Senator Joe Manchin Proposes Blocking Funding for 2026 World Cup over Equal Pay

The United States women's soccer team concluded a perfect World Cup with a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands in the final on Sunday. 

The USA's fourth World Cup victory since 1991 has only increased pleas for the women's team to receive the same pay as the men's side.

Sen. Joe Manchin is one of many voices promoting that cause, and per Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post, the Democrat from West Virginia has introduced a bill to Congress in which the federal government would not provide any money for the 2026 men's World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, until the USWNT and USMNT receive equal pay.

"The clear unequitable pay between the U.S. men and women's soccer teams is unacceptable and I'm glad the U.S. Women's Soccer Team latest victory is causing public outcry," Manchin said in a statement provided by Bendery. "I'm encouraging everyone to call their Senator and Representatives to help us get this bill passed and finally pay the equitable pay they deserve."

Manchin isn't the only politician to add his or her name to the list of people supporting equal pay. Of note, numerous Democratic presidential candidates, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former vice president Joe Biden, have done so.

United States President Donald Trump offered his take on the pay difference between men and women in soccer and said the following per Jon Brown of the Washington Examiner:

"I would like to see that. You also have to look at numbers.

"Because when you look at World Cup soccer, that's one thing. And you also have to look at soccer, professional soccer. You have to see who's taking in what. So I don't know what those numbers are. I would like to see that. But again, you have to look at the great stars of the men's soccer, the great stars of the women's, and you have to see year-round how are they all drawing. What is the attendance outside of World Cup?"

Sanjana Karanth of the Huffington Post followed up with reports that the USWNT draws more money and views than the men's side.

"In the three years after the women's team won the World Cup in 2015, their games generated more total revenue than men's games, according to The Wall Street Journal. The 2015 Women's World Cup final also had more views than any soccer match in U.S. history, men's or women's, at that time.

"Recently, Nike announced that the U.S. women's team's jersey is now the soccer jersey with the highest sales on its website in one season."

Per Andrew Das of the New York Times, USWNT captain Megan Rapinoe said "it's time to move that [equal-pay conversation] forward to the next step." If the Manchin bill and public outcry following the win is any indication, that may be happening quickly.