The 2023 Women's World Cup delivered drama and emotion on every level and the photographers of Getty Images did an incredible job capturing it from every angle. Their staff has shared some of their favorite images from the tournament and explained the stories behind the photos.
This image of Sam Kerr was taken on the pitch after Australia was eliminated by England in the Women's World Cup Semifinal. The support for the Matildas was incredible throughout the tournament, and only continued to build as they advanced through the elimination rounds. Sam Kerr is the face of the team and had her first start of the tournament during the match after recovering from a calf injury. It was a great match, which included an electrifying goal from Kerr which released a roar through the crowd. The Matildas came up short, losing 3-1, and members of team Australia looked crushed. This is a moment Sam walked away from her teammates and took a moment to herself. I saw the board flashing with the flags of the teams that were going to face off for the final over her head. I crouched down and took a few frames; I think it summed up the story of the game well.
— Maddie Meyer
This image of Morocco in their dressing room after defeating Korea Republic was their first-ever World Cup win and the team was elated. I loved being a part of their celebration, hearing the songs, cheers, and watching the dancing around the dressing room. I think it's easy to focus on the tournament favorites like the United States, England, and Spain, but the smaller teams have so much to play for as well. Seeing what this win meant to them was really special.
— Maddie Meyer
This portrait of Jennifer Hermoso, Teresa Abelleira and Alexia Putellas of Spain holding the championship trophy after winning the Women's World Cup is one of my favorites. I set up a portrait studio in the team's workout room attached to their dressing room and had the players and coaching staff come through. Many wanted individual photos with the trophy, but the group images show the most personality, I think. I love seeing how the players let their guard down after the job is done and celebrate together.
— Maddie Meyer
This shot was captured from a net cam that I set up high in the corner of the goal as England goalkeeper Mary Earps attempts to save a goal by Sam Kerr of Australia, which many say was the goal of the tournament during the semifinal. I set this compact camera up every time I was working on the pitch, and in some games you get nothing that exciting, and then something like this moment unfolds. The camera captures a different perspective and has full manual control, such as exposure, color balance, shutter speed. It is triggered remotely by my hand-held camera when action happens around the goal mouth. I love Earps' expression as she's twisted in the air looking back watching the ball enter the goal. The shape of her body is interesting, and the clean background works well, making the image one of my favorites from the tournament.
— Cameron Spencer
Commentary: It was 1-0 with seconds left on the clock -- Spain was down my end of the field and that was it…full time! The Spain players collapsed on the field close to my corner and I photographed them celebrating. Instantly teammates and players from the bench all started sprinting towards my direction and their teammates hugging on the pitch, I noticed and switched my focus to them running towards me. The elation is incredible as the players process winning the World Cup Final. A moment of sheer joy works well shooting it wider with a 70-200mm lens which illustrates the atmosphere of this significant victory.
— Cameron Spencer
In this image, Lauren Hemp attempts to kick a shot at goal. I captured this frame from the catwalk in the roof of Stadium Australia. The reason I like it is because it comes down to the shape and the moment that is frozen in this split second. Here, Hemp is surrounded by Colombia defenders and the goalkeeper Catalina Perez, all attempting to block her. There is a nice balance to the frame – the symmetry works well and the shape of everyone around the ball is something we look for when working from an elevated perspective.
— Cameron Spencer
I like the range of emotions on display in this image taken on my remote camera in the semifinal between Spain and Sweden. Spain scored the goal that would help take them to the final. Sweden are in despair and Spain are celebrating as the keeper looks into my camera, watching the ball hit the back of the net.
— Phil Walter
Commentary: Hannah Wilkinson of New Zealand set the tournament alight here, celebrating her goal for New Zealand in their huge upset win against Norway. This was the opening game of the tournament, and this goal and the win was just what New Zealand needed to get everyday Kiwis who might not have previously taken notice of the tournament off their seats and buying tickets.
— Phil Walter
I love the joy seen on all their faces. For this image, I shot it wide so the whole team could be included and used a shutter speed to match the LED boards to capture them accurately. This moment is always the one that gets the most play from a World Cup Final – the first trophy lift!
