The Making of the Women's World Cup: Defining stories from a sport’s coming of age

Women's football is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, with over 30 million girls and women playing the game. Three million people watched England defeat France at the European Championships in 2017 on TV and in the United States over 25 million people tuned in for the 2015 World Cup Final victory - the most-watched football match in US history.

Kieran Theivam and Jeff Kassouf detail the most incredible tales from previous Women's World Cups to create a wonderful composite view of the women's game.

The FIFA Women's World Cup in France kicks off on 7th June 2019 in Paris and will conclude one month later in Lyon. This will be the eighth Women's World Cup, with the first tournament having taken place in 1991.

The book covers topics such as Michelle Akers, playing through the pain; the early years, including the 1996 Olympics; the US team's World Cup triumph on home soil in 1999; Germany's dominant years between 2003 and 2007; superstar Marta; Kelly Smith and the Golden Boot that changed the game in England in 2007; how Japan's team brought the first smiles to that country since the devastating tsunami; the beginnings of Australia's golden generation; the 122nd-minute USA-Brazil quarter-final equalizer; and the Laura Bassett own goal that broke English hearts and brought them together at the same time.

Kieran Theivam (Author)
KIERAN THEIVAM started following women's football in 2009 and began covering the game in 2011, first by blogging, before launching the UK's first podcast dedicated to the women's game in 2013. Since then, he has written for various national outlets both in the United Kingdom and United States, while acting as an expert voice for radio stations including BBC 5Live and BBC World Service. He has covered a World Cup, European Championships and Champions League Finals, while cultivating relationships with players and organisations from various parts of the globe.

Jeff Kassouf (Author)
JEFF KASSOUF has been covering soccer - with an emphasis on advancing the women's game - since 2008. In 2009, he launched The Equalizer, still the leading website dedicated exclusively to comprehensive women's soccer coverage in North America. In four years at NBC Sports, he covered two Olympics - overseeing record-breaking livestreaming and Sports Emmy-winning digital storytelling - and spearheaded digital coverage of the Premier League in the company's first three seasons with the rights. He became the first US editor of FourFourTwo in 2016, managing the launch of the iconic brand in the US market. He played soccer competitively from early childhood through college.