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The US women's national soccer team have reached an agreement about equal pay.

The team agreed a deal with the governing body US Soccer, which will now give equal pay for the men's and women's teams across all competitions, including the World Cup.

The players will also receive $22m (£16m) which they will split between them. Another $2m (£1.4m) will be put in a fund to help the players after their footballing careers and for charities related to women and girls' soccer.

US player Alex Morgan said, "This is a monumental step forward" and "I not only see this as a win for our team or women in sport but for women in general."

This settlement ends a long argument which started in 2016, when some of the US team players filed a complaint saying they were paid less than the male players.

Then in 2019 the national team sued the US governing body for $66m (£52.8m) because they wanted equal pay. A court then dismissed the case in May 2020.

But now, on Tuesday, in a joint statement from US Soccer and the US women's national team said, they were pleased to announce that they "have resolved our longstanding dispute over equal pay and proudly stand together in a shared commitment to advancing equality in soccer."

It added: "Getting to this day has not been easy. The USWNT players have achieved unprecedented success while working to achieve equal pay for themselves and future athletes."

US player Megan Rapinoe spoke about the agreement and said: "I think we're going to look back on this day and say this is the moment that US Soccer changed for the better."

The United States have won the World Cup four times and have five Olympic gold medals.

In England, the Football Association announced in 2020 that the men's and women's international teams would receive equal pay.