I’m loath to write about the current Fifa World Cup because criticising women’s football is textbook ‘misogyny’ – at least, that’s what Sadiq Khan thinks. The centrepiece of his recent ‘Have a word’ campaign is a video of young men discussing the women’s Euros, with viewers encouraged to press a button saying ‘Maaate’ when a line is crossed. The idea is to nip such behaviour in the bud before it escalates into violence. One particularly noxious youth describes the Euros as a ‘joke’, clearly marking him out as a potential rapist.

But is that really evidence of ‘misogyny’? The exit of the US Women’s National Team from the tournament last Sunday after losing a penalty shoot-out was, dare I say it, a bit of a joke. Megan Rapinoe, the 38-year-old forward, made a complete horlicks of her spot-kick, sending Sweden through to the last 16. She didn’t just miss, she fired the ball over the crossbar and into the seats behind the goal. And before you accuse me of using ‘problematic’ language, Rapinoe chose the same word herself. ‘That’s like a sick, sick joke,’ she said afterwards. ‘I never hit it over.’

It goes without saying that male footballers are just as capable of losing their nerve in penalty shoot-outs, particularly if they play for England. I was at Wembley for the Euro finals when Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all missed from the spot. But it was acutely embarrassing for the blue-haired Rapinoe because she, more than any other player, has turned the US women’s team into a symbol of gender equality. They filed a lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation in 2019 when she was captain, alleging discrimination because they weren’t paid the same as the men. Last year the Federation settled by acceding to their demands.

Rapinoe’s reasoning was that the women’s team had achieved more than the men’s ever had, winning the World Cup four times, but you don’t need to be an economist to spot the flaw in that argument. If salaries were calculated according to what people deserve rather than the law of supply and demand, nurses would be paid more than doctors. I can see the appeal of that – my sister’s a nurse – but a labour market run along those lines would be hopelessly inefficient. The fact is, broadcasters are prepared to pay higher fees for the rights to men’s matches because they attract bigger audiences. Which isn’t surprising, given the difference in ability between male and female players. This was demonstrated with brutal efficiency by the FC Dallas under-15s academy team, who beat the US Women’s Team 5-2 in a friendly in 2017.

For those who are fed up with the woke posturing of professional athletes, Rapinoe’s humiliation has been particularly gratifying. In 2016, she was the only member of the national team to take the knee before a match – the first white professional athlete to do so – and she has consistently refused to sing the national anthem before games, including the one against Sweden. She has also been a long-standing critic of Donald Trump, which is why he revelled in her penalty miss. ‘Nice shot Megan,’ he posted online. ‘WOKE EQUALS FAILURE.’

Rapinoe, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Joe Biden, is also an advocate of allowing trans women to compete in women’s sports, putting her at loggerheads with gender critical feminists. On the eve of the World Cup she said in a Time magazine interview that she’d ‘absolutely’ welcome a biological man into the US women’s team and accused anyone who disagreed with her of being ‘transphobic’. Martina Navratilova responded with one word: ‘Yikes!’

I enjoyed Rapinoe’s comeuppance, but not I hope because I’m a male chauvinist pig. Rather, it was like an enormous raspberry blown in the face of all those finger-waggers who’ve been telling us we ought to be just as passionate about women’s football as about men’s and the only explanation for a lack of enthusiasm is ‘misogyny’. I find it less irksome being lectured about this by women than men. At least they have a dog in the fight. When Khan gets on his high horse about women’s soccer it feels less like a matter of principle and more a way of differentiating himself from men lower down the class hierarchy. The button in his ad should really be labelled: ‘Steady on, old chap.’

So thank you, Megan Rapinoe, for not sticking to the script. You’ve given all of us who dislike being told what sport we should enjoy a good laugh. And if England get into the final and, God forbid, it ends in a penalty shoot-out, I’ll be praying that the QPR-supporting Chloe Kelly, who scored the winner in the women’s Euros last year, does better than you.