Six months on from the Women's World Cup final, Telegraph Women's Sport reports on what effect, if any, global progress in the game has had on three of the teams.

Argentina

For anyone with a penchant for an underdog story, a lasting image from the World Cup was that of the Argentina squad sinking to their knees and weeping as they held 2011 champions Japan to a draw in their group-stage opener.

This was a team that in their last appearance at the tournament, in 2007, had lost 11-0 to Germany – then the worst loss in World Cup history. Now they had gained their first point.

What happened in those 12 years is a story familiar to struggling nations in the women’s game. While Argentina’s men’s side boasts a rich history, their women were inactive between 2015 and 2017, and travelled to France as unexpected qualifiers.

Vanina Correa was goalkeeper both against Germany in 2007 and last year in France, and she recalls the moment the final whistle blew against Japan with emotion. “In drawing with Japan, it wasn’t a huge moment in the world, but for us it was incredible,” Correa, 36, says. “We were motivated by all that had happened to us. We came from nothing, with little support in economic terms, in terms of international matches. We were fighting to be seen and known, demonstrating all the sacrifices we’d done over many years.”