Women’s World Cup Daily: Spain checks off plenty of firsts in title run

After a hard-fought, intense 90 minutes, Spain is the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup champion for the first time ever after narrowly beating England, 1-0, in the final at Stadium Australia in Sydney. 

England’s second-place finish is its highest at the tournament.

Here is a complete breakdown of everything that happened in the action-packed final:

RECAPPING THE ACTION

Carmona does it again

After scoring the match-winner in the semifinal against Sweden, Olga Carmona scored another massive goal, this time in Spain’s first Women’s World Cup final. 

Carmona is just the second player to score for Spain in a World Cup final, men’s or women’s. Andres Iniesta scored the lone goal for Spain in its 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in the 2010 men’s final.

Earps does her part

Goalkeeper Mary Earps was fantastic for England throughout the tournament, and the final was no exception. She had four saves, including three inside in the box. The lone save she had outside of the box was a penalty save that kept Spain from taking a commanding 2-0 lead. 

There’s a reason Earps is considered the best goalkeeper in the world and won the Golden Glove for the tournament.

History for Spain

Prior to this year’s tournament, Spain hadn’t even won a knockout stage match at a major tournament. Now, it’s the fifth nation ever to win the Women’s World Cup, and the second country to win both the men’s and women’s tournaments.

ENGLAND VS. SPAIN BY THE NUMBERS

6 —  Spain is the lowest-ranked team to win the final (No. 6) since rankings began before the 2003 Women’s World Cup.

42 — At 42 years old, Spain manager Jorge Vilda becomes the youngest coach to win a Women’s World Cup since Even Pellerud with Norway in 1995.

2007 — Spain is the first European nation to win the Women’s World Cup since Germany in 2007.

1,200 — Spain’s Irene Paredes played all 1,200 minutes for Spain at this year’s tournament.

23 — Spain’s Olga Carmona became the fourth-youngest (23 years, 69 days) Women’s World Cup Final goal-scorer, and the youngest since Alex Morgan in 2011 (22 years, 15 days).

2 — England manager Sarina Wiegman is the first coach to lose two (men’s or women’s) senior World Cup finals.

39 — England was handed just its second loss in its last 39 games (30W-7D-2L)

20 — England’s Lucy Bronze played in her 20th Women’s World Cup game vs Spain, the second-most in the team’s history behind Jill Scott’s 21. It was also her 20th start at the Women’s World Cup, which is the most by any England player ever in the Women’s World Cup.