Players from the United States Women's National Team have been fighting for equal pay compared to their male counterparts for several years now, and now they've finally emerged with a key victory. The USWNT players and the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) have settled their class action equal pay lawsuit for a total of $24 million while also coming to an agreement on equal pay moving forward, according to ESPN's Jeff Carlisle.

Longtime USWNT star Megan Rapinoe offered up this reaction to the news:

“There's no real justice in this other than this never happening again,” OL Reignand U.S. international midfielder Megan Rapinoe told ESPN. “With the settlement of the working conditions and this settlement which is contingent upon a CBA that will have equal pay going forward, there's no other way to look at it than just a monumental win for women's sports and women's soccer, in particular.”

“I'm not a big fan of roller coasters, in real life or figuratively,” Rapinoe said of the up-and-down process. “I did think we would get to this point, 100%. I did think we would win all along in this. This is a win for us. And this is a win for the for the players for the next generation, for women's players around the world.”

While the USWNT players were initially seeking back payments of nearly $67 million, getting this $24 million and the equal pay commitment is still a big victory after a lengthy fight. There was one point where the equal pay portion of the lawsuit was dismissed, but it was appealed and ultimately an agreement was made.

As part of the settlement, the players will receive a lump sum of $22 million, with an additional $2 million going into an account to help them when their playing careers are over and for charitable efforts. The settlement hinges on a new collective bargaining agreement being ratified by the USWNT players. Once that happens in the coming months, the District Court will approve the settlement.

As for the equal pay portion, this will apply to women's and men's teams “in all friendlies and tournaments, including the World Cup.” The World Cup bonuses were a major issue:

The primary sticking point was the respective bonus structures in each contract. Making a World Cup team would net a men's player $67,000, while a woman would make $37,500. A win by the USMNT against a team outside the top 25 in the FIFA rankings will result in a player getting bonus of $9,375, while a loss will result in a payment of $5,000. For the women, a win against a team ranked outside the top eight give each player $5,250 and nothing for a loss. Winning the World Cup would net each male player $407,608 — a longshot at best — while a woman would make $110,000.

The USWNT has long been much more successful than the men's squad, winning four World Cups and four Olympic gold medals in recent history. The men have never won those events in their history.