Perhaps no one has stood out more this tournament than Shanice van de Sanden, the speedy Netherlands forward whose leopard-print buzz cut is a work of art. Van de Sanden also wears red lipstick when she plays — specifically Maybelline’s Cherry Chic shade — and solid black eyeliner. “I will never play any game without my lipstick,” she said. “It’s what makes me feel the most comfortable.”

Many other female athletes have said the same of wearing makeup — that it helps them feel more at ease or more confident, and that’s important for their on-field performance. The Olympic sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner, known as Flo-Jo, was one of the first female athletes to talk candidly about this connection, saying: “Dress good to look good. Look good to feel good. And feel good to run fast!”

Cosmetics companies have taken note, making sweat-proof eyeliner and other products for active women. In her Cover Girl ad, Massy Arias — a personal trainer and health coach — runs, crunches and lifts. The spot highlights her muscles and mascara. At the end, she poses a question to naysayers: “What, you don’t wear makeup to work?”

Van de Sanden said she started applying makeup before games a few years ago, a ritual she adopted after getting a buzz cut. She said more people cared about her lipstick than her lack of hair. “Some people said, ‘Oh, that’s weird,’ or laughed about it,” she said. “But I don’t care. I know a lot of people like it too.”

South Korea’s Cho So-hyun — who told me she’s been wearing a “burgundy-orange” shade of lipstick for this World Cup — said she did so to feel more feminine. “I want to show my beauty to everyone, and that I am a woman,” she wrote via text message. Marta, the Brazilian forward who scored her 17th goal in a World Cup on Tuesday — the most of any player, male or female — did so in a dark purple lipstick.