Spain wins 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Spain secured their first ever Women’s World Cup title with a 1-0 win over England at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final in Sydney on August 20.

Jennifer Hermoso had a penalty saved by Mary Earps, but a first-half goal from Olga Carmona was enough to La Roja to become world champions for the first time in history.

The win makes a historic FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign for Spain who previously failed to make it past the Round of 16. Making it to the final after knockout wins over Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden, was already a first for Spain with the victory in the final cause an even bigger celebration.

La Roja expertly controlled the game from kick-off, nullifying any attacking threats from Lionesses.

Despite Spain dominance, the 2022 European Champions managed an early chance – probably their best of the 90 minute – but the ball hit the bar.

The missed opportunity stuck England hard as they struggled to dismantle Spain’s possession-heavy strategy, while La Roja continued to intimidate in response.

England’s goalkeeper Mary Earps did well to deny Spain a goal in the 17th minute, pulling off yet another incredible save to keep her side in the game. But it was all in vain as Olga Carmora soon found the back of the net with a thunderous strike on the half-hour mark. 

Finally, Spain won the game over England to lift the Women’ World Football Championship.

Spain’s Salma Paralluelo and AitaBonmati, Englands’ Mary Earps and Japan;s MiyazawaHinata were the outstanding players recognized with big individual award at the 2023 FIFA Women’s world Cup hosted in Australia and New Zealand.

Paralluelo and AitaBonmati picked up Young Player of the tournament and Golden Ball respectively. Miyazawa bagged the Golden Boot while Earps lifted the Golden Glove.

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the quadrennial international women’s football championship contested by women’s national teams and organised by FIFA. The tournament, which took place from 20 July to 20 August 2023, was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. It was the first FIFA Women’s World Cup with more than one host nation, as well as the first World Cup to be held across multiple confederations, as Australia is in the Asian confederation, while New Zealand is in the Oceanic confederation.

This tournament was the first to feature an expanded format of 32 teams from the previous 24, replicating the format used for the men’s World Cup from 1998 to 2022. The opening match was contested between New Zealand and Norway at Eden Park in Auckland on 20 July 2023.

Of the eight teams making their first appearance, Morocco were the only one to advance to the round of 16 (where they lost to France). The United States were the two-time defending champions, but were eliminated in the round of 16 by Sweden, the first time the team had not made the semi-finals at the tournament, and the first time the defending champions failed to progress to the quarter-finals.