‘We’re used to scraps’: How $30,000 guarantees will change World Cup players’ lives

Many elite women's football players are effectively amateurs. Increased payments should help many of them reach their potential

A month before this year's Women's World Cup, Jamaica's players posted statements to their social media accounts saying they had not been paid. They also said they had been subjected to subpar planning". So dire was the situation that online fundraisers were started to help the team - one by the mother of Jamaica midfielder Havana Solaun.

Despite that uncertainty, the Caribbean nation with a population of less than 3 million didn't concede a goal in their first three games at this World Cup, including a pair of scoreless draws against world powers France and Brazil, to advance to the knockout stage for the first time.