Womens' Football Losing The Gap, But It's Not All Down To FIFA

In the 92nd minute of South Africa's drawn FIFA Women's World Cup match against football giant Italy, striker Hilda Magaia runs onto a pass at the top of the box. Magaia, who scored her country's first ever Women's World Cup goal a week earlier, springs past three lunging Italian defenders and curls the ball in to find Thembi Kgatlana, who blasts the ball into the net. South Africa, in its first Women's World Cup, is through to the round of 16. It is perhaps the most striking upset result of this World Cup, but far from the only one: Nigeria beating co-host Australia, Colombia's last-minute winner against Germany, Portugal holding the United States to a draw and Jamaica advancing at the expense of Brazil are signs of the closing gap in women's football that pundits are noticing.

The gap is closing and the game is growing: ticket sales in Australia and New Zealand are exceeding expectations, domestic television ratings for Australia's Matildas are shattering records and their merchandise sales are easily out-pacing their male counterparts, the Socceroos.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino says he's "a happy man", but the women on the pitch deserve the most credit, not the men at FIFA.

The Women's World Cup has been a grand stage for Infantino's administration to celebrate "FIFA 2.0", with it being the first tournament to be awarded, developed and delivered since the much-hyped 'roadmap' for the 'restructuring' of football's global governing body.

Released in 2016 following a series of high-profile corruption scandals, FIFA 2.0 sets out reforms pledging greater transparency, accountability and cooperation. A central plank of the new agenda is an overt commitment to growing women's football and, in FIFA's words, "bringing it