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Spain won the Women's World Cup for the first time in their history with skipper Olga Carmona sweeping in the only goal for a deserved 1-0 victory over England in Sunday's final.
In front of a crowd of nearly 76,000 at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Spain were the more accomplished side and had more chances, including missing a second-half penalty.
Spain's triumph is vindication for Jorge Vilda and the Spanish football federation, who stuck with the coach even after 15 players last year said they no longer wanted to represent their country under him.
England coach Sarina Wiegman, who has now suffered back-to-back defeats in the final, and her European champions can have few complaints.
Spain are the fifth team to lift the World Cup since the tournament began in 1991, joining outgoing champions the United States, Germany, Norway and Japan.
In front of Spain's Queen Letizia, defender Carmona scored what turned out to be the winner, rampaging from left-back to thrash the ball in low and hard on 29 minutes.
Wiegman had resisted the temptation to recall Chelsea attacker Lauren James after her two-match ban and kept faith with the team that beat co-hosts Australia 3-1 in the semi-finals.
Playing in their blue second kit, England had the first sniff of a chance in the fifth minute but Lauren Hemp shot weakly at goalkeeper Cata Coll.
There was little to choose between them in the opening exchanges before both teams had golden opportunities on the quarter-hour mark.
First, Manchester City forward Hemp struck the bar with a curler that had Coll well beaten.
Spain went up the other end and should have scored but Salma Paralluelo -- in for Alexia Putellas -- missed the ball in the six-yard box.
Then Alba Redondo hit a first-time strike straight at goalkeeper Mary Earps with the England goal gaping.
Hemp then had another tame effort saved, before the game was momentarily held up in the 24th minute when a spectator darted on to the pitch before being wrestled away by security.
Five minutes later Spain, who had never won a knockout game at the Women's World Cup until this tournament and had lost 4-0 to Japan in the group phase, were ahead.
Mariona Caldentey slid in an inch-perfect pass for Carmona, who came flying unmarked down the left before lashing the ball into the bottom corner.
Vilda, who recalled three of the 15 mutineers for the World Cup, did not even raise a smile on the sidelines.
England looked uncharacteristically rattled and the 19-year-old Barcelona attacker Paralluelo, who was a constant threat, shaved the post with the last kick of the half.
Hermoso fails from spot
Wiegman, who suffered agony in the final four years ago when her Netherlands team lost 2-0 to the United States, made a double change at the break.
James and Chloe Kelly replaced Rachel Daly and Alessia Russo as Wiegman switched from a back-five to a flat back-four.
But it was Spain who nearly doubled their lead almost straight after half-time, Caldentey dinking inside and forcing Earps to turn the ball around the post.
Hemp was booked for clipping Laia Codina as England's frustration mounted.
Midfield schemer Aitana Bonmati, who has been one of the players of the tournament and was one of the three refuseniks recalled by Vilda, fired narrowly over Earps's bar.
With 20 minutes left, Spain were awarded a penalty when VAR was called into action and, after a long review, Keira Walsh was judged to have handled the ball in the box.
Jennifer Hermoso stepped up but her penalty was weak and Earps saved comfortably to keep England just about alive.
Officials indicated 13 minutes of injury time at the end, but if anything, it was Spain who looked the more likely to score as England's dreams of a first World Cup melted away.
- AFP
20 Aug 2023
96' Spain are putting their bodies on the lines and doing their utmost to hold onto this slender one-goal lead.
20 Aug 2023
92' Earps makes another great save after Batlle fires straight towards the England keeper.
20 Aug 2023
90' A whopping 13 minutes of stoppage time added on as the final goes to its dying minutes.
20 Aug 2023
82' Greenwood returns to the field after a lengthy check. The Australian crowd gives her a roaring applause.
20 Aug 2023
78' Salma gets a yellow card after her knee catches the forehead of Greenwood. Nasty knock as she is now being attended to by the English medical staff.
20 Aug 2023
76' JAMES! What a chance from out wide, she bullets her shot on target, but Coll saves it with equal measure.
20 Aug 2023
68' PENALTY!!!!
