The Women's World Cup group stage has come to an end, and while all eyes have been on the games, social media has produced its fair share of intriguing moments too.
The players have been active off the pitch as well as on it in entertaining the fans – South Africa's rendition of this Whitney Houston classic for example was hard to ignore.
Post training vibes. Ladies and gentlemen we present to you Whitney Houston wannabes, @jermaine109 & @Kaylin194 with @LeAnDrA_sMeDa as a backup singer. Take it away ladies @Banyana_Banyana #DareToShine #fifawwc #BanyanaBanyana #LeMomentDeBriller @SAFA_net @bafana_bafana #Rsa pic.twitter.com/NABH0KjE2u — Banyana_Banyana (@Banyana_Banyana) June 12, 2019
Music and dance has been a theme of many teams' experience in France, with Nigeria in high spirits ahead of their game against the hosts.
ICYMI: #NGA were in great spirits yesterday ahead of their game against hosts #FRA 🎶💃@FIFAWWC_NGA | #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/M8FklQxSH6 — FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) June 17, 2019
Even immediately before kick-off the Jamaica players could be seen enjoying the light-hearted side of the tournament.
Reggae Girlz bounce their way into Stade des Alpes. Less that 2 hrs to game time.#FIFAWWC #DareToShine pic.twitter.com/rtfglu54Hh — Kayon Davis, FIFA (@FIFAWWC_JAM) June 18, 2019
And in celebration the music continued to flow – here Nigeria react to the news that they had progressed to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Finally the LORD have done it finally 💃💃💃The journey continues #FIFAWWC 🇳🇬🦅 we keep moving @NGSuper_Falcons pic.twitter.com/2HuBIeKBMV — ngozi okobi (@NgoziOkobi) June 20, 2019
But it's not just the players who have been enjoying the party atmosphere. The Holland fans have made a name for themselves with this sort of thing.
Met meer dan 10.000 fans van Links naar Rechts! 😍#OnzeJacht #NEDCMR pic.twitter.com/GXaFG3PE5Q — OranjeLeeuwinnen (@oranjevrouwen) June 15, 2019
The magic of the World Cup meanwhile was not lost on the younger generation, who were spotted enjoying England's group game against Argentina.
Awwwwwww 😊 #ENGARG | #DareToShine pic.twitter.com/hQgZ9y2PRp — FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) June 14, 2019
And more famous faces were on hand to inspire their teams too, with Caster Semenya offering her support to the South Africa side.
🥇 Olympic gold medalist Caster Semenya (@caster800m) stopped by to pass on support to @Banyana_Banyana ahead of #RSACHN 🇿🇦@FIFAWWC_RSA | #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/89VGcBvI7a — FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) June 13, 2019
The fun extended to training too, where players exhibited their skills in between matches.
Reggae Girl ⚽Trudi Carter shows off her skills ahead of tomorrow's game. She was not in the starting 1⃣1⃣ last time. Do you think she should be in the starting lineup tomorrow? pic.twitter.com/lpbyCC5fuR — Kayon Davis, FIFA (@FIFAWWC_JAM) June 17, 2019 Yeah we've been watching this on repeat from @emslie22 🙌 pic.twitter.com/webT0K3EHY — FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) June 18, 2019 Try this one at home with @lucystan37 🤤 pic.twitter.com/Srr5XXoIuU — Lionesses (@Lionesses) June 18, 2019
Meanwhile some training methods were more orthodox than others...
Footballs x cones = fun in #JPN training 😂#FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/XFV369uhlA — FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) June 17, 2019
But it was Brazil's Marta who produced perhaps the most profound piece of group stage social media, singing a song about football being for women as well as men.
Multi-talented Marta 🤩 When not being the #FIFAWWC all-time leading goalscorer, you can find her playing the cavaquinho 🇧🇷🎸@FIFAWWC_BRA | #DareToShine pic.twitter.com/9K05iFMz0D — FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) June 15, 2019
What will social media produce in the knockout stage?
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