Spain won their first Women's World Cup title on Sunday, defeating England in Sydney 1-0 thanks to a first half goal from Olga Carmona.
The match provided end-to-end action to start, and the best chance of the game came from England's Lauren Hemp in the 17th minute, when her shot from close range hit the crossbar. Spain soon put on a trademark performance that allowed them to take charge of the match, and their dominance and preference for a pass soon resulted in a goal in the 29th minute.
From the center of the park, Teresa Abelleira sent the ball towards Mariona Caldentey on the left side of the field. Caldentey then passed it to Carmona, who just made a run in from behind her, and she dashed into the box and took a powerful shot from close range to score the game's lone goal.
Spain maintained a high level of play for the remainder of the first half and could have added to their goal tally with strikes from the likes of Salma Paralluelo and Irene Paredes, with Paralluelo's shot hitting the post in stoppage time.
Lauren James, in her first appearance since serving a two-match suspension, and Chloe Kelly came on at halftime for England as the Lionesses searched for an equalizer. The changes allowed England to disrupt Spain's momentum but only resulted in a handful of quality chances for England. Hemp sent one of her team's best goal scoring chances wide in the 54th minute, but Spain otherwise did a decent job of stifling England's attempts.
Things nearly went from bad to worse for England in the 72nd minute after referee Tori Penso awarded Spain a penalty following a handball from Keira Walsh. Jennifer Hermoso sent the ball into the bottom left corner, but goalkeeper Mary Earps was there to meet it and kept her team alive as full time approached.
Earps' save breathed a little bit of new life into England's attack, and James took her team's lone shot on target in the 76th minute. Spain began an offensive charge of their own with 13 minutes of stoppage time on the clock and switched on Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas in the 90th minute. Once again, the match hit an end-to-end pace but Carmona's first-half strike remained the lone goal of the game.
Spain also raked in individual awards, with Aitana Bonmati winning the Golden Ball and Paralluelo winning the award for best young player. Paralluelo was also a member of Spain's U17 and U20 World Cup-winning teams in 2018 and 2022, respectively. Hermoso took home the Silver Ball award.
Spain's first Women's World Cup title highlights an impressive trajectory for the country, which is only the second to lift the men's and women's editions of the competition. Spain only qualified for the Women's World Cup for the first time in 2015 and had never won a knockout game in a major international tournament before this tournament. Women's soccer has historically been underfunded in Spain -- the Royal Spanish Football Federation spent just 1% of its budget on the women's game as recently as 2014, and the government only professionalized the domestic league in 2021.
La Roja's triumph also comes in the midst of a protest by some of the nation's top talent. In September 2022, 15 players refused to be called up to the national team and criticized a lack of professionalism from the federation and the coaching staff, and a further three publicly backed the protest. The federation and players negotiated some changes before the World Cup, and three players who refused call-ups last year -- including Bonmati -- took the trip Down Under.
Players refused to celebrate with head coach Jorge Vilda en route to the final and even after the full time whistle blew in Sydney, and it is unclear where the protest will go from here.
Here are three takeaways from the match:
Spain's preference for dominating in possession and out-passing everyone around them is well documented in the women's and men's game, but La Roja were unable to match that with an ability to finish off their chances at times during this World Cup. On Sunday with everything on the line, they finally put all the pieces together and walked away with their first World Cup title.
England had their moments but Spain established themselves as the better team fairly quickly and had their go-ahead goal by the 29th minute courtesy of Carmona. The midfield trio of Bonmati Abelleira and Hermoso seamlessly led attacking efforts in the first half and each had at least four passes into the final third, while Hermoso had nine. The trio were crucial as Spain had 13 shots and an expected goals tally of 2.1, though counted just three shots on target.
Though Spain could have put at least a few more shots on frame, it was a fairly impressive showing for the likes of Salma Paralluelo and Mariona Caldentey in the forward line. Paralluelo, Bonmati, and goalscorer Olga Carmona were key to Spain's strategy very early on in the match during England's spell of dominance, when finding space on the wings was extremely important.
The Lionesses' front three of Alessia Russo, Ella Toone and Lauren Hemp came into the final with a goalscoring streak that seemingly gave England an edge on Sunday. Instead, the attack fizzled out frequently against Spain, and it was an inconsistent performance from the trio.
