There remains a space above England’s crest, where that star could have been. It was what Lucy Bronze had dreamt of, ever since the moment she first played for her country and realised England’s men’s and women’s teams don’t share the same badge. The Lionesses had the chance to change that, the opportunity to add their first star, the moment to capture their 1966.
But the wait will now go on. After a historic tournament where the Lionesses again made their mark and demonstrated the immense power of what they have created, Sarina Wiegman’s side were left with a devastatingly simple conclusion. As a first Women’s World Cup slipped out of reach, the deflating reality was that, on the day, Spain were just better.
