Women’s World Cup 2023 LIVE: Lionesses receive heartwarming homecoming as attention turns to next game

Spain 1-0 England: Olga Carmona’s goal sees the Lionesses lose in England’s first World Cup final for 57 years despite Mary Earps’ penalty save

England fans around UK react to Women's World Cup final against Spain

England heartbreakingly lost 1-0 to Spain in their first Women’s World Cup final as Olga Carmona’s first-half goal proved enough to break the Lionesses’s hearts.

Sarina Wiegman and her players were looking to bring the game’s biggest prize home from Sydney but Carmona drilled a finish into the far corner on 29 minutes and, although Mary Earps brilliantly saved Jennifer Hermoso’s penalty with 20 minutes remaining, England couldn’t fashion an equaliser.

It was the first time the England men’s or women’s team have reached a football World Cup final since 1966 and the nation came to a halt for the historic occasion – which was briefly interrupted by an anti-Putin protester invading the pitch in the first half – but were left bereft as Spain saw out the victory.

Lauren Hemp came closest to scoring for the Lionesses when her curling effort struck the bar in the 16th minute but Spain were good value for the win as they became just the fifth nation to lift the Women’s World Cup, following in the footsteps of USA (4), Germany (2), Norway (1) and Japan (1).

Follow the latest updates as the Lionesses fly home:

Women’s World Cup final reaction

• England lose 1-0 to Spain in Women’s World Cup final
• REPORT: England suffer World Cup heartache as brilliant Spain show Lionesses what’s missing
• ANALYSIS: A change too far? England’s last roll of the dice comes up short
• Spain star Jenni Hermoso reacts after FA president kisses her on lips
• World Cup winner Olga Carmona learns of father’s death minutes after final whistle
• England Lionesses cheered and applauded at airport as they begin journey home
• FA chief Mark Bullingham says Sarina Wiegman could be an England men’s candidate

[21 August 2023 12:00 · Mike Jones]

Injured Lioness Beth Mead says World Cup has been ‘tough to watch’ from home

Injured Lioness Beth Mead has revealed her devastation at not being at the World Cup this year alongside her teammates.

The Arsenal player ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament last November, and didn’t recover in time for the tournament, which saw England make it all the way to the final alongside Spain.

[21 August 2023 11:52 · Mike Jones]

Women’s World Cup prize money: How much will the Lionesses get paid for final appearance?

While England play Spain in the Women’s World Cup final, in the biggest game in football, there is also a record amount of prize money on the line for the winners.

Fifa announced before the tournament that a total fund of $152m (£126m) would be paid in prize money during the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Of that, there is a $110m (£86m) performance-based fund, more than three times more than $30m on offer during the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France. There is a further pot $42.5m which has been put aside for preparation funding and club benefits.

One notable aspect of this year’s World Cup is that players will receive 44 per cent of the performance-based fund which will be paid separately to what each country earns.

[21 August 2023 11:44 · Mike Jones]

The anguish, emotion and the story of the Women’s World Cup in photos

The Women’s World Cup has concluded. After more than four weeks of dramatic action in Australia, Spain defeated England in the final on Sunday to reach the highest of peaks and, with it, footballing immortality.

It’s not over the top to suggest it as such, either; some of the sport’s most iconic and memorable images down the years have come from this very tournament and that very match, both in the women’s and men’s games: Birgit Prinz’s joy in 2007, Lionel Messi lifting the trophy adorned in a bisht in Qatar, Brandi Chastain’s shirt-off shootout celebration, Pele carried off the Azteca pitch in 1970.

Those images are as much a part of football history as the games and players themselves – yet the people who bring those moments, those stories to life are, by the very nature of being behind the camera, rarely as prominent.

[21 August 2023 11:37 · Mike Jones]

The two sides of the Women’s World Cup — and the truth about where power still lies

Surrounded by celebrations, an otherwise satisfied Alexia Putellas wasn’t going to completely let go - or let it go.

“It annoys me,” she said in the Stadium Australia mixed zone. You might call it the two sides of this Spain team, who have been beset by issues that also fittingly reflect the two sides of this World Cup. Putellas was certainly calling it that.

“This year has been an education for me,” she went on. “I have learned how this business is going”

One of the defining players in women’s football was at least going to turn towards this decisive issue, that framed the entire campaign.

“You’ve seen that the minute women’s footballers believe a little and are provided with basic facilities, everything comes out better,” Putellas said.

“It annoys me because it’s not just one country, it’s repeated. And Fifa have to take note. There are many countries who have spent time with disputes and they are disputes the players have made. That saps your energy when the player only wants to focus on training, looking after themselves, preparing properly and leaving everything on the pitch.”

That’s certainly what the Spanish players did. Through that, they were also vintage champions in how they reflected and brought together the prevailing trends of the game - from the tactics to the deeper tectonics. Olga Carmona’s supreme final goal may have separated them from England and the rest of the planet, but they had common cause with every other team.

[21 August 2023 11:30 · Mike Jones]

Fans demand Nike sell Mary Earps’ shirt after keeper’s World Cup final heroics

England fans are demanding Nike start selling a replica goalkeeper shirt after Mary Earps’ Women’s World Cup final heroics saw her scoop the competition’s Golden Glove award.

