The Spanish women’s team suffered, but achieved the unexpected by becoming world champions, after beating England 1-0 in the grand final of the Australia-New Zealand 2023 World Cup.
The squad led by Jorge Vilda overcame any controversy that existed prior to this World Cup and with a great display, they far surpassed the English favorites to show that this generation is part of the world elite.
In this unprecedented final, La Roja was the one who largely dominated the English squad, who ran out of ideas in the last quarter of the field, despite the pressure exerted by Sarina Wiegman in the first moments.
Although the balance tipped at minute 29, after Olga Carmona scored the goal that will remain recorded in the history of Spanish women’s soccer, with a left-footed shot that slipped through the squad. This was Carmona’s third goal in her career in La Roja.
Prior to Spain’s goal, Lauren Hemp had a chance to open the scoring, but her shot hit the crossbar.
And although she failed to score, Aitana Bonmatí was the outstanding player for Spain, being the driving force in midfield, for which she was recognized as the best in the championship.
In the second half, the script did not change, with Spain dominating and turning forward in search of the second, and found the opportunity at the feet of Jenni Hermoso. The forward was in charge of taking the maximum penalty, but she failed before the save by the English goalkeeper, which gave life to the lionesses.
England responded but fell just short of their attempt and despite 13 minutes of compensation being added in the end, they were unable to level the score.
With the trophy, it joins Germany as the only teams that have won the Cup, both for men and women. In addition, the United States, Japan and Norway are included as the only ones that have lifted the World Cup on at least one occasion.