海角大神

Izzy Short, 13, struggles to pick her favorite England player as she anticipates the team鈥檚 appearance in Sunday鈥檚 final of the European soccer championships.

There鈥檚 forward Ellen White. Defender Lucy Bronze. Midfielder Georgia Stanway. Captain Leah Williamson. The whole team basically.

鈥淚 just look up to them really,鈥欌�� the high school player from Manchester said, excitement filling her voice. 鈥淭hey are all very positive 鈥� they all, like, appreciated one another and how they are such a good team and all of them just working together really. And they鈥檙e just so kind and so good as well.鈥�

The march to Sunday鈥檚 final against Germany has energized people throughout England, with the team鈥檚 pinpoint passing and flashy goals attracting record crowds, burgeoning TV ratings and adoring coverage. The Lionesses, as the team is known, have been a welcome distraction from the political turmoil and cost-of-living crisis that dominate the headlines.

The final, set to be played before a sellout crowd of more than 87,000 at historic Wembley Stadium, is seen as a watershed moment for women鈥檚 sports in England. Although the game, known here as football, is a national passion, female players have often been scoffed at, and were once banned from top-level facilities. Now the women鈥檚 team has a chance to do something the men haven鈥檛 done since 1966: Win a major international tournament.

Hope Powell played 66 times for England and coached the team from 1998 to 2013.

鈥淚 think we have to give thanks to the people that worked really hard before us, that went through all of that, being banned, fighting for the right to play,鈥� Ms. Powell told the BBC. 鈥淚 think we have to remember what came before is what got us to the point we are today.鈥�

There were 68,871 people in the stands at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, when England beat Austria 1-0 in its opening game of this year鈥檚 European championship. That helped push total tournament attendance so far to 487,683 鈥� more than double the record of 240,055, according to tournament organizer UEFA.

But it鈥檚 not just the victories that are attracting fans. It is how the team is winning.

With money from sponsorship deals and a new TV contract supporting full-time professional players, there is more flash and polish than many expected. While they don鈥檛 play like the men鈥檚 team, that鈥檚 not a bad thing.

There are fewer players flopping to the ground to draw fouls, less rolling around on the turf dramatically clutching purportedly injured knees or ankles, and little shouting at the referees. Instead there is teamwork, artful passes and stunning goals like Stanway鈥檚 20-meter (22-yard) screamer in the quarterfinal victory over Spain and the backheel from Alessia Russo in England鈥檚 4-0 semifinal win against Sweden.

And here鈥檚 the thing: People like it.

Naomi Short, Izzy鈥檚 mom and the goalie for Longford Park Ladies Football Club, said fans are being treated to a 鈥渢otally different vibe鈥欌�� at the stadium and on the field 鈥� one that鈥檚 more welcoming than the lager-fueled tribalism that has put some people off the men鈥檚 game.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just girls watching it 鈥� it鈥檚 families, it鈥檚 men, women, children. Everybody鈥檚 watching it. It鈥檚 brought everybody together,鈥欌�� said Ms. Short. 鈥淲hereas, you know, sometimes when you go to a men鈥檚 game, there is sometimes [a] slightly different atmosphere.鈥�

There is also less distance between fans and the players, who know they have a responsibility to build a game their mothers and grandmothers were excluded from. The players stay after games and sign autographs. They take selfies. There is time for a chat.

They know that little kids look up to them.

Coach Sarina Wiegman has made a point of noting that there鈥檚 more at stake than victory alone.

鈥淲e want to inspire the nation,鈥欌�� Ms. Wiegman said after the team鈥檚 semifinal victory. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing and we want to make a difference 鈥� and we hope that we will get everyone so enthusiastic and proud of us and that even more girls and boys start playing football.鈥�

The groundswell of support for the team is also being fueled by the country鈥檚 dismal record in international competition and hopes that they can bring a European championship home to England, which prides itself as the place where modern football was invented.

England鈥檚 last major international championship, men鈥檚 or women鈥檚, came at the 1966 World Cup 鈥� a lifetime ago for most fans. The men鈥檚 team disappointed fans again last year when they lost to Italy in the final of their European championship.

That leaves it to the women to end the drought.

Women鈥檚 football has a long and sometimes controversial history in England.

The women鈥檚 game flourished during and for a few years after World War I, when teams like Dick, Kerr Ladies Football Club filled the sporting gap created as top men鈥檚 players went off to the trenches to fight. Women鈥檚 teams, many organized at munitions plants, attracted large crowds and raised money for charity. One match in 1920 attracted 53,000 spectators.

But that popularity triggered a backlash from the men who ran the Football Association, the sport鈥檚 governing body in England. In 1921, the FA banned women鈥檚 teams from using its facilities, saying 鈥渢he game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.鈥�

The ban remained in place for the next 50 years.

Women organized their own football association in 1969, and soon after the FA ended its ban on women. The FA took over responsibility for the women鈥檚 game in 1993, beginning the slow process of improving funding and facilities.

Things accelerated after the 2012 London Olympics, when authorities began to recognize there was a global audience for the women鈥檚 game, said Gail Newsham, author of 鈥淚n a League of Their Own!鈥欌�� that tells the story of Dick, Kerr Ladies.

Last year, the FA signed a three-year deal for broadcast rights to the Women鈥檚 Super League, increasing funding and exposure for the game. Sky Sports will broadcast a minimum of 35 games a year on its pay TV channels, and the BBC will carry another 22 on its free-to-view network.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not that long ago that girls, you know, top players, were paying for their own travel to get to matches and then having to get up to go to work the next day. So all of this is helping,鈥欌�� Ms. Newsham said of the funding. 鈥淵ou can see the difference now in the professionalism of the girls playing football.鈥�

The excitement about Sunday鈥檚 final has triggered a scramble for tickets.

Tickets that originally sold for 15-50 pounds ($18-$61) are now selling for 100-1,000 pounds ($122-$1,216) on resale sites.

The Short family has decided to watch the game at the local pub, making an afternoon of it, like fans around the country.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it will matter if it鈥檚 men or women,鈥欌�� Naomi Short said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 England now. It鈥檚 coming home. You know, I鈥檇 like to think that鈥檚 what people are getting excited about.鈥�

The story was reported by The Associated Press.