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The Football Association and England's women's national team players reached an agreement on Women's World Cup bonuses, ending a year-long negotiation on the topic. Defender Millie Bright, who captained the Lionesses as they made a run to the World Cup final a month ago, announced the deal on Thursday during a press conference before England's UEFA Nations League match against Scotland. That the FA will now have a formal structure in place for several issues -- not just bonuses -- to avoid deliberating pay and conditions on a case-by-case basis, according to The Athletic.

Bright shared few specifics of the deal but commended it as a signal of the growth of the women's game.

"We've come to an agreement but I think it is bigger than just the bonus," she said. "It's about being world leaders on and off the pitch. The women's game is evolving very quickly and conversations like this need to happen in order to make sure in all areas we're at the top of our game. The conversation was extremely positive and as players, we feel really confident moving forward that the structure that we now have in place."

England's women's team receive the same flat pay as their male counterparts -- roughly $2,500 per match -- but pay differs for tournaments. The Lionesses wanted improved bonuses ahead of this year's World Cup and had gone without certain wages since they won the European Championship in July 2022 while both sides negotiated an eventual deal. The FA previously expressed that it would not pay the players bonuses for competing at the World Cup, but that no longer appears to be the case.

A few weeks ago, the FA reportedly offered six figures to be split amongst the players to cover lost commercial pay since last year's Euros. The players rejected that offer at the time.

England play their first game since the World Cup on Friday against Scotland and then return to Nations League competition on Tuesday against the Netherlands.