2027 Women's World Cup and the advances and challenges of women's football in Brazil

In less than a year, in June 2027, eight Brazilian cities will host games in the first edition of a Women's World Cup held in South America, hosting 32 teams from around the world. The grandeur of the event reinforces the importance of the debate on women's football and demonstrates that, even though we are evolving in the sport, there are still challenges to be overcome.

If the generation of the first players to represent the country in the national team had no salary and only received a stipend, including in their clubs, today there are already several national and international competitions and even youth categories, with a consolidated gaming scenario. If before it was necessary to reconcile the passion for the fields with other jobs, today there is already a whole chain of women working professionally at each stage of the sport, on and off the pitch.

Despite this, there is still sexism and prejudice. Women's varzea competitions or exclusive education and training spaces for girls are rare and arise from specific initiatives.

In the week in which another team is crowned winner of the Brazilian Women's Football Championship, with large crowds filling stadiums and supporting their athletes, it is necessary to remember that if a woman wanted to play football between the 1940s and mid-1980s in Brazil, she was prohibited by law from practicing this sport, on the grounds that her physical health would be compromised.

Today, however, despite the resistance that arises, including within families and throughout society, it is now possible to see girls and young people dreaming of a career in sport, or even simply wanting to play ball, whether for love or fun, at different stages of life.

It is also now possible to recognize and revere an entire generation of pioneers who paved this path and are references to the power we can still become, some even working in the sport even after officially 'hanging up their boots'.

Márcia Honório, one of those pioneers in the Brazilian team and who was part of the first team to represent Brazil in a World Cup, talks about the emotion of this moment.

"When you get a telegram like that and find yourself called up, and when you're outside your country and hear the National Anthem, it's still emotional to this day. We liked it and had determination, a desire to want to win to reach the country and say: 'oh, now you need to help women's football'".

The Caminhos da Reportagem team spoke to experts, athletes and former athletes, managers, floodplain players, entrepreneurs, girls and women who live and, above all, love football. They tell us about the sport today, the challenges already overcome and the expectations for what the next generations will find.

Former player Formiga, the absolute record holder in playing time and number of times representing Brazil in World Cups, recognizes the importance of this belonging within the category:

"I went from Miraíldes, to Mira, from family and friends, to Formiga. And only then did I come to understand that not only Miraíldes played football, there were other women who also went through the same thing or worse, that I wasn't the only strange woman in the world. Until then I thought I was a strange human being, because I was the only girl there who actually played football among the boys."

Journalist Milly Lacombe recalls the importance of this collective participation in the processes: "I think the main change is the idea that together, we achieve things, nobody achieves anything alone. So, the idea that the fight for female emancipation is not separate from the fight for women's football. I would say this awareness that we are a class, we are a group, that we go together. I think this is very beautiful in women's football, which has a love story that men's football doesn't have", she states.

The moment is one of optimism and greater space for the sport, including because of the World Cup in Brazil, and the interviewees imagine a future with more development for women's football. Varzea team coach Lu Leal says what she hopes for the new generations: "My biggest dream is to see athletes who are struggling to achieve their goal reach, win and have opportunities. That's what they deserve."