Megan Rapinoe Says Women's Soccer 'Won't Accept Anything Less Than Equal Pay'

The members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team know their worth and they’re not backing down from the ongoing equal pay fight against the U.S. Soccer Federation.

“We won’t accept anything less than equal pay,” star midfielder Megan Rapinoe said Thursday during an interview on “Good Morning America.” “We show up for a game. If we win the game, if we lose the game, if we tie the game, we want to be paid equally, period.”

The USWNT filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation earlier this year and entered into mediation just before the World Cup started in France in June. The women’s team has fought long and hard to get paid the same as their male counterparts, who win fewer games but get paid roughly $30,000  more per player.

“It’s quite simple from our perspective,” teammate Christen Press said on “GMA.” “We want to be paid equally, and that just means that when we show up to a game, that we get compensated the same way a man would for showing up for the same game. Because, on this issue, there is no social equality for women without financial equality.”

The team is currently on a World Cup tour after going undefeated in the 2019 World Cup this summer. The USWNT defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in the World Cup final.

In the past three years, women’s soccer games have generated more total revenue than the U.S. men’s games and have attracted more viewers. The team has won three of the last four Olympic gold medals in soccer.

“It’s actually about women everywhere being treated equally and respectfully in the workplace,” Press told “Good Morning America.” “And so if that means that we’re gonna go to trial, then we’re going to do that, and we’re going to do it very confidently.”