Spain Makes History With Win Over England In FIFA Women’s World Cup Final

Aug 20, 2023, 1:15 PM

Spain players celebrate during the awards ceremony after the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Final match between Spain and England at Stadium Australia on August 20, 2023 in Sydney / Gadigal, Australia. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

BY JENNA FRYER, AP

SYDNEY (AP) – Spain made history in winning its first Women’s World Cup title on Sunday with a 1-0 win over England.

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 joins Germany as the only two nations to win both the men’s and women’s tournament.

Spain’s men’s team won in 2010. Spain played in the final in only its third appearance in the women’s tournament.

SPAIN ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!! 🇪🇸#BeyondGreatness | #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/x4liWtvgpN

— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) August 20, 2023

Spain has won its first Women’s World Cup championship with a 1-0 victory over England.

The win for Spain in just its third World Cup appearance prevented the Lionesses — the reigning European champions — from bringing the trophy back to England for the first time since 1966. England’s men’s team won the nation’s only World Cup that year.

Spain won on a goal from Olga Carmona in the 29th minute. The left back scored in back-to-back World Cup games for Spain, which has a tournament-best 18 goals in this World Cup, and became just the seventh player in tournament history to score in both the semifinals and the final.

Spain, which had a near mutiny last year when 15 players quit the national team, was the more aggressive team in the final and pressed the entire game.

A beautiful finish from Carmona to win it! 🇪🇸@xero | #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/tYJsjHbhWf

— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) August 20, 2023

The England loss was the first this tournament for coach Sarina Wiegman, who was hired in late 2021 as the team’s first non-British manager. It was also Wiegman’s second consecutive loss in the finale.

She is the only coach in the history of the tournament to take two nations to the final; Wiegman was coach of the Netherlands when the Dutch lost 2-0 to the United States in 2019.