Spain defeats England 1-0 to win maiden FIFA Women’s World Cup title

Sydney: Spain won the Women's World Cup for the first time by defeating England 1-0 in the final match. Captain Olga Carmona scored the winning goal in the first half.

In front of 75,784 spectators at Stadium Australia on Sunday, La Roja, which had some of their best players removed due to a mutiny against coach Jorge Vilda only a few months prior and had been thrashed 4-0 by Japan in the group stage, outperformed England and earned their first major victory in just their third World Cup, al Jazeera reported.

Spanish midfielders Aitana Bonmati and Teresa Abelleira controlled the match, and the margin of victory would have been higher had England goalkeeper Mary Earps not saved a penalty in the second half.

Since Sarina Wiegman took over as coach, England has lost just twice in 39 games, preventing them from adding a first-ever world championship to their European Championship victory from the previous year.

England almost had the upper hand in the match between two first-time finalists as the first Women's World Cup final without either the United States or Germany got off to a fast start.

England almost had the upper hand in the match between two first-time finalists as the first Women's World Cup final without either the United States or Germany got off to a fast start.

In the fifth minute, forward Lauren Hemp resumed her semifinal performance against Australia by spinning the ball towards the goal before clipping a shot against the crossbar 12 minutes later.

Salma Paralluelo, a young player from Spain, was unable to make touch with Carmona's attempt from the left wing, while Alba Redondo's shot from the far post was well saved by Earps.

Before the half-hour mark, La Roja seized the lead after England was dispossessed in midfield. Abelleira curled a beautiful crossfield pass to Mariona Caldentey, who then passed the ball forward to Carmona.

The left-back drove into the area and unleashed a shot that slanted to the left and soared past Earps' hands and into the far corner of the net.

Spain held the advantage for the remainder of the half, with Paralluelo pinging a shot off the post just before halftime. The goal appeared to knock the wind out of England.

Since England has proven to be adaptable throughout the competition, Wiegman changed the defence from three to four at the interval while bringing Lauren James on for Alessia Russo up front.