On August 20th in a sold out stadium in Sydney, Australia, the Spanish defeated the English to win the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. It was a nail biting 1-0 win for Spain, as they travel back home rejoicing while England heads back to London heartbroken. A goal from a left back defender, a penalty kick saved, 13 minutes of stoppage, and even a streaker shows that this game really had everything.
Spain’s victory caps off what was the most successful Women’s World Cup ever held. For the first time ever this tournament broke even with record breaking revenue. Attendance records were broken, with almost two million spectators flocking to Australia and New Zealand over the course of the last month. While there were many controversies off the pitch, the focus will be aimed at the overwhelming success of this World Cup, and where FIFA will move next.
Before we focus too far in the future, we must focus on the actual final itself first. In the 29th minute, Olga Carmona made a speedy run up to the left part of the box, where she unleashed a low, zooming shot that got past keeper Mary Earps. Spain utterly dominated the first half while England produced very few chances of their own. Two key substitutions for England by bringing in Chloe Kelley, and Lauren James did flip the run of play for England. They produced many more shots in the second half but they could not find the back of the net. Tensions heightened midway through the second half, when Spain earned a penalty kick, but Mary Earps being Mary Earps meant that it was saved. Earps would go on to win the Golden Glove for being the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Her efforts in goal would not be enough as the game ended 1-0 with Spain taking the win.
Spain’s win meant that they have officially won the “treble” as they have won the most recent U-17 and U-20 World Cups. They have established their youth programs enough that they now hold all of the World Cups to hold. The awards kept on coming for Spain though as Salma Parauello won the award for Best Young Player, while her teammate Aitana Bonmati won the award for Golden Ball, which goes to the best player of the tournament. Japan also collected a couple awards for themselves as well by winning the Fair Play award, and Hinata Miyazawa won the Golden Boot which goes to the player that scored the most goals over the course of the competition.
Unfortunately many controversies have taken over after Spain’s win. Spain’s football president, Luis Rubiales has had a case opened up against him as he faces severe criticism after kissing Spanish midfielder, Jennifer Hermoso, on the lips. Hermoso has also stated that she plans to file a case against him. This all happened at the same time as fans all over the world continue to advocate for Spanish head coach, Jorge Vilda, to be fired from his job. Ever since 15 players left the squad in protest of his coaching back in the fall of 2022, there has been mighty tensions between the players and the coaches. It could be seen after every knockout win two distinct groups in Spain’s celebrations, the players in one, and the coaches in the other.
Tragedy also struck as Carmona’s father sadly passed away during the game, and she had to be informed after winning the World Cup that her father had passed. Prayers go up to her and her family as they go through this challenging time.
The biggest questions for women’s football (soccer) for the future mainly deals with the U.S. and Spain. The Olympics next year will truly show where the U.S. program is headed now that head Coach Vlatko Andonovski is out. Players like Lindsey Horan, have now started to speak out against the coaching staff for what went wrong. The other main question is if Spain can continue their run by winning Olympic gold, which no team has done the year after winning the World Cup.
Also speaking of the future, there is no host for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup yet, but a joint USA-Mexico bid seems to be the likely front runner. The other bids include: South Africa, Brazil, and a joint Germany-Belgium-Netherlands bid. FIFA will be looking at both where to grow the game where Brazil and South Africa would be good options but in terms of revenue the USA and Mexico bid is far and away the best option.
As for now, congratulations to Spain, a team that went from being last in the group stages in 2015, to losing in the round of 16 in 2019, to winning it all here in 2023. We may leave this World Cup with more questions than answers, especially about the state of the United States, but we will have to wait 11 more months till the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to get a clearer picture of who the dominant forces in women’s soccer right now are. Till then, we can revel over what was a tournament that might change the way the world looks at women’s sports which is better for everyone in the bigger picture. Thank you Australia and New Zealand for putting on a wonderful tournament!
