The Lionesses have vowed to use their World Cup Final heartbreak to fuel their bid to go one better in four years' time.
England's distraught players flew out of Australia this morning after their agonising 1-0 defeat by Spain here yesterday, but captain Millie Bright pledged that Sarina Wiegman's team will "definitely bounce back" and insisted: "This isn't the end of the journey."
Midfielder Georgia Stanway added: "We are not done yet. We have got many years and I am sure one day this will be gold. We are the Lionesses, so we will not stop what we are doing, we will continue to break barriers, we will continue to push on."
The Lionesses ultimately came up short in their bid to follow last summer's Euros glory and become the first senior England team to win a World Cup since Bobby Moore's team beat West Germany in 1966.
Olga Carmona's 29th-minute goal was enough to crown Spain as world champions for the first time.
Stanway said: "It is gutting, it is devastating, but that is football. It is hard to watch another team celebrate when it is your goal and your dream.
"When the dust settles, we will be really proud of this. We have faced a lot in this tournament, before the tournament, people probably did not have us written to be in this situation, so to reach a World Cup Final is an achievement alone. We hope we have inspired many, many people."
Bright admitted that England were "absolutely heartbroken" and said: "This is really hard to take. We gave it everything.
"We had chances, we hit the bar, but we just did not have the final edge and they got their [chance] in the back of the net. We are absolutely heartbroken. We gave everything. Unfortunately, we just were not there."
The regret for England is that they failed to produce the performance they are capable of in the biggest game of their lives. Spain were technically superior yesterday and worthy champions.
The Lionesses have done a nation proud but, after all the adversity they had to deal with both before and during the tournament, yesterday's final proved one step too far.
Jess Carter, though, is confident that England will learn from their defeat.
"It is going to be a difficult ride home, but we have to reflect on that and take the time to recover, regroup and get ready to go again," said the Chelsea defender.
"We got so close, it is invaluable experience for some of the youngsters, some of us who are a little bit less experienced."
Right-back Lucy Bronze, who suffered more World Cup disappointment after losing in the semi-finals in 2015 and 2019, said: "There is no reason why the team can't go and create more legacies and more winning legacies."
