“When did the first women’s soccer championship take place?“ US professional soccer player Brandi Chastain is asked. "1991" is the immediate, obvious answer. When Chastain sees clips from 1971 showing international women's teams playing in sold-out stadiums, she is stunned. "Why didn't I know about this?"

COPA 71 tells the moving and scandalous story of the other first women’s soccer world championship, the “1971 Campeonato de Fútbol Femenil” in Mexico, where teams from Denmark, Mexico, Italy, Britain, Argentina, and France took part.

There’s a lot to tell – from the history of women's football, which emerged in Europe in the 1920s, then was suppressed in many places as “unfeminine” and supposedly harmful to women’s health, and was only officially permitted again in Germany and England in 1970/71; to the widespread campaign by the COPA organizers, who turned their teams into media stars and ensured that 110,000 people watched the final in the sixth-largest stadium in the world, the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City; to the diabolical machinations of FIFA. Not only did FIFA try to prevent the event, but following the tournament, it banned its affiliated clubs from allowing women's teams to train at their venues. For some plays, this tournament in Mexico was the last time they played soccer professionally or at all.

At the center of COPA 71 are the games and players themselves. Using footage from the time, the film recreates the drama of the competition, including unfair refereeing decisions, hubris, and scuffles, from the first matches to the finale – a film that's genuinely exciting because the winners aren't known in advance. Former players from all teams reminisce with bright eyes about triumphs and rivalries. Almost every one of them was the outsider in their village or family due to their love of soccer, and COPA wasn’t just a sport milestone, but a personal affirmation and the discovery of an international community. The beginning of a dream, that then abruptly ended – until 1991.

Hendrike Bake (INDIEKINO MAGAZIN)

Translation: Elinor Lewy