Spain clinch its first Women’s WC title with win over England

Sydney: Spain wanted to celebrate its first Women’s World Cup trophy, not dredge up the turmoil that surrounded the team.

Olga Carmona scored in the first half and Spain held on for a 1-0 victory over England on Sunday to cap the month-long tournament.

The victory made La Roja the first team to hold the under-17, under-20 and senior world titles at the same time. Spain is the fifth winner in nine editions of the Women’s World Cup and joined Germany as the only two nations to win both the men’s and women’s titles.

At the final whistle the Spanish players piled on each other in front of their goal. They were still dancing on the field until the trophy presentations, where they kissed the trophy and raised their arms triumphantly as golden glitter fell from above.

“We’ve suffered a lot throughout the past 12 months but I think everything has a reason to be. This has made us a stronger team,” Carmona said. “And it’s really incredible. I don’t know just why Spain is the world champions, but I think that we deserved it.”

The Lionesses were trying to bring a World Cup back to England for the first time since the men won it in 1966. The wait will go on.

“At first you feel like you failed with not winning,” England captain Millie Bright said. “I think in a couple of weeks and it settles, (we) will be really, really proud.”

In an open game featuring multiple chances for both teams, Carmona’s left-foot strike in the 29th minute finishing off a fast-breaking counterattack after England’s Lucy Bronze lost possession remained the only goal.

Carmona also scored the game-winner in the 89th minute of Spain’s 2-1 semifinal victory over Sweden, becoming the first player since Carli Lloyd in 2015 to score in a World Cup semifinal and final.

Spain had a chance to double the lead in the 68th after a VAR review awarded a penalty for Keira Walsh’s handball, but Jenni Hermoso’s penalty attempt was saved by Mary Earps.

Spain’s victory comes despite a near-mutiny by players last year. Fifteen players said they were stepping away from the national team for their mental health while also calling for a more professional environment.

Three of those players Ona Batlle, Aitana Bonmat and Mariona Caldentey reconciled with the federation and were at the World Cup.

The victory was also a bit of redemption for La Roja, which fell to England 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the European Championship last year. England went on to win the Euros on home soil.

“I think all of us, we felt that this team had something special,” Carmona said.

“I believe that we’ve shown this on the field, we’ve shown this in the group stage, in the knockout stage. We’ve been fighting until the end. We never stopped.

“Last year was different, but football gives you second chances What better chance than in a World Cup final and to be able to call ourselves world champion.”

Spain grew over the course of the tournament. After a 4-0 loss to Japan in the group stage, Spain replaced Misa Rodriguez with Cata Coll in goal.

La Roja rebounded quickly by trouncing Switzerland 5-1 to kick off the knockout round and built from there.

“When we found out that we had England in the final, we analyzed them and saw how they played,” Bonmati said.

“We prepared it well, we came out confident of what we were doing, of our game, of our fight, of our dedication.”

England had momentum going into the tournament after winning the Euros, but three of the team’s best players, captain Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead, all had knee injuries that kept them off the World Cup squad.

Sarina Wiegman was the first coach to take her teams to back-to-back World Cup title matches.

She led the Netherlands to the final in 2019, but fell 2-0 to the United States. She’s now 0-2 in the

championship match.