It’s rightly being lauded as a fascinating story, resurrected now in colourful, cinematic glory, of an event erased from football history books for nigh on fifty years.
“Copa ’71,” a documentary executive produced by Serena and Venus Williams, chronicles an un-official, i.e. non-FIFA sanctioned, women’s international football tournament held in Mexico.
It took place a year after Brazil’s men’s third World Cup win, beating Italy 4-1 in the 110,000-seater Azteca Stadium, cementing Pele’s iconic status. The beautiful game for men had truly arrived — it was the first World Cup televised in colour — but the women’s game had all but been banned out of existence for decades in Europe, South America and Asia.
However, there was an official women’s World Cup a year earlier in Italy, which was won by Denmark and the Danes were one of the six teams (along with hosts Mexico, Argentina, England, France and Italy) invited to Copa 71. A group of businessmen seeing the huge financial windfall of the men’s tournament, thumbed their noses up at the FIFA hierarchy, who were aghast at their audacity and banned the use of their stadiums for the tournament. However, Copa 71’s backers included powerful press, radio and television concerns, who controlled Mexico’s two biggest grounds, the Jalisco stadium in Guadalajara and, in Mexico City, the Azteca stadium.
Their media blitz also helped to create a frenzy for the tournament as huge crowds came out for the qualifying games and 110,000 watched the final between Denmark and Mexico.
The women tell their stories with emotion, grace and candor, of being denied and mocked for playing the “beautiful game” they love. There’s true poignancy at the end when it’s juxtapositioned against England’s Euro’s ’22 triumph and Spain’s ’23 World Cup win.
They may have waited five plus decades, but those Copa ’71 pioneers are deservedly getting their moment in the sun.
Copa ‘71 Montage: The England and French teams’ fly out and Mexico prepare to play Argentina.