In recent years, female soccer players have been fighting for equal pay to their male counterparts. In the United States, women's soccer is one of the most popular sports for girls at all levels of competition. The U.S. Women's National Team has won three World Cups and four Olympic gold medals while the men's team has never won a World Cup and only won one Olympic gold medal. Despite this success, women's soccer players earn significantly less money than men's soccer players.
The last few years have seen progress in terms of compensation for female soccer players. In 2017, two members of the U.S. Women's National Team filed a federal gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S Soccer Federation seeking equal pay to what male players earn. This case is still ongoing but has brought more attention to the issue of unequal pay in women's soccer. Earlier this year, it was announced that starting in 2020, all teams in England's top-flight professional league will be required to pay their male and female players equally. This is a significant step forward and perhaps sets a precedent that other leagues will follow suit on in the future.
So far, no female soccer player has earned as much money as their male counterpart but there are several high-earning female players close to achieving this feat . Alex Morgan, one of the most well-known names in women's soccer, currently earns $450,000 per year from her club team Orlando Pride and an additional $70,000 from endorsements . This puts her earnings close to what some lower-paid men's professional soccer players make but still falls short of what top male earners bring home each year . If progress continues to be made in terms of equal pay for women's soccer then it is certainly possible that we could see a woman earning as much or more than her male counterpart in the near future .