United States' Tobin Heath, second from right, is congratulated on her goal by Mallory Pugh (11), Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan (13) during the first half of a SheBelieves Cup soccer match against Brazil Tuesday, March 5, 2019, in Tampa, Fla. (Photo: AP)

Players for the US women’s national soccer team have filed a federal gender discrimination lawsuit seeking pay that is equitable to that of their male counterparts.

The action comes just three months before the team will defend its title at the Women’s World Cup in France.

The players allege that they have been subject to ongoing “institutionalized gender discrimination,” including unequal pay, despite having the same job responsibilities as players on the men’s national team. The 28 members of the current national team player pool joined in the class-action lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation, which was filed Friday in federal court in Los Angeles under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

The players are seeking equitable pay and treatment, in addition to damages including back pay.

“We believe it is our duty to be the role models that we’ve set out to be and fight to what we know we legally deserve,” forward Christen Press told The Associated Press. “And hopefully in that way it inspires women everywhere.”

The US Women’s National Team Players Association was not party to the lawsuit, but in a statement said it “supports the plaintiffs’ goal of eliminating gender-based discrimination by USSF.”

The US Soccer Federation didn’t have an immediate comment.

The USSF has maintained in the past that much of the pay disparity between the men’s and women’s teams results from separate collective bargaining agreements.  

The women’s team set up its compensation structure, which included a guaranteed salary rather than a pay-for-play model like the men, in the last labor contract. The players also earn salaries — paid by the federation — for playing in the National Women’s Soccer League.  

The women receive other benefits, including health care, that the men’s national team players don’t receive, the federation has maintained.

This is not the first time the players have sought equitable compensation and conditions.

A group of players filed a complaint in 2016 with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that alleged wage discrimination by the federation. The players maintained that players for the men’s team earned far more than they did, in many cases despite comparable work.

The lawsuit effectively ends that EEOC complaint, brought by Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, Carli Lloyd and former goalkeeper Hope Solo. The players received a right to sue letter from the EEOC last month.