After a lengthy VAR review, the referee points to the penalty spot. Walsh the guilty one with a hand-ball.
20 Aug 2023
61' Walsh is easily dispatched off the ball, and the Spanish dart forward. Bonmati is on the edge of the box, and her strike floats over the crossbar by a whisker. What a chance. England are crumbling.
20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023
49' CHANCE! Spain are buzzing and dazzling! Caldentey lets it rip on a curling strike with Earps not getting a clear view but dives any way and makes a last-gasp save as the ball may have turned in.
20 Aug 2023
As expected, Lauren James enters the fray but shockingly enough for Russo. A change needed to be made, and James will hopefully provide that spark after serving a two-match ban.
20 Aug 2023
42' CHANCE! Hemp threads a ball through for Toone but she leaps and mistimes her effort to get a touch on the ball. But seconds later, Toone is ruled offside.
20 Aug 2023
The left-back burst forward with immense pace, and her low and hard strike made it extremely difficult for Earps to get a glove to it. England, however, should have defended that counter-attack better.
Carmona's first goal comes in the biggest fixture of her career.
20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023
17' CHANCE! Brilliant by Spain, taking their time when attacking and when they see the gap and opportunity, they can certainly be dangerous.
The ball is squad into the 18th area with Paralluelo just needing a touch and puts past England's keeper but mistimes her shot. The ball then falls for Redondo, who also sees her on-target shot saved by Earps.
20 Aug 2023
15' After absorbing a five-minute onslaught of a Spanish attack run by Jenni, Abelleira and Redondo. England come up short with the best chance of the game.
Hemp with a deft strike on the cusp of the Spain box, but her effort hits the upright. So close, yet so far.
20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023
5' As expected, this match has been a tense affair in the opening stages. Spain already playing the offside trap on star lady Russo, whose effort hit the target but she was soon flagged.
20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023
Putellas dropped from Spain starting line-up, England unchanged
Reigning two-times Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas was dropped from Spain's starting line-up for Sunday's Women's World Cup final against an unchanged England in Sydney.
The Barcelona attacking midfielder was replaced by teenage club colleague Salma Paralluelo in the only change from the side, which beat Sweden 2-1 in the semi-finals.
Putellas's tournament has never really got going as she struggles to regain form and fitness after a serious knee injury.
England coach Sarina Wiegman resisted the temptation to recall Chelsea attacker Lauren James after her two-game ban ended.
James was named on the bench as Wiegman named an unchanged side from the one that defeated co-hosts Australia 3-1 in the semi-finals.
- AFP
20 Aug 2023
Previous winners of the Women's World Cup ahead of Sunday's final between England and Spain in Sydney:
1991: United States
1995: Norway
1999: United States
2003: Germany
2007: Germany
2011: Japan
2015: United States
2019: United States
20 Aug 2023
England and Spain contest the Women's World Cup final on Sunday in Sydney.
Here we take a look at how they reached the title decider:
ENGLAND
v Haiti 1-0 - group phase
v Denmark 1-0 - group phase
v China 6-1 - group phase
v Nigeria 0-0 (4-2 on penalties) - last 16
v Colombia 2-1 - quarter-finals
v Australia 3-1 - semi-finals
SPAIN
v Costa Rica 3-0 - group phase
v Zambia 5-0 - group phase
v Japan 0-4 - group phase
v Switzerland 5-1 - last 16
v Netherlands 2-1 (in extra time) - quarter-finals
v Sweden 2-1 - semi-finals
20 Aug 2023
History will be made at the Women's World Cup on Sunday when England and Spain clash in the final in Sydney, with both bidding to win the tournament for the first time.
The game kicks off at 12:00 (SA time) in front of an anticipated sell-out crowd of about 75,000 at Stadium Australia.
It will be the final act of a tournament full of shocks which began one month ago and started with 32 teams, making it the biggest Women's World Cup ever.
Now they are down to the last two, and it's a final too close to call. Neither team has ever got this far before.
The two sides last met at the European Championship last summer, when hosts England squeezed into the semi-finals 2-1 in extra time and went on to lift the trophy.
- AFP
