Just as Andres Iniesta and the Spanish men’s team did in Johannesburg in 2010, Olga Carmona and the women’s team have done in Sydney in 2023.
Spain are women’s world champions for the very first time, but for England, it would be failure in the most beautiful way.
Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses’ 29-game unbeaten streak came to end as England lost their first competitive game under her reign as head coach.
In that tenure, inspiring performances came in abundance with their best Fifa Women’s World Cup finish among the achievements.
They were one step away from making history and bringing football home again, just as they did at the European Championships. But unfortunately for them, it would be back-to-back World Cup final defeats for Wiegman, whose USA side suffered a similar fate back in 2019.
For Spain, though, it would be a memorable first triumph — as La Roja became only the second nation in history to win both the women’s and men’s Fifa World Cup.
After looking the better side in the opening exchanges, the deserved breakthrough would come in the form of another Carmona goal.
Mary Earps then saved a Spain penalty midway through the second half to keep England in the game until the very end.
It was not to be this time though, as the Spaniards held on to Carmona’s finish — making the Real Madrid defender the first ever player to score the winner in the semi-final and final of a single Fifa Women’s World Cup campaign.
Pictured above: Spain Women’s Team
Image source: @FifaWWC