Hemp was arguably England's most effective player after goalkeeper Mary Earps and had four out of the team's five shots against Spain. She did not land a single one on target, though got close in the first half when her shot hit the crossbar. Russo and Toone, meanwhile, were virtually neutralized as Spain settled into the match and then outright dominated to finish out the first half.
England's attacking prospects improved when Russo and Toone came off for Lauren James and Chloe Kelly, who provided new challenges for Spain as they reverted to a more defensive style for the second half. James and Kelly offered optimism through their play out wide, and James even registered England's lone shot on target in the 76th minute. Despite the improvements, though, England spent much of the game reverting to long balls and hoping for the best, which never came.
The match was an entertaining end to the most competitive Women's World Cup in history and ended on a fitting note with two first-time finalists and a group of players whose careers now enter a new phase with a World Cup title on their résumés. A lot of attention has rightfully focused on the managers, though, both of whom are emblematic of this particular moment in time for women's soccer.
Despite not winning the title, England's Sarina Wiegman is easily the most impressive manager in the women's game after reaching her fourth major international tournament final in six years with two different teams. Though she said on Friday that she is happy with her current job, an optimist's take of Wiegman's situation is that it's a matter of when, not if, she gets the raise she deserves. Where that comes from is a different story, though. On Thursday, FA chief executive Mark Bullingham defended the organization's choice to reportedly pay Wiegman £400,000 when it pays her male counterpart Gareth Southgate £3 million. It seems like a salary that's ripe for an ambitious federation to beat, and many will look at U.S. Soccer to see if they will do so for the vacant women's national team job. The onus is on the FA to do the smart thing before anyone else chimes in and offer her a raise and improve market conditions for the women's game, which Bullingham used as an excuse for Wiegman's current salary.
Spain's Vilda, meanwhile, now serves as the face of women's soccer's most problematic trait. He has faced criticism from his own players for a lack of professionalism and creating a toxic workplace to the point that 15 players refused to play for the national team last year. Seven players continue to protest Vilda, his coaching staff and the Royal Spanish Football Federation as a whole, who are still missing the point of their complaints. The federation has treated the World Cup triumph as a redemption arc for Vilda despite players and fans icing him out, rather than a victory for players who it failed through a history of underfunding the women's program.
The easiest lesson to learn from this tournament is that investment in women's soccer will go a long way. That does not just mean ensuring players and staff financially earn their due, though; it includes supporting them at every level to provide all the tools they need to succeed. Championships like these are not an excuse for toxic behavior, but rather an example of how players persevere. It is time to stop stacking the odds against them, because only then do we unlock the true potential of women's soccer.
Spain executed their game plan and, as a result, win their first-ever Women's World Cup title. A trademark first half performance set the tone, and a solid second half performance despite England's forward-minded momentum sealed the deal for the first-time champions.
90'+3 There's plenty of time left on the clock for England, but Spain are looking for a goal to kill the game and brought on Putellas for Caldentay at the start of stoppage time to do so.
90'+1 Spain nearly seal the deal with Hermoso's shot from close range, but the ball goes out for a corner that Spain cannot do much with.
88' England comes on for England, replacing Toone as the Lionesses have a few minutes left to find a last-gap equalizer and keep their hopes alive of winning the World Cup.
More than 75,000 people are at Stadium Australia for this one, which means nearly two million people have attended the World Cup.
79' England have improved in this second half, and Kelly and James in particular have provided moments of encouragement as the Lionesses search for a goal, and Hemp has still been the team's best sho taker today. Spain have been up for the task most of the time, and still find a way to stifle England and have forced them to play a lot of long balls at times this second half.
74' Codina comes off after being fouled and receiving some treatment, and Andres comes on in her place.
70' Hermoso sends the ball into bottom left hand corner and Earps was there to meet it! The score stays at 1-0.
69' The referee awards Spain the penalty, which Hermoso will take. Bronze complains that Hermoso hasn't fully placed the ball on the spot, which delays the penalty for a moment.
64' There's a scramble in England's box, and the Lionesses have nearly everyone in the penalty area to seemingly stifle Spain's attacking. The referee goes to the monitor, though, to check for a possible handball on Walsh.
62' Spain have been patiently defending England, but build an attacking motion that sees Bonmati force Earps into a very impressive stop.
61' Redondo's night is done, and she comes off for Hernandez.
55' Kelly plays a cross across the face of goal and finds Hemp, who's in a perfect position to score but sends the ball wide. Hemp has taken all four of England's shots so far this match.
