Soccer had plenty of moments that fueled our fandom in 2023, from world-class finishes to a GOAT’s American debut to dramatic upsets. Here are the top soccer moments of 2023.
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To really feel the top soccer moment of 2023, you had to be there — not necessarily inside Stadium Australia on Aug. 16, but definitely Down Under.
You had to roam the streets of Melbourne or cruise in a cab through Sydney. You had to see the yellow jerseys and the No. 20 on so many backs and the face that smiled or scowled down from so many billboards. It was Sam Kerr’s, the face of a movement that swept up and stopped an entire nation this summer (er, winter). And 62 minutes into a Women’s World Cup semifinal against England, a game watched by half the country, Kerr became the beloved protagonist in an unscriptable fairytale.
Before we relive the moment, though, you have to understand the history. For an entire century in Australia, women’s soccer existed in anonymity. It persisted in dual shadows, surviving on the dedication of volunteers but obscured by men’s soccer and by more popular sports such as rugby and Australian rules football. The women who played anyway were considered “circus freaks.” They were forced to train on gravel. They wore hand-me-down jerseys or makeshift uniforms with taped-on numbers. They weren’t compensated for international matches. And by the mid-2000s, they hadn’t won a World Cup game or an iota of mainstream attention.
So when Kerr and her 2023 teammates joined the national team, they played in mostly empty stadiums. Some worked part-time jobs to sustain their careers. Their replica jerseys weren’t for sale. Their names weren’t known — until they pushed, relentlessly, for respect and recognition.
They got those two things and much, much more when the World Cup made its maiden visit to Australia this year. They felt it all at airports and en route to team buses, when cameras and unprecedented coverage flocked to them, when ticket requests flooded their phones. They saw it on social media and on every newspaper’s front page. They felt it even when Kerr, their captain, picked up a calf injury on the eve of the tournament. It was a wonderfully organic buzz…