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The FIFA Women's World Cup is currently ongoing but am sure you know that already. You see, this tournament in particular has been a very decent showcase of just how much the Women's game has grown and evolved to a tournament that is enjoyed beyond political narratives. We have gone from criticisms surrounding the economics and interest the Women's game attracts and also beyond the quality of play from most of these showcase teams. It is quite heartwarming really to see just how much progress the Women's game has made based on merit.

I am still yet to watch a game from start to finish but I have watched quite a few for about a half period. I have also been closely monitoring the results and check out highlights and reactions from all the games. One thing that stands out is the obvious quality of play displayed by all teams in participation. With the exception of the Zambian ladies who have suffered successive 5-0 defeats, most teams are putting up very competitive games and there are a lot of shock results going round.

On Display

As of this moment, Co-hosts New Zealand are out of the tournament but not without putting a good showing of themselves. They beat a very good Norway team before suffering a shock loss to the Philippines. Unfortunately they needed to win their last game against Switzerland but came up short with a draw. Each team in this group can be proud of their accomplishments, even though they'd obviously be disappointed not to go beyond the first round. We have similar surprises springing up everywhere, and the other hosts Australia are in danger of not qualifying after suffering a shock loss to Nigeria.

One of the most exciting parts of the tournament has been the crowds present at the stadium. Not just for the home teams that saw record, mammoth crowds, but even teams unlikely to draw interest has been shown to have attracted record numbers in the stadiums. Just like the Men's tournament, it is wonderful to see the Women's game actually generating interest by football fans who want to be entertained by some good World Cup action. I also love how the fans seem to get into the games. They cheer and rally behind their teams with real passion.

With the exception of when the hosts are playing, what happens when other teams play is that the stadium is usually filled with Neutrals who have bought tickets to be entertained. These fans usually pick a side at the start to these games to rally behind. It has been my observation that the sides are more often the perceived underdogs in the encounter. Just today we saw Columbia beat Germany 2-1 with the crowd getting behind the Colombia ladies. I also watched Jamaica and Nigeria secure draws against France and Canada respectively with the crowd support despite being underdogs.

Conclusion

Of course support is not all there is to a teams success in the World Cup, else the host team(s?) won't be out. Yet it does play a very vital role in raising the overall spirits of the underdogs who leave everything on the line.

It'll be interesting to see how far these unlikely teams go, and certainly good for the sheer entertainment value it provides.