Captain Olga Carmona scored the winner in the first half as Spain won the Women’s World Cup for the first time, beating England 1-0 in the final.
La Roja, robbed of some of their best talent by a mutiny against coach Jorge Vilda only a few months ago and thrashed 4-0 by Japan in the group stage, outplayed England to deservedly claim their first major title in only their third World Cup in in front of 75,784 fans at Stadium Australia on Sunday.
Aitana Bonmati and Teresa Abelleira ran the game from the Spanish midfield and the margin of victory would have been greater had England goalkeeper Mary Earps not saved a second-half penalty.
England’s second defeat in 39 matches since Sarina Wiegman took over as coach denied them the chance to add a maiden world title to the European Championship crown they won last year.
The first Women’s World Cup final not to feature either the United States or Germany started at quite a pace with England just about enjoying the upper hand in the battle of two first-time finalists.
Forward Lauren Hemp continued where she left off in the semifinal against Australia and screwed the ball towards goal in the fifth minute before clipping a shot off the bar 12 minutes later.
Spain responded immediately, with Carmona overlapping down the left flank and driving the ball across the goal but teenager Salma Paralluelo was unable to make contact and Alba Redondo’s shot from the far post was well saved by Earps.
La Roja took the lead just before the half-hour mark after England were dispossessed in midfield and Abelleira curled a sublime crossfield pass to Mariona Caldentey, who slid the ball forward to Carmona.
The left back drove into the area and let fly with an angled shot which flew past the fingertips of Earps and into the far corner of the net.
The goal appeared to knock the stuffing out of England and Spain had the better of the rest of the half with Paralluelo pinging a shot off the post just before the break.
England have shown their adaptability throughout the tournament and Wiegman switched from three to four at the back after the break, while bringing Lauren James on for Alessia Russo up front.
Spain’s game, by contrast, has been unchanging and they continued to drive forward with Caldentey bringing a fine save out of Earps with a shot from the edge of the box in the 50th minute.
Bonmati hit the bar with a long-range effort just after the hour mark and the Spanish appealed vociferously for a handball against Keira Walsh during their next visit to the England box.
The award of a penalty looked a formality from the moment referee Tori Penso was instructed by VAR to review the footage but Earps dived low to her left to stop Jennifer Hermoso’s spot kick.
James had a shot tipped over the bar by Spanish goalkeeper Cata Coll in the 75th minute but Spain were not content to sit on their lead and Earps had to be at her best to deny Ona Batlle as the clock hit the 90th-minute mark.
England threw all 11 players forward for a corner deep into stoppage time but Coll, playing only her fourth international, came out confidently to gather the ball.
Officials indicated 13 minutes of injury time at the end, but if anything, it was Spain who looked the more likely to score as England’s dreams of a first World Cup melted away.
“It was a really tough game, we knew it would be tricky, England have a great team, but I think it was our game,” Carmona told Spanish national broadcasters La 1.
“We had the feeling we were going to do it.”
A visibly disappointed England captain Millie Bright shared her views post-match.
“It’s hard. They are a fantastic team. We weren’t at our best in the first half. In the second half we put the fight in. We just couldn’t finish it today. This is the hard part of football,” she said.
“Emotions are high. Huge amount of disappointment. We failed. In a couple of weeks when it settles in we will be really proud. We had a lot of critics at the start of the tournament. We bounced back. To be able to stand here today is special.”