50' Bonmati has the ball in the box and just dances around several England players, who cannot take the ball off of her. Bonmati then finds a little bit of space to take a shot, but it was eventually saved by Earps.
James and Kelly come on for Russo and Daly, respectively, and the Lionesses may be switching to a back four. This marks James' first appearance in the tournament since the round of 16, when she picked up a red card against Nigeria that resulted in a two match suspension.
England started bright and could've gone up early when Hemp hit the post 17th minute, but Spain eventually took control and have Carmona's goal to back it up. Everything's coming up Spain at this point, and Paralluelo nearly scored a second right before the half to double the lead. The performance leaves plenty for Wiegman and company to contemplate at halftime.
42' It has taken England a little while to make meaningful attacking plays, but the Lionesses nearly scored when Russo sent a ball towards Toone in the box, who couldn't get it on frame but was also offside.
41' It's been end-to-end with brights spots for both teams, but Spain have settled into the match nicely. They are, as usual, dominating in possession and what was once a game plan that relied on spaces on the wing has now evolved into an ability to play passes in the center of the park. They have effectively neturalized England at this point in the game, and looked close to scoring a second when Paredes missed from close range in the 28th minute.
29' Carmona opens the scoring! Spain gains possession off of Bronze and are off to the races, with Caldentey playing a ball to Carmona from the left side of the pitch, and she cooly finishes from close range for the game's opening goal.
18' Carmona sneds a nice ball to the far post where Redondo is expected to meet it for a tap-in, but she can't find her footing and neither can a couple of other Spain players who are nearby, ending the chance.
17' Bronze sends the ball into the box and finds Hemp, who seems destined to score after taking a shot from inside the box. Her attempt hits the crossbar instead, though.
14' Coll kicks off play after an England corner and Spain show glimpses of how they can break England's press, this time be finding Paralluelo on the left side of the pitch. England's defenders manage to stop her in her tracks this time, but the 19-year-old seems poised to disrupt the Lionesses' game plan if this keeps up.
6' England earn another a throw-in that Bronze takes, and eventually the ball fnds Kelly, who takes a shot from a little bit of distance and forces Coll into action. That was definitely the first big moment of the match.
3' England earn a throw-in in one of the first major moments of the match, not much comes of it thouth.
The biggest match in women's soccer is underway and in 90 minutes, or 120 minutes, or however long it takes after penalties we'll be crowning a new first time champion.
Now that we know that England are keeping things the same with Lauren James returning from suspension but staying on the bench, keep an eye on England's front three and back three who have been increasingly in sync as the tournament goes on. Sandra Herrera breaks it all down.
"There will always be attention on the goal-scoring, but Wiegman's confidence in her defenders to execute the three center back system has paid off. Millie Bright, Alex Greenwood, and Jess Carter have been doing the gritty work to keep the play clicking higher up the pitch. If they're tasked to disrupt Spain they'll be up to the challenge.
Carter's quiet rise as a lock down defender may come as no surprise to those following her at Chelsea. Her positional awareness has been an asset to shutting down attacks that allows Greenwood to get involved in generating offense. Greenwood leads the team in key passes and assists with 14, and Bright is no stranger to serving the accurate lob over the top."
As kickoff nears, don't miss some of our pregame coverage. Pardeep Cattry looks at the three leys to the match and breaks down how things might go down between two sides that both want possession of the ball.
"En route to the final, both teams have won the possession battle in just about every match they've played. Spain and England rank as two of the top three teams for average possession per game with 70% and 65% of the ball, respectively, behind only Germany, who were eliminated in the group stage, at 71%. While England have seen their possession mark slip into the 50% range against Nigeria and in the semifinal against Australia, Spain have yet to have less than 60% of the ball at the World Cup. The matchup sets up a fascinating tactical battle for two teams who have usually been the dominant side during their time Down Under."
It may not be a shock that Lauren James isn't returning to the lineup for England, but Spain have shaken things up with Alexia Putellas dropping to the bench and Salma Paralluelo starting up top.
Spain XI: Cata, Batlle, Paredes, Codina, Olga, Abelleira, Bonmati, Hermoso, Redondo, Caldentey, Paralluelo
England XI: Earps; Carter, Bright, Greenwood; Bronze, Walsh, Stanway, Daly; Toone; Hemp, Russo
