If the image of Brandi Chastain – kneeling, jersey in hand, her arms lifted in victory after sealing World Cup victory in 1999 – marked a change in US soccer, then Abby Wambach, one of the game’s greatest players, running to the stands to kiss her wife after helping the team win on Sunday marked a change in America.

Fans reacted to the celebratory embrace between Wambach and her wife, Sarah Huffman, after the US’s 5-2 defeat over Japan with the hashtag #LoveWins, which was adopted after the US supreme court affirmed the legal right of same-sex couples to marry. Or, as one user put it, “just another American couple celebrating”.

Watching Abby Wambach kiss her wife after winning the World Cup on repeat. Look how far we've come. #LoveWins #USWNT https://t.co/UHtqpXKNnj — Alex Goldschmidt (@alexandergold) July 6, 2015

Of all the enduring images from the match – Carli Lloyd celebrating her first goal; Lloyd celebrating her second goal; Japan’s goalkeeper, Ayumi Kaihori, after Lloyd scored a third goal, US head coach Jill Ellis suspended in celebration – it was Wambach and her wife’s Spider-Man-style kiss that tugged at fans’ heartstrings.

It was called “groundbreaking”, “epic” and “very sweet”. “Nothing encapsulates the last few weeks in America like this image,” said one fan on Twitter; “the kiss heard round the world”, a journalist suggested. But for everything it was, it was also just an American couple celebrating a mighty achievement 14 years in the making.

For the entire Team USA, the on-field joy was swift:

For Wambach, USA’s fiery leader, the victory couldn’t have been sweeter. The game was probably Wambach’s last World Cup match ever, and before the game she had admitted that this might be her last chance to take gold.

When Wambach stepped on to the field during the second half of the game, her team-mate Lloyd – the hat-trick star of the game – trotted over and gave her the captain’s armband, a show of respect for the player who has scored more international goals than anyone in history.

Abby Wambach receives the captain’s armband from team-mate Carli Lloyd. Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

Photos of the women’s team celebrating the win graced the cover of newspapers around the country.

The Miami Herald stated the obvious:

Photograph: Screengrab

While the Chicago Tribune got it very, very wrong – because we all believed:

Photograph: Screengrab

And the New Orleans Advocate invoked Prince, which was more like it:

Photograph: Screengrab

Click here for a gallery of more front pages celebrating Team USA from around the world.