Women’s World Cup 2023
Kick it like Megan! How Lego made a great mess of a good idea
“Icons of Play”, a playset that Lego presented on the occasion of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, consists of almost 900 parts.
© Lego Group
Lego wanted to celebrate the finals of the women’s soccer World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with a specially created playset. The idea is great. But even at second glance, one has to state: the homage is not really a success.
As it will be in 2023 around the lobby of the women’s football is ordered, the world governing body FIFA, major television broadcasters and some other stakeholders recently demonstrated impressively. Only after months of back and forth, mutual blame and desperate appeals from politics and sport was it clear: The fans in Germany (and four other European countries) can now follow the tournament Down Under live on free TV. Blackout averted at the last minute.
Others were significantly faster.
In May, the Danish toy giant and block pioneer Lego launched a small campaign for the ninth Women’s World Cup. The play set with the number 40634 did not come as a surprise. After all, the Danish eleven are in a finals for the first time since 2007. The designers in Billund dubbed their homage to women’s football “Icons of Play”. One of the icons of women’s football is without a doubt Megan Rapinoe. The US forward and 2019 World Soccer Player is considered a role model for many girls, an idol and the voice of women’s soccer. She is committed to diversity and has been fighting for fairer bonuses and salaries for years. Now the 38-year-old is available in Lego minifigure format – trademark Fönwelle in pink. In addition to Rapinoe, Australia’s Sam Kerr (Chelsea FC), Yūki Nagasato from Japan (Chicago Red Stars) and Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala (FC Barcelona) are allowed to appear and cheer in “Icons of Play”.
Wait a moment. Only four players? Not Brazilian? None from the German team? Where are the Europeans? After all, twelve teams from Europe have qualified for the tournament from July 20th to August 20th. Some of them with a good chance of winning the world title. But instead of other stars, there is a goalkeeper without a name, a trainer, a referee and eight flag-waving spectators at the start. A truly motley and unfortunately rather random bundle that only partially does justice to the diversity of women’s football in the world. According to Lego, this set should be about that, among other things.
Lego Icons of Play >> Buy now with 20% discount
Half the field, yellow balls and a La-Ola
While one is rightly wondering how to pair the four very well-matched star players (unfortunately all dressed in red Lego Fantasy shirts rather than their national team’s) into two teams, let’s take a look at the rest of the set. And here, too, Lego leaves us a little perplexed.
Because the miniature Megan and her fellow players are fobbed off with half a field. Apparently, Lego is speculating that fans will buy the set twice in order to be able to build a playable area with two goals. There is no other way to explain the half-finished stadium with the carelessly implied gangs. Two against two on a goal? Reminds me a bit of the schoolyard banging in the 1990s. We also don’t understand why the three balls are yellow. Doesn’t matter. A rotating camera “films” the game behind the goal. On the other side is a kind of monitor. Apparently for checking contentious situations when the video assistant referee (VAR) turns on during the game.
>> Here’s the Lego Ideas foosball table
Our highlight of the set (and unfortunately the only one besides the four players) is the grandstand. Here, eight fans are cheering what they see halfway down the pitch. If you turn a small crank, they even escalate in a La Ola wave. A nice idea that brings at least a bit of pep to this otherwise tired kick. A few colorful stickers will also put you in a good mood. There is also a trainer’s bench, a box with drinking bottles for the players and a kind of pedestal for the World Cup.
Conclusion
Even big football fans have to be really strong with this set. Apart from the four World Cup players (with their names and correct shirt numbers on their jerseys, by the way) and the well-designed fan grandstand with the spectators, Lego isn’t doing any advertising for women’s football. Apparently, “Icons of Play” got stuck halfway. Half of the mini stadium can only be played with a lot of benevolence and in our opinion the set is not really suitable as an exhibition piece. It remains to be hoped that the 32 national teams in New Zealand and Australia will bring a little more wit to the lawn than the Lego designers.
This article contains so-called affiliate links. Further information are available here.