Spain 1-0 England
SYDNEY, AUS–As controversial as their buildup had been and as controversial as the decision was to retain coach Jorge Vilda, all of that was put aside at Stadium Australia as Spain held off England, 1-0, to win their first Women’s World Cup and the fifth all-time winner of the tournament. The wait for England to win a World Cup at senior level, men’s or women’s, continues as coach Sarina Wiegmann loses just her second match as coach of the Lionesses in 39 matches.
“Of course, it feels really bad now. We’re very, very disappointed,” said Wiegmann. “You go to the final, you want to give everything, you want to win the final. And then you lose it, that happens in sports. But I think what we’ve done, how we have shown ourselves, how we want to play as a team and by overcoming so many challenges, I think we can be very proud of ourselves.”
The game’s only goal came in the 29th minute as Olga Carmona beat Mary Earps far post after picking up a pass from Mariona Caldentey. Prior to that, Lauren Hemp had England’s best chance of the match as her shot from 15 yards out hit the crossbar in the 15th minute. Spain would dominate after that and force four saves from Earps.
That would include one from the penalty spot in the 69th minute after VAR determined that Keira Walsh handled a ball in the are, but Jenni Hermoso would be denied from the spot. However, England were unable to take advantage and ran out of gas and out of time.
Spain, who had never advanced beyond the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup have now won the Under-17, Under-20, and main Women’s World Cups within the space of a year despite a player revolt against the federation in 2022. They are the first team to hold all three trophies at the same time.
Mary Earps would go on to win the Golden Glove as best goalkeeper of the tournament. Aitana Bonmati was given the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament, and Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa won the Golden Boot with five goals and one assist. Below are the award winners for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup:
FIFA Fair Play Award presented by McDonald’s: Japan
FIFA Best Young Player Award: Salma Paralluelo (ESP)
adidas Golden Glove Award: Mary Earps (ENG)
adidas Golden Boot Award: Hinata Miyazawa (JPN) – 5 goals, 1 assist
adidas Silver Boot Award: Kadidatou Diani (FRA) – 4 goals, 1 assist
adidas Bronze Boot Award: Alexandra Popp (GER) – 4 goals
adidas Golden Ball Award: Aitana Bonmati (ESP)
adidas Silver Ball Award: Jennifer Hermoso (ESP)
adidas Bronze Ball Award: Amanda Ilestedt (SWE)
Lost in the shuffle is that of the 23 players in Spain’s squad, eight players each came from Real Madrid and Barcelona (current UEFA Women’s Champions League Champions). Both have invested heavily in their women’s programs in recent times. Only two players in the squad play outside Spain.
While Spain left the trophy, it has certainly lifted the profile of women’s soccer in Australia and New Zealand who have arguably put on the best Women’s World Cup ever and will likely receive little argument to the contrary. We all worried about the expansion to 32 teams and the possibility of double-digit margins (none happened). Instead, we saw the likes of Jamaica, Colombia, Morocco, and Nigeria steal the spotlight. Philippines, Haiti, and Vietnam also did themselves proud though they would not advance. We saw Brazil, Germany, and Olympic Champion Canada all crash out in the first round and were soon to be followed by the USA, Netherlands, Japan, and France; and all the aforementioned seven teams face inward as to what needs to be done to get back up the mountain.
While New Zealand got their first win at a World Cup, they ended up agonizingly one goal short of advancing to the next round like their male counterparts were in South Africa in 2010. However, better days might be ahead for the Football Ferns.
And then there is Australia. The final whistle had not sounded at Eden Park for the opener before we got the news that Sam Kerr would miss the first two matches with a calf injury. The Matildas would beat Ireland, but lose to Nigeria and were facing elimination. Then, they defeated Canada, then Denmark, convincingly. Sam Kerr got on the pitch and their win against France on penalties in the quarterfinals echoed similar scenes like Cathy Freeman’s in 2000 and Jean Aloisi’s in 2005.
Sam Kerr would get the goal of the tournament. Australia had their best ever finish at a Women’s World Cup. Alas, they would lose to a better England squad and ran out of gas against a Sweden side all too familiar with the third place match.
Bruce McAvaeny of the Seven Network, who called Cathy Freeman’s gold medal run for Australia and is best know for calling Aussie Rules football, perhaps gave the best tribute to the Matildas who transcended borders within Australia:
“(The World Cup has) changed all our lives. There will be more investment, there’s no question. There’ll be more investment in the game. We know that.
“It’s also given a lot of young women and men that vision that only football can create a stage like we’ve seen. As great as the other sports (are that) we have in Australia – no one loves AFL more than me – there’s only the World game that can create such a stage.
“They’re going to be followed by the Australian public now in a way they weren’t going to be followed prior to this World Cup. Because we’re now invested in Cooney-Cross. We’re invested in Hunt. We want to see where they end up from this point on. We know the potential of Fowler. Will she get more game time now in England?
“All of those things were not on my horizon four weeks ago – and I think I’m speaking for a lot of sports-loving Australians: they are now.”
It is hoped that better days are ahead for the Matildas and that they may start next year in Paris and beyond. Australia is an immense sporting country and given the chance, puts on an outstanding show and got some great help this time from New Zealand.
This reporter had the opportunity of a lifetime to go to New Zealand for a pair of matches and visit a good deal of Aotearoa during the World Cup. I was unable to go to Australia this time around, but hopefully that will be remedied soon.
This was an extraordinary World Cup by all metrics and it ends with a new champion in Spain, but Australia and New Zealand won a lot more friends and one can only hope we will see more of both the Matildas and Football Ferns in the years to come.
Thank you, Australia. Thank you, New Zealand. Whakawhetai Koe and Wela’lioq.