— Elsa
I love a great reaction image. I was lucky that Olga Carmona came towards the bench after she scored her goal. She had scored in the opposite end from my position, but I still followed her in case she made her way to the bench – which was near my photo position. It happened to be the only goal of the match. The great thing about this game is that it can happen anywhere!
— Elsa
This quarterfinal between France and Australia was my favorite match of the tournament. It was such an intense and incredible match. The stadium was packed with mostly Australian fans. It went into two extra halves and penalties. This match featured the most penalty shots at a World Cup — both men's and women's — with 20 penalty shots taken! My assignment was to cover reaction shots of the teams stationed in the center of the pitch. This moment was after the 20th shot which Cortnee Vine of Australia made to win the match.
— Elsa
This quarterfinal match between France and Australia was one of the best I shot in the tournament. As luck would have it, we went to penalties. I needed to tell both sides of this match story and after shooting jubilation on the Australia side, I pivoted to France to get their reaction as their World Cup run came to an end. It is important to capture both victory and defeat. This was a hard-fought match between two incredible programs.
— Elsa
You can't get any closer than this! When the teams do one last huddle before kickoff, they give each other that last and ultimate push. The captain holds the final motivation speech and everyone gets emotional. That's the essence of team spirit. Before Germany's match against Morocco, I knew I could get close enough to hold a camera between two players to capture the moment. And I've used a very wide-angled lens to get everyone in the frame. What also makes this picture special and shows the immense team spirit is the jersey of injured teammate, Caro Simon, in the middle.
— Alex Grimm
With seconds to go on the clock and Denmark leading 2-0 against Haiti in their last group stage match, I decided to move close to the Danish bench hoping to get a nice picture of the substitutes starting to run on the pitch after the final whistle. Denmark star player Pernille Harder had seen me and in the second everyone started running, she turned around and gave a short celebration into my camera. A kind of interaction you usually don't get when you're sitting far away behind the goal with all the other photographers. The most amazing aspect about the exclusive access you get as a FIFA photographer is that you get close enough that the players realize you are there and give you these very intimate moments.
— Alex Grimm
Sport is emotions. But when it comes to the knockout stages of a World Cup, everything becomes more intense in both directions – celebration and dejection. Players have worked so hard for these moments on the biggest possible stage. After Japan's quarter-inal loss against Sweden, Maika Hamano was sitting in the center circle and cried bitter tears when her club team member Joanna Andersson came to console her. At a World Cup, success means almost everything, but these moments of empathy and respect for each other make sport something bigger than just a competition.
— Alex Grimm
This was during the anthem for the Group G match between Italy and Argentina where photographers gather to shoot the starting 11 team photo. I thought the detail of these athletes' tattoos was so interesting and symbolic of the sport itself.
— Carmen Mandato
I captured this image during tie-breaking penalty kicks between the USA and Sweden. I think the negative space is a good juxtaposition to the emotion of the athletes as penalty kicks are filled with explosive emotion, both positive and negative.
— Carmen Mandato
This photo is a goal celebration and I feel like it's rare you're in the right position for genuine moments. Lindsey Horan's raw emotion translates well through her expression, and it really slows down an otherwise exhilarating but fleeting sequence of events.
— Carmen Mandato
I was high up in the catwalk for this match between Australia and England. England had defeated Australia and there was a lot going on, on the pitch, with England players celebrating. The Australian team then got together in a huddle which resembled a heart. I was told the following morning that this was not deliberate, and the huddle just took the shape of a heart by chance.
— Robert Cianflone
The match between the USA and Sweden ended in a penalty shootout after both teams were tied at the end of extra time. USA's Megan Rapinoe had just missed her penalty shot and Sweden's Lina Hurtig stepped up to take her penalty kick. Her shot appeared to be saved by goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, but after a tense wait to check VAR, the ball was deemed to have crossed the line and the penalty was awarded giving Sweden the win and the reigning champions were knocked out. Hurtig ran with her teammates straight to my position and the team all dropped to the ground in pure joy and celebration.
— Robert Cianflone
Hayley Raso of Australia is seen here scoring her second goal of the match against Canada. This image was taken from the net-cam at the top of the net. After a few tech issues early in the World Cup and one match where the camera was knocked out of the net by a wayward shot, I was excited to finally capture an image from here which was an intense moment.
