Panama captain Marta Cox scored a stunning free-kick against France, the World Cup career of a legend ended, and South Africa took down football giants.
Here are five quick hits from Wednesday.
When Cristiano Ronaldo scored in Qatar last year, he was hailed as the first player to score goals at five successive World Cups.
Marta, and many others online, pointed out that was not true.
The legend of Brazilian football came off the bench for the first two games of this campaign but, needing a win to progress, she was put into the starting line-up for Brazil’s final group match against Jamaica.
The 37-year-old didn’t manage to extend her streak to six straight cups with a goal as Brazil was knocked out by a shock 0-0 draw against Jamaica to finish third in Group F with a win, a loss and a draw.
It ends the career of one of the greatest footballers the women’s game has seen.
2. ‘She was my inspiration’: Jamaican love for Marta
The occasion was not lost on Jamaican star and captain Khadija “Bunny” Shaw after the whistle was blown in the deadlocked game against Brazil.
While Shaw had every right to celebrate the greatest moment in Jamaican women’s football history, she instead made a beeline to Marta, embracing her in the middle of the pitch.
The two appeared to share some heartfelt words, with Shaw revealing what was said to journalists in the mixed zone after the match.
“I was just telling her congratulations on a wonderful career that she has had,” Shaw said.
“She was my inspiration growing up. She still is. The way she carried herself, the way she played, the leader that she is … I just told her that she’s not just an inspiration for me but for a lot of young girls in the Caribbean and around the world.”
Shaw added that Marta had in turn expressed her admiration for the Reggae Girlz, who have faced a range of off-field issues over the years prior to the 2023 tournament.
In 2010, the Jamaica Football Federation disbanded its women’s football program. It was only restored in 2014 thanks to a fundraising campaign that famously featured Cedella Marley (daughter of Bob Marley) among many others.
“Marta said that she has watched our journey ever since we qualified [for the first time in 2019], and she credited us because every time we got knocked down, we got up and kept pushing,” Shaw said.
“She said to me that we are here for a reason, we just have to keep going, and now she’s going to be supporting us.”