How To Build a Team: From Underdogs to Contenders

  

In the early days of women's international soccer, the USWNT and Germany were the dominant teams in international soccer. For a while, they both tied for the most World Cup titles, until the USWNT won its third title in 2025.   While the usual suspects kept winning at the international stage, this encouraged many countries to start funding their women's programs, and of course, made the game far more competitive.  Using the USWNT as a benchmark, there have been several times where the women's team has been outmatched during their storied career. As a USWNT fan, it hurts when they lose. As a fan of the game, it's nice to see the women's game grow. 

What I love about the women's game is that different countries, which may not have success in the men's game, are competitive in women's soccer. In men's soccer, the power is concentrated. You may not know who is going to win the World Cup, but you do know it'll most likely be a team from Europe or South America. On the other hand, on the women's side, soccer is more of a global opportunity. For example, Japan became the first Asian country (men or women) to win a World Cup. Asian countries in the past have not been competitive in international soccer. Furthermore, beyond the USWNT being dominant in North America, the Canadian women's soccer team has recently emerged as a contender as well. And with Spain recently winning the Women's World Cup in 2023, it made me wonder what it takes to build a team. 

Japan, Canada, and Spain, 10 to 20 years ago, would be the team you would not place a bet on, whether it was the Olympics or at the World Cup. They were at the bottom of the ranking, not seen as a threat, and often overlooked. It took decades for them to build the team where you can see them compete at the level that they can compete now. In the next couple of blog posts, I will break down how each team's success and how they become underdogs to contenders, and ultimately winners.