Mexico’s women’s football pioneers fight for recognition before World Cup | OneFootball

For over half a century, a group of young female soccer players formed the women’s national team of Mexico. Facing criticism, prejudice, and obstacles, they achieved a level of success that their male counterparts never even came close to matching: a third place in a controversial World Cup in 1970, followed by a second place just a year later.

With less than 100 days to go before the men’s World Cup, which will be hosted by Mexico, the United States, and Canada, their achievements remain officially unrecognized, both by the Mexican Football Federation and FIFA.

The 1971 tournament was officially classified as an amateur competition, and the Mexican players were later banned by the federation after demanding to be paid salaries.

The beginnings of women’s soccer in Mexico

Women’s soccer in Mexico began to take shape in 1969, with the founding of the country’s first league, which served as the foundation for the national team that competed in the first world tournament, an event with seven participating teams held in Italy in 1970.

The first women’s World Cup officially recognized by FIFA would only take place more than two decades later, in China, in 1991.

The ‘Aztecas’, many of whom had not even turned fifteen, stood out by achieving a respectable third place, after being defeated by Italy in the semifinals.

The following year, the championship was held again, this time with Mexico as the host country and featuring six teams. They finished as runners-up and filled the Azteca Stadium with 110,000 spectators, according to reports from that time.

AFP spoke with three veterans from that historic team about their triumphs, the challenges they faced, and the evolution of women’s soccer over the past five decades.

Salary Rebellion

Alicia ‘La Pelé’ Vargas was the team’s top scorer, considered the third best Concacaf player of the 20th century, and the top scorer of the 1970 tournament held in Italy.

Today, at 72 years old, she recalls the dismissive attitude they faced when traveling to that first tournament, held just a few weeks after Pelé led Brazil to their third World Cup title, in Mexico.

“It was in the press: ‘Mexico heads off on its adventure’ in tiny letters, on the sports page,” she says.

However, media attention, as well as the intensity on the field, grew as they advanced to the semifinals, where they were defeated, according to her, due to “biased refereeing” that awarded a questionable penalty to the Italians.

The following year, they got their revenge at home. Also in the semifinal, the Mexican team emerged victorious, leaving the ‘azzurre’ furious, she recalls.

While they waited for the final against Denmark, a rumor leaked to the press that the Mexican players were demanding two million pesos (about 160,000 dollars at the time, 844,000 reais at today’s exchange rate), or they would not take the field.

“That whole situation disrupted our training (…) It ended up being the worst match we played. It was full of mistakes. Each of us tried to win the battle on our own,” she laments, recalling the 3-0 defeat to the Danes.

Without receiving an official salary, they organized themselves to ask for donations from the fans who packed the Azteca Stadium, and each player left with 21,000 pesos (about US$1,680 at the time, R$8,869.00 at today’s exchange rate). However, that match also marked the end of their time with the national team.

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Expelled and Silenced

María de Lourdes de la Rosa — former right-back, now 71 years old, recalls that they were labeled “prófugas del metate” (“fugitives from the metate”), a sexist insult referring to the pre-Hispanic stone slab used to grind food, traditionally operated on one’s knees.

“They said our place was at home, washing dishes and taking care of our brothers,” she laments.

But the hardest blow, in her opinion, was the disdain shown by the Mexican football authorities.

“The Federation itself disowned us exactly when we were playing our last match, the final of the championship. We didn’t represent Mexico. We didn’t take the field as the national team,” she recalls sadly.

Mexican women’s soccer stagnated, she laments, at a time when it could have grown alongside that of the United States, whom they used to routinely thrash with double-digit scores.

As a result, De la Rosa believes, “today’s girls,” the current Mexican generation, are “just getting started,” instead of being able to build on the momentum generated by those runners-up and their fight for recognition.

Optimism and Legacy

Martha Coronado is another defender from that legendary national team. At 71, she still vividly remembers the prejudice she faced in her youth for taking the field in a world marked by machismo.

“It was deeply inspiring for all of us to know that we were pioneers, that we paved the way and never backed down in the face of adversity,” she notes, pointing out that a growing number of women can now be found not only in the stands but also on the field, kicking the ball.

She proudly recalls the 1-0 victory by the current Mexican women’s national team against Brazil, host country of the 2027 World Cup, during a friendly played in the capital on March 7, in front of a crowd of 25,000 fans.

“Mexico has every chance of one day becoming world champion,” she says, hopefully.

*Content produced by AFP

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.