The U.S. women's national soccer team has scored its most important goal yet.
After fighting for six years to receive equal pay, Megan Rapinoe and several other U.S. women's national team stars—Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan and Becky Sauerbrunn—were victorious in their gender discrimination lawsuit after reaching a landmark $24 million settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation on Feb. 22.
According to terms of the suit, U.S. Soccer will pay $22 million to the aforementioned players and will allocate an additional $2 million into an account that will benefit USWNT players in their charitable efforts and post-career endeavors. The organization will also pay men and women players an equal rate in all tournaments and friendlies.
"We are pleased to announce that, contingent on the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement, we will have resolved our longstanding dispute over equal pay and proudly stand together in a shared commitment to advancing equality in soccer," U.S. Soccer and the players said in a joint statement on Feb. 22, adding that getting to this historic day "has not been easy."
Following the news of the settlement, Megan took to her Instagram Story to post a selfie along with the caption, "Early morning equal pay vibes."
The three-time Olympian elaborated her feelings about the massive victory during her Feb. 22 appearance on Today. "In the end it came together," she shared. "For us as players, I'm just so proud of the way we stuck together and really just kind of put our foot down. This is a huge win for us."
Megan added, "For us this is just a huge win in ensuring that we not only right the wrongs of the past but set the next generation up for something that we could only have dreamed of."
(E! and Today are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)