Attending the Quarter Final game of the 2019 Women’s World Cup at Les Parc des Princes in Paris was, no doubt, the highlight of this adventure. The US Women’s National Team had two more games to win after this one, but somehow this one felt like a final with the French team playing in the French capitol to a very excited crowd.
The games were all very family friendly and each game had bunches of cute little soccer fans.
Timbao Percussion Group played outside the stadium and set the pulsating tone for the arriving crowd.
We arrived at the stadium early for this one so we didn’t miss a thing.
“The Outlaws” US Soccer fan club arrived en masse.
The US Women’s National Team warmed up before the game in blue.
The starting line up was announced.
A video from the crowd’s point of view before the game. The stadium was intermixed France and US fans in red, white, and blue.
The players marched out in the pregame pageantry.
An image of a woman was unfurled during the opening ceremony.
And play began. USWNT in white and the French team in blue.
Megan Rapinoe got a goal pretty early on. A magical penalty kick, the video is in the highlights video at the end of this post.
We sat behind these two. The French woman on the right was a super polite fan, the US man on the left could hardly stay in his seat he was so excited.
This video shows how sitting behind these two went for the whole game. The French woman is a saint, btw.
The French team keeping the pressure on with this corner kick.
Definitely the most media of the games we saw.
Btw, “Dare to create”, what does that mean? How about just “Create”. Maybe something was lost in translation.
The French had a penalty kick.
Ettie, the FIFA mascot, made her appearance at the half.
A panorama gives a feel for the place. The entire audience was excited for the game, good sportsmanship and camaraderie all around.
Dunn throws in.
A Megan Rapinoe corner kick.
The arena was almost at capacity.
The audience around the broadcaster’s booth.
Both sides had huge support in the stands, the stadium was pulsating.
The barricades and guards were the same setup at all the games.
Red, white, and blue.
The US won 2:1 leaving the French out of the finals.
The US team huddled as the saddened French team found their way together.
There was always this mini huddle after the large team huddle.
And the heartbroken French grouped up for a post mortem.
The fans left the stadium in a festive mood. The crowd showed good sportsmanship over a game well played. I was concerned that people might get nationalistic and combative, but I never saw it happen. People just loved the light-hearted nature of how the Women’s World Cup was played.
The FIFA highlights real:
One more day left, a museum visit and Assassins Creed (yes, the video game) Live in Concert.
Click to return to the index of 2019 France Trip Memories.
