Curacao's trailblazer doctor on football's big stage

In 2026, in an effort to accelerate change, Fifa introduced new rules , external for women's tournaments. The regulations state at least one member of medical staff must be female and at least one coach must be a woman. At the match between Curacao and Germany, for the first time in men's World Cup history, there was an all-female , external medical team - Fifa match doctor Dr Emma Lunan, Curacao head of medical Dr Suzanne Huurman, Germany team doctor Dr Silja Schwarz, emergency medicine doctor Dr Carrie Bakunas and Dr Kerry Peek, the injury spotter. Dr Lunan told Fifa: "Hopefully this is a springboard to show that expertise in sports medicine and performance medicine is not dependent on your sex or gender and the opportunities to progress can be based on your competence." Dr Huurman thinks the new regulations are positive. "When I started with Real Madrid in 2020, I worked with the women's team and after that I switched to the men's. When they started the women's team, all the staff except me were male," she said. When asked how football could improve, Dr Huurman suggested considering agile-working options. "I know countries like Sweden have a rotating system with different doctors – week one, one doctor, week two, a different doctor and so on. …