What happened

The U.S. women’s soccer team came back to New York City this week to a ticker-tape parade and chants of “USA! Equal pay!”— echoing the shouts in the stadium that greeted the squad’s fourth World Cup victory. Tens of thousands of paradegoers cheered the team, which turned in a historically overpowering performance, winning its seven matches 26-3, including a 2-0 defeat of the Netherlands for its second straight title. The team was defiantly joyful and relentless in the process, beginning with an unheard-of 13-0 romp of Thailand. The Americans celebrated goal after goal, sometimes cheekily—as when forward Alex Morgan pretended to sip tea after scoring in the semifinal against England. “There is some sort of double standard for females in sports,” Morgan said to critics, a theme that continued after the Americans’ triumph.

The women’s team is pursuing a gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, claiming they make less than the underperforming men’s team. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) proposed a bill this week that would withhold federal funding for the U.S.’s hosting of the 2026 men’s World Cup until the teams got equal pay. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer invited the women champions to visit the Capitol after President Trump demurred on a White House invite. Co-captain Megan Rapinoe, the dominant player of the tournament, said Trump distracts from the example her teammates have set: “They have inspired particularly young women to believe in themselves, to be brave, to be bold, to be fierce.”