[Guardian]

Not at all. The benefit for the teams that aren't quite there, they all still get a cut of the global revenue, so in a way it allows those smaller teams to make more money to help build the sport in their country. Also, some nations don't have women's teams and there's no requirement for them to do so. FIFA wants them, as it helps build the game across the world and across all genders, but its not a requirement for anyone. The national teams see it as a way to bring more women into the sport, and hence more revenue. For the US it has worked more so than the men's teams. Canada and Australia being the others. If anything, the Canadian women's team is ahead of the Canadian men's team. Ours is on par, but on the global level is obviously more competitive.

Inviting less teams would hurt the teams that aren't on that level, as it cuts them out of the revenue. In other instances, the US plays most teams in the US, and pays the other teams to come over. The US usually get the win, and all the money from attendance. The smaller national team gets a paycheck to help keep funding their team.