After 63 games played in Australia and New Zealand within a month, we’ve finally reached the 2023 Women’s World Cup Final where Spain and England will face each other at Sydney’s Stadium Australia to determine who will lift the coveted trophy.
Spain’s journey to the final started very strong dominating against Costa Rica and Zambia in their first two group stage matches, but suffered a heavy defeat against Japan in their last group stage match despite already making it into the next round, finishing second in Group C. La Roja cruised past Switzerland in the round of 16 and had to endure some hard-fought wins in the quarter and semi-finals against the Netherlands and Sweden.
Their fellow European opponents England saw their Women’s World Cup campaign begin with two challenging games against Haiti and Denmark where they narrowly won, but finished their last group stage game with a commanding win over China, putting them at the top of Group D. The Lionesses had to defeat Nigeria in a penalty shootout in the round of 16 and displayed a tremendous amount of resilience against Colombia and Australia in the lead up to the final.
So who will end up as champions of the world? And for the final time this tournament, let’s recap what happened on this momentous occasion.
It began as an end-to-end game with Lauren Hemp testing Cata Coll in the fifth minute, which was followed by a shot by Mariona Caldentey ten minutes later. Hemp continued to be a constant threat in the English attack where she was unlucky to be denied by the crossbar in the 16th minute.
Straight after England’s missed opportunity, the Spanish were on the attack with captain Olga Carmona supplying a dangerous cross towards Alba Redondo where her shot was saved by Mary Earps.
Spain grew into the game as the first half progressed controlling the majority of the possession and was able to find the breakthrough in the 29th minute. A switch from Teresa Abelleira to Caldentey who then laid it off to Carmona. The Spain captain had the time and space to strike across the face of goal and into the bottom right corner to give La Roja the advantage in this game.
Spain almost doubled their lead with the last kick of the first half through Salma Paralluelo who unfortunately struck the outside of the post, which left Spain in the lead into the break.
Spain was very close to scoring their second of the game through Mariona Caldentey but Earps was able to fully stretch and prevent another goal sneaking into the bottom corner. Lauren Hemp continued to be England’s main attacking source after a dangerous cross by Chloe Kelly into the box, but the Manchester City winger’s shot fell wide of the goal. Aitana Bonmati and Salma Paralluelo had efforts on goal for Spain, but both couldn’t find the back of the net.
However, a lengthy VAR check was conducted after a potential handball on England’s Keira Walsh in which it was decided there was a handball and Spain were given a penalty. Jennifer Hermoso stepped up to take the penalty and it was saved by Mary Earps in the 70th minute, keeping the Lionesses in this contest.
England threw everything they had at the Spanish defence, but they couldn’t find the equaliser despite 13 minutes added on and Spain were able to hold on for the remainder game to be crowned as the 2023 Women’s World Cup champions for the first time.
Women’s World Cup Individual Awards:
Golden Ball: Aitana Bonmati (Spain)
Golden Boot: Hinata Miyazawa (Japan)
Golden Glove: Mary Earps (England)
Best Young Player: Salma Paralluelo (Spain)
