’s Jean-Michel Aulas as the winningest president thanks to OL Féminine’s accomplishments.

But others are joining the proverbial band wagon. The newest entrants into professional women’s football in France is the esteemed 114-year old club RC Lens, who announced last month the creation of their professional women’s team.

Will this help make a difference?

On verra…

PS: Here’s my article on the up-front legacies of FIFA 2019