— Robert Cianflone
One of my favorite parts of this year's Women's World Cup is the amount of underdog stories there has been and none more so than Jamaica holding Brazil to a 0-0 draw in Melbourne. The Reggae Girlz energy at full-time was amazing to witness and be a part of.
— Alex Pantling
One of the most talked about moments of this year's Women's World Cup was undoubtedly the penalty that sent the USA out of the competition in their Round of 16 match against Sweden. This year as a FIFA photographer, I was given access to the locker rooms to photograph the post-match celebrations and while I was there, I managed to capture the moment that the Sweden team saw the image on Instagram and realized how close the call was. I think that this image sums the moment up perfectly.
— Alex Pantling
A huge moment in the second semifinal match saw England beat the hosts, Australia, and make it through to their first-ever Women's World Cup Final. The England side really gave the impression that the team is very close-knit and I think that you can see that in abundance here.
— Alex Pantling
At the final, as a FIFA photographer, we got access to the Spain locker room after the game. It took a bit because players were celebrating with their families for quite a long time. I like how Jennifer Hermoso was wearing the glasses that said Alexia — which she probably got from fans. Just a very fun moment after a well-deserved win!
— Maja Hitij
The best thing at this World Cup was seeing the underdogs beating the big nations. And the joy of these teams is so pure and nice. For a photographer, it is then easier -- you just need to pay attention and get the most out of those emotions. When South Africa qualified for the next round to the knockout stage, Karabo Dhlamini just started crying. Some were celebrating with joy, and she was just so overwhelmed that she had to stop for a second.
— Maja Hitij
This is a photo of Aitana Bonmati of Spain and Fridolina Rolfo of Sweden embracing one another. They are both playing for Barcelona and are also good friends, so they exchanged jerseys right after the match. It shows that Rolfo, although she just lost the semifinal, was happy for her friend — who was a rival just moments before — to make it to the final.
— Maja Hitij
Linda Caicedo of Colombia shined with great skills and joy for the game. However, after the loss against England, Caicedo was in tears. In the big moment for England, defender Alex Greenwood consoled the deeply sad newcomer. She said something like, your time will come!
— Lars Baron
I was able to document this moment from four different angles – with my goal remote camera, netcam, roof remote and my hand-held camera. I captured the 1-1 equalizer from England's Lauren Hemp against Colombia. I really like this series as a set.
— Lars Baron
Celebration! The most beautiful, intense and expressive moment in football. This photo shows the Swedish player celebrating after qualifying for the quarterfinals, while the Japanese players are saddened by the defeat. Magdalena Eriksson's excitement literally jumps out of the photo.
— Buda Mendes
This sums up the magic moment of scoring a goal – that sensational explosion that fills the camera frame and as a photographer, you can't stop taking pictures and celebrating that the photo has come your way! Here, Laia Codina of Spain undeniably celebrates after scoring her team's fourth goal against Switzerland.
— Buda Mendes
The is a photo that after you take it, comes the saying, "I think the champions have appeared". The strength of the Spanish team appeared from the very first game. The usual celebrations, union and strength were very intense and it was amazing to watch them go all the way and win the tournament.
— Buda Mendes
This image shows the moment after Australia won their penalty shootout in the Quarter-Final against France. The teams ended up taking a combined 20 penalties and as the shootout went deep into sudden death the pressure and volume levels in the stadium rose to fever pitch. After scoring the winning penalty the team gathered in celebration and the nation fell in love with the team and the sport.
— Justin Setterfield
Football is about goals but very rarely do goals make aesthetic images. I like this image as it has the scorer, the beaten defender, and the diving goalkeeper all in one frame.
— Justin Setterfield
Description: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 06: (EDITORS NOTE: In this photo taken from a remote camera from behind the goal.) Jill Roord of Netherlands heads to score her team's first goal during the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Round of 16 match between Netherlands and South Africa at Sydney Football Stadium on August 06, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
We set up remote cameras behind the goal in football at every game, week in week out, but very rarely does it pay off. This image comes together with Jill Roord of the Netherlands heading to score right on the goal line with the despairing South African defenders desperately trying to stop her but failing and making a nice shape to add some drama to the frame.
— Justin Setterfield