Earps saved Jennifer Hermoso’s spotkick and was a standout performer for the Lionesses, as they lost 1-0 to Spain at the 75,000-plus seat Stadium Australia in Sydney on Sunday.

The Manchester United star, dubbed “Mary Queen of Stops”, previously expressed her dismay over the “very hurtful” decision not to put her replica shirt on sale ahead of the World Cup.

After Sunday’s final, pressure increased on Nike to “step up” and release a Mary Earps shirt, and the company said it is “working towards solutions for future tournaments”.

[21 August 2023 11:22 · Mike Jones]

Mary Earps’ World Cup Golden Glove award still isn’t enough to convince Nike to sell her shirt

Fans of the Lionesses will still not be able to buy a replica of Mary Earps’ goalkeeper kit despite an ongoing campaign throughout the Women’s World Cup to convince kit suppliers Nike to put one on sale.

Nike decided last month that it wouldn’t be making Earps’ goalkeeper kit available to purchase and the decision drew criticism from fans, celebrities, and even Earps herself who called the decision ‘hugely hurtful’.

Nike issued an update on their decision after fresh calls to produce Earps’ England shirt came flooding in following the 30-year-old’s incredible performance in the World Cup showpiece.

In their statement released on Sunday, Nike promised to address the matter in ‘future tournaments’.

[21 August 2023 11:14 · Mike Jones]

How not to win a World Cup: Spain, Jorge Vilda and the story of a complicated victory

As Olga Carmona ran back to the Spanish celebrations, having just declared that the federation’s support was “marvellous” with a World Cup medal around her neck, she and manager Jorge Vilda high-fived then shared a huge hug.

It was an image that went against the more proliferated images of other players refusing to even look at their coach in the moment of glory.

This is not to try and say it was all much rosier in the Spanish camp than had been reported. It is quite the opposite. It points to how multi-layered the many issues in the squad were, going way beyond a mutiny against the manager.

The tragic news of Carmona’s father passing away before the final put all of this into its correct context, but the issues were real.

The Spanish federation’s social media account did put out a post with a picture of the coach and the Women’s World Cup trophy declaring “Vilda in”. The manager, having eventually appeared for his press conference after almost three hours of celebrating, was asked about this – and those who doubted him. In other words, the players at the core of the mutiny, who did not come back.

By Miguel Delaney on an unprecedented World Cup victory

[21 August 2023 11:07 · Mike Jones]

England backed to come back stronger after World Cup final defeat

Captain Millie Bright is confident England will emerge a stronger side after processing the gut-wrenching reality of finishing as World Cup runners-up.

Bright said: “The mentality has always been there. The character has been there, too. We show that, day in, day out, and in every game. We’ve just played in a World Cup final, it’s hard to see it like that at the moment. I’m proud of the girls.

“We’ve played on the highest stage. We’ve had a shot at competing for the trophy we have always wanted but this isn’t the end of the journey and we will definitely bounce back. For now, though, we’ll let it settle.

“There are probably one million different feelings. Pride, disappointment, heartbroken that we didn’t win.

“We came off the pitch holding our heads high, knowing that we have given absolutely everything in the game. In the second half especially we left it all out there.

“We didn’t take our chances today and those are the small margins that decide football in a final against a top, top team.

“You get those chances and hit the crossbar, the keeper makes saves. They get theirs and put it in the net.”

[21 August 2023 11:00 · Mike Jones]

England’s impact will last far longer than pain of World Cup final defeat

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 where 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 back home 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.

And as England’s World Cup came to a close, there was no disgrace in that – certainly not against a side as talented as Spain’s, even with their issues. At full time, as the Spanish players celebrated at one end of the pitch, head coach Jorge Vilda and his staff at the other, Wiegman and her team were a picture of unity in the centre. Even in that moment, they realised they had already managed to achieve something far greater.

[21 August 2023 10:51 · Mike Jones]

The vital lesson England must take to ‘continue breaking barriers’ despite World Cup final defeat

In the immediate aftermath, it will be easy to resort to the hypothetical. What if Lauren James had been given a starting role? What if Lauren Hemp had put away her early chances? What if England hadn’t been overrun in midfield? What if the Lionesses had won the World Cup?

Reality, however, is what matters. The reality is that England didn’t quite have what it took, this injury-hit squad who battled through so much adversity to get as far as they did finally came up against their match. The reality is that Spain were better, that they dominated the duels, and that they were the ones who managed to find what was needed.

But the reality is not all negative. The team will be temporarily knocked down but they’ve shown that they have a habit of getting up from difficult moments and coming out better for it. The agony of the Lionesses’ near-miss will soon subside and they can begin to take stock of their achievements.

“I think we can be proud,” said Georgia Stanway. “The last 9 weeks, 7 games - to wear a silver, it’s special.

“It’s hard to watch another team celebrate when it’s your goal and your dream. When the dust settles we’ll be really proud of this. We hope everyone is really proud of us back at home. We hope we’ve inspired many many people.”

By Adam Millington in Sydney