World Cup Champion Carli Lloyd Unveils Ticker-Tape Parade Plaque on Broadway

Soccer fans and Lower Manhattanites braved the forbidding gray skies Tuesday and gathered to anoint a special slice of pavement below Chambers Street.

The crowd was celebrating the U.S. women’s soccer team and the ticker-tape parade on Broadway that welcomed them home this past summer after a World Cup win. 

Carli Lloyd, the team’s co-captain and star midfielder, unveiled the new plaque commemorating the parade. She was joined by New York City Council Member Margaret Chin, women.nyc executive director Faye Penn, several players from the New York Football Club youth team and Downtown Alliance president Jessica Lappin. “There is a reason this team captured our imaginations,” Lappin remarked when she opened up the dedication ceremony. “They inspired us not just because of their magnificent victory on the world stage, but because they stood their ground and fought for equality — on the field and off — which is an essential American value.”  

As the rain started and red Downtown Alliance umbrellas started sprouting up in the crowd, Penn and Chin discussed just how important the team’s push for equal pay has been for the women’s equality movement. 

Lloyd, the first player to ever score a hat trick in a women’s World Cup final, noted how poignant the wide recognition has been for her and her team. “Winning one World Cup and having one ticker-tape parade was truly a dream come true,” Lloyd said, “but doing it twice was maybe beyond imagination. I know I speak for the entire team when I say that the parade in New York City this summer was one of the most amazing experiences of our careers.”

After the ceremony, Lloyd, Penn, Chin, Lappin and the three youth players immortalized the moment in photos — all with big smiles despite the rainfall.