At least five out LGBTQ players were on the field Sunday night when the U.S. beat Brazil 1-0 to win the women’s CONCACAF Gold Cup in San Diego, a competition of the best teams in North and South America and the Caribbean.
Four out players started Sunday — centre-back Tierna Davidson of the U.S. and winger Adriana, goalkeeper Luciana and centre-back Tarciane for Brazil.
In addition, forward Debinha came on as a substitute for Brazil.
Goalie Jane Campbell was on the bench but did not see action for the USWNT, while Kansas City Current defender Lauren was among the Selecao’s substitutes but did not make it onto the field either.
Brazil lost its starting goalie, out player Leticia Izidoro, prior to the tournament with an injury.
There may have been other out LGBTQ players involved in the final, but these are the only ones Outsports has been able to verify so far.
We take a conservative view in deciding who is out, relying on media reports and social media posts that are unambiguous, such as Davidson posting Valentine’s Day photos of her wife.
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This “are they or aren’t they out” examination is fascinating and unique to female athletes. Many more out women play major sports than men, and yet even some women everyone “knows” is LGBTQ might not be as obvious on social media, so we usually avoid adding these to our list.
At last year’s Women’s World Cup, there were 96 out players. That’s 96 more than were out at the 2022 Men’s World Cup.
In contrast, the few “major” male athletes are out with there being no grey area and it usually comes about through a public social media post or media interview that garners attention.
For example, last week, Jakub Jankto scored his first goal for Italian Serie A team Cagliari. Jankto came out in 2023 via social media, making him one of the few high-profile out gay male soccer players.
As for the W Gold Cup final itself, U.S. captain Lindsey Horan scored the game’s only goal late in the first half and the Americans held on for the win.
