Captain Olga Carmona scored the winner in the first half as Spain won the Women’s World Cup for the first time, beating England 1-0 in the final.
La Roja, robbed of some of their best talent by a mutiny against coach Jorge Vilda only a few months ago and thrashed 4-0 by Japan in the group stage, outplayed England to deservedly claim their first major title in only their third World Cup in in front of 75,784 fans at Stadium Australia on Sunday.
Aitana Bonmati and Teresa Abelleira ran the game from the Spanish midfield and the margin of victory would have been greater had England goalkeeper Mary Earps not saved a second-half penalty.
England’s second defeat in 39 matches since Sarina Wiegman took over as coach denied them the chance to add a maiden world title to the European Championship crown they won last year.
The first Women’s World Cup final not to feature either the United States or Germany started at quite a pace with England just about enjoying the upper hand in the battle of two first-time finalists.
Forward Lauren Hemp continued where she left off in the semifinal against Australia and screwed the ball towards goal in the fifth minute before clipping a shot off the bar 12 minutes later.
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