On a little artificial pitch in the middle of a North Lanarkshire housing scheme on Saturday morning there was all the evidence you ever needed that football was made for girls.

Here, the under-12s of Rutherglen and Glenburn fought out a close and entertaining game in front of 30 or so proud parents and friends. In this neighbourhood a generation ago, Bobby Murdoch and Stevie Archibald, Scottish internationals of global renown, first learned to play the game. Both would have been impressed by the skills and teamwork on display yesterday. Sara, a tall, skilful player for Rutherglen, scored both goals and greeted each with Cantona-esque insouciance. On the other side, Amy was doing Cruyff turns and back-heels in a manner that suggested she was born to play this game.

Rutherglen and Glenburn compete in a league named after Erin Cuthbert, the Chelsea midfielder born 30 miles down the road in Ayrshire. The talk around the pitch was of the heroics of Cuthbert and her fellow internationals. Last week they beat Albania to ensure first-ever participation in next year’s women’s World Cup in France.

The sport that defines male pride in Scotland more than anything else is being redeemed by this: more than 20 years have elapsed since Scotland’s men last qualified for a major football tournament, and there was little in a dismal 4-0 defeat at home to Belgium on Friday to indicate they would be returning to this arena any time soon. The women returned home from Albania to the gratitude of a nation and a male football establishment that has begun to appreciate the rescue job they are doing for the battered reputation of the national sport.

One of the stars of the Scotland team is Lisa Evans, who plays for Arsenal Ladies. She and her teammates were thrilled with the love that awaited them after their endeavours in Albania.

“There were so many messages from all over the country, including Alex McLeish, the manager of the men’s team. And being greeted by reporters and cameras at the airport was a new experience for us all,” she said.

“I always thought we had a chance of qualifying. The improvement in the performance and development of women’s football has led us to this point. We were up against very good teams in this group but managed to avoid the superpowers like USA, Germany, France and England. To know that you’ll be representing your country in a World Cup is a very special feeling.”

In France, the side will compete with countries where the women’s game is at a far more advanced stage in terms of finance and commercial backing. Of the 23 women in the squad, 19 are professional – but all of these have had to leave Scotland to pursue their dreams of a full-time career. In England this weekend, the top division in women’s football bid farewell to its last amateur as the Women’s Super League turned fully professional.

The success of Evans and her teammates, though, is bringing closer the goal of a professional women’s football league in Scotland. Participation in women’s football has almost doubled from 6,500 to more than 12,000. Donald Gillies, the head of girls’ and women’s development at the Scottish Football Association, is delighted at the progress of the international team and changed attitudes.

Media greeting their return at Edinburgh airport was a new experience for the Scottish women’s football team. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

“The women were deluged with text messages congratulating them for their success from all the senior figures in the men’s game,” he said. “We have a very well-organised national league system and although full professionalism remains a long way off, we are perhaps nearing a stage when we could have a few professional players attached to some of the bigger clubs like Glasgow City, Hibernians and Celtic.

“We have to build to this step-by-step, though,” Gillies added. “That means ensuring that the infrastructure around what we are offering talented girls and young women is right. It means having fully qualified and talented full-time coaches, as well as high-quality programmes for physical and tactical development. We may not have any full-time professional players yet but we have a very professional set-up. This is what attracts good players and keeps them here and we can build on that.”

In England, women’s football seems to have been mesmerised by the objectives that drive the men’s game: money, size and power. In Scotland, though, there is a desire to reach out to girls through football by offering positive messages about empowerment and physical and mental health. Energy group SSE, the main sponsor of women’s football across the UK, conducted a survey that showed that parents are now more likely than ever before to encourage their daughters to play football and cited mental and physical health benefits.

Uefa released a women’s football mini-documentary series last month focusing on the personal experiences of three of Europe’s most successful players who have had to overcome personal tragedy and injury, mental health challenges, and deal with issues around sexuality and self-confidence.

During the first world war, women’s football attracted crowds of more than 50,000 in Scotland before the SFA banned it when the men came home. A century later, in Albania and in Rutherglen, there was proof that women’s football in Scotland is coming home.