Spain win World Cup final beating England 1-0: 57 years of hurt goes on

The wait goes on for England who were left heartbroken after going down in the World Cup final to Spain. Through tears their captain simply admitted, they weren’t good enough.

England captain Millie Bright said the Lionesses were left heartbroken by a 1-0 defeat to Spain in the Women’s World Cup final despite not being at their best in Sydney.

Just 385 days after winning the Euros it all came to a crashing halt in the World Cup final for England.

And it was Spain that did the damage.

Olga Carmona scored the only goal as Spain kept the European champions at bay and could have won by a bigger margin had England goalkeeper Mary Earps not saved Jennifer Hermoso’s second-half penalty.

“We’re heartbroken. We gave everything, unfortunately we just weren’t there today,” said Bright.

“The girls are unbelievable. We had a lot of critics at the start of the tournament, a few lost belief in us, but we never stopped believing in ourselves.

“We had full belief, but sometimes football goes for you, sometimes it goes against you.

“We’ve played in a World Cup final. In a few weeks we’ll appreciate this day and coming second, but it’s hard to take because we’re winners, we want to win.

“In the first half we weren’t at our best, second-half we definitely bounced back, showed our fight, showed our character and we had chances.

“We hit the bar, but we just didn’t have that final edge today and obviously they put theirs in the back of the net.”

England coach Sarina Wiegman with the World Cup trophy. Picture: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images.

England coach Sarina Wiegman conceded her side had been outplayed.

“Overall, I think Spain were just a little better than we were today. They had a great tournament, so congrats to Spain,” she said.

“I think everyone has seen an incredible game, a very open game. Two teams that want to play football.”

She also added: “Of course it feels really bad now. You go to the final, you want to give everything to win the final, then you lose it,” she added.

“That happens in sport.

“What we have done, how we have shown ourselves as a team, how we want to play, overcoming so many challenges, I feel we can be very proud of ourselves. Even though it doesn’t feel that way at the moment.”

England's players react after losing the final

Most of their players don’t get on with the coach, but that couldn’t stop Spain becoming the fifth nation to win the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Spain’s victory came against the odds, just 11 months after 15 of their players wrote to the national federation complaining about coach Jorge Vilda.

At the final whistle, it was telling that Vilda celebrated with his coaching staff, while the Spanish players embraced on their own.

Soon after, Vilda was involved in a group embrace, but there was a distinct lack of feeling towards the manager.

This moment involving Jorge Vilda has raised eyebrows. Picture: FRANCK FIFE / AFP.

☝️ 𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗔 𝗜𝗡. pic.twitter.com/qmOJbNhAID

— Selección Española Femenina de Fútbol (@SEFutbolFem) August 20, 2023

this has ended me pic.twitter.com/Ddksw73IzF

— Jonathan Liew (@jonathanliew) August 20, 2023

Spain, which had claimed the under-17s and under-20s World Cups, can now boast to be the best nation in women’s football.

A team that came back from a 4-0 loss to Japan in the pool stages to claim the trophy.

A team that hadn’t beaten England in five previous meetings.

And a collective who overcame internal ructions and strife, played a beautiful, harmonious style of football and proved that purpose can trump dysfunction.

“It’s difficult to describe, immense joy, I’m so proud of this team,” said Vilda.

“I’m so happy for everyone watching us right now, we’ve made them happy too. We’re champions of the world.

“Now we have to celebrate, I can only imagine how Spain is, we’re celebrating here and we don’t know when it will end.”

England's players react after losing the final

There was a strange remark after the final whistle form former Matilda Elise Kellond-Knight, who suggested the World Cup victory meant that all was forgiven with Vilda.

“What a resume to have,” she said of the Spain and their coach.

“The 17s, the 20s, now the world champions. There is something special going on in Spain in the moment. But I think Jorge Vilda has won the dressing-room back now. He what is shown that it is quite impressive.”

The feeling didn’t appear to resonate on the field as Spain celebrated their victory without their coach.

Golden Ball winner Aitana Bonmatí Conca thanked all the women that had come before her and her teammates.

“I want to remember to all the women that has been pushing and fighting throughout all the years, because we have better things,” she said on Channel 7.

“I’m on the air right now. I don’t have any words. For this moment, it’s unbelievable. I’m so glad because we did a great tournament.

“We suffered but also we enjoyed it. We deserve it.

“Everyone knew their goal at the beginning of the preparation of the tournament. Everyone is competitive. Everyone has strong mentally to win. We have been working a lot of years for this moment. We have it. We have the trophy.”

Mary Earps of England and teammates after the final whistle

Meanwhile, England’s 57-year wait for a World Cup continues.

Both nations had only won the men’s World Cup once each; Spain in 2010, and England way back in 1966.

The Lionesses were featured on the front page of every major English newspaper on Sunday, with The Observer declaring it the “Day of Destiny”, The Sun urging them to “Bring It Home”, while the Daily Star predicted 30 million pints of beer would be drunk on match day and many would be skipping work on Monday.

Spain’s El Pais newspaper ran a front page photo of players huddling over a camera with the headline “90 minutes from glory”.

The Spanish version rang true, leading to glum faces packed into Wembley’s Boxpark precinct hoping for a long-awaited triumph from the European champions.

Originally published as Spain win World Cup final beating England 1-0: 57 years of hurt goes on