“Mbappé is going to be the MVP of this World Cup”

Co-founder of Equity Sports Management, a women’s soccer marketing and representation agency, Ximena Estrada aims to work with established players to find better working conditions for them. After getting up several times at dawn in the last two weeks, she tells us how she lives the World Cup and which is her candidate to take the trophy.

—Who is your candidate to win the World Cup in Qatar 2022? Why?

For me the candidate is Argentina. Apart from the fact that it is a team that I really like, that I follow it in all the World Cups and that I am a fan of Messi; It seems to me that it is an Argentine team that we have not seen for many years. It is a new generation, with a consolidated team. So for me Argentina is emerging as a favourite, but I don’t rule out Brazil, neither England nor France.

—Who will be the scorer in Qatar 2022?

Mbappé for everything he has been doing at his club and his national team.

—Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Mbappé?

That’s a hard question. They are three spectacular players, but they are different generations. As much as I reaffirm that hopefully the champion will be Argentina, because I think many of us want Messi to win the World Cup, we will see an outstanding participation Mbappé. For me he will be the MVP of this World Cup.

—Where do you watch the World Cup?

I see it in my house, as well as in all the World Cups. I prefer to watch it alone at home because I like to look at it calmly and analyze. I’m not much of watching group games because I don’t like to be commenting or having distractions.

—Do you have any World Cup cabal?

I think that talking about a cabal is more when your team participates. So this time I don’t have any. But my cabal for the Qualifiers and for the last World Cup was to always wear the same clothes, always the same shirt, the one that qualified us for Russia and with the same jeans, the same sneakers, almost 100% having the same outfit. It’s something I always do when my team plays.

—What is the first World Cup you remember or the one you saw first?

The first World Cup that I remember a lot because I collected my first World Cup album -in general I collected the albums-, was France 98.

—Does the World Cup really paralyze you?

The truth is yes. I try to watch 100% of the games. It already happened to me in Korea-Japan that I had to set alarms super early. Now it is the same with Qatar. It seems to me that learning is key, the spectacle that the national teams give you, seeing the maturity of the players over the years. The teams show new faces, strategies, see how football progresses. I am a huge fan of the World Cup itself, I prioritize it over various things in my life.

—What is missing for the women’s soccer world cup to attract this attention? Will it ever be done?

The reality is that the number of years that the men’s World Cup has been played versus the women’s is much broader, which has managed to position this tournament. I wouldn’t dare to say exactly how much time is left, but I think the progress of women’s soccer: from the World Cups, from the Eurocups, the Copa Americas, around the world in general has been incredible. For me, next year’s World Cup will break attendance records, we will see spectacular goals, we will have more consolidated South American teams competing on a par with Europe or the United States. It is a matter more than anything of work, sports management, marketing, investment from FIFA, UEFA, Conmebol and the clubs. In the end, the World Cup is the result of the selections and the selections are the result of how the girls develop in the clubs. So it’s a whole chain. The important thing is that the gap can be closed between a South American, Asian football against a European one, but it also happens in the men’s game.

—What do you think of those who still believe that women don’t know about soccer?

I think we all have the freedom to express our opinion, but it is important to learn to listen, to recognize and actually and stop linking sport and soccer specifically with gender. I think that at this time we have seen that women develop very well as soccer players, coaches, agents, journalists, commentators, the range is super wide. We see more and more equality in the critical tables, on the courts, in the commands, so I think it is a bit more to analyze the situation that exists today and rethink this stereotype that some have so deep-rooted.