What you need to know about the final
- Spain have won the World Cup, defeating England 1-0.
- The Spanish took the lead with a great strike from Captain Olga Carmona who drove into the England penalty area and hit a hard and low shot into the bottom left corner.
- Spain’s Jennifer Hermoso had a penalty saved by England goalkeeper Mary Earps in the second half.
- Spain, a first-time winner, join previous champs the United States (1991, 1999, 2015, 2019), Norway (1995), Germany (2003, 2007) and Japan (2011) in this elite club.
- Australia lost the bronze medal match to Sweden on Saturday. Fridolina Rolfo and Kosovare Asllani scored in the clinical 2-0 win.
Spain became champions of the women’s soccer world with a hard-fought victory over England.
Captain Olga Carmona’s goal in the 29th minute ended up being the winner, but it could have been more because Jennifer Hermoso had a penalty saved by England’s goalkeeper Mary Earps in the second half.
Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí was awarded the Golden Ball while Earps took home the Golden Glove as the top outfielder and goalkeeper of the competition.
Even as the world’s No. 6-ranked team, Bonmatí said her side knew it had the potential to win it all.
“Everyone knew the goal at the beginning of the preparation of the tournament,” told reporters after the match. “We have been working a lot of years for this moment.”
Spain’s Salma Paralluelo, 19, was named the Best Young Player.
Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa found the net five times and she took home the Golden Boot as the competition’s high scorer.
The victory by Spain’s women has been celebrated by their male counterparts, who took home the men’s trophy from South Africa in 2010.
“Champions of the world! Champions of the world,” they wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding, “An entire country has vibrated with you girls. You have changed FOREVER the history of Spanish women’s football.”
The early strike by Carmona played perfectly into La Roja’s high possession game, England Captain Millie Bright conceded after the game.
“Against a team like this where you let them get that sort of momentum, it’s actually really difficult,” Bright told reporters after the game. “They love to possess the ball.”
Spain had the edge in possession, 47%-37%, and had more attempts on goal, 14-7, and shots on target, 5-3.
The captain said she was proud of her teammates for bringing England to the nation’s first Women’s World Cup final.
“A lot of emotion, but really proud of the team, to come this far to play in the World Cup final, not many players do that,” she said. “So yeah, really proud.”
The Lionesses are “game-changers” despite their loss to Spain, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted shortly after the game ended.
“You left absolutely nothing out there,” Sunak wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It wasn’t to be, but you’ve already secured your legacy as game changers. We are all incredibly proud of you.”
Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party also took to X to pay tribute to the team. He said the result was “heartbreaking” but that the they “inspired the whole country.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com.