Sixty-four matches and 163 goals into the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, there it was: the crescendo of the electric 29th minute at Sydney’s Stadium Australia that determined the new campione del mondo (“champions of the world”): Spain. Beating the outstretched left hand of England goalkeeper Mary Earps, Spain captain Olga Carmona’s shot from the left side of the penalty area rifled into the side netting. The thunderbolt from the 23-year-old – the 164th goal of the tournament – broke the high-voltage deadlock of the opening minutes and, eventually, sealed the fate of the all-European duel.
Up sprung the Spanish fans on their feet; their roar reverberated through the stadium. Carmona wheeled away in jubilation, cameras of all shapes and sizes tracking her sprightly sprint towards the right flank. She lifted her shirt, tucked it between her teeth, and pointed to a one-word message on her undershirt she wanted to the world to see. Indecipherable at first, and written with a black marker, it read “MERCHI,” a tribute to her former school, Colegio Mercedes.
Olga Carmona’s shirt said “Merchi” for her former school #womensWorldCup2023 #WomensWorldCupFinal pic.twitter.com/XTWzqLE7Hd— Lindsay Marella (@lindz_mar3ll4) August 20, 2023
Later in the night, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) announced that unbeknownst to Carmona, who had dedicated her goal to the mother of her best friend who recently passed away, had lost her father on the day of the final. According to RFEF, Carmona was informed about her father’s passing only after the game.
Olga Carmona’s father passed away before the World Cup final today. Olga received the news after the match.Related stories
Our deepest condolences to Olga and her family. pic.twitter.com/pV01e4Inns
— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) August 20, 2023
“The truth is this is a unique moment,” Player of the Final Carmona, unaware of her father’s death at the time, said at the post-match press conference in Sydney. “I think that neither myself nor the players nor the staff are fully aware of what we've done. I think we will be when we land in Spain … We've done something historical, and women's football is here to make something big of it and it's here to stay.”
Carmona was the difference when she struck late to lift Spain to a thrilling 2-1 win over Sweden in the semi-final on Tuesday. Five days on, in a title clash that saw only one of the seven attempts on target materialize into a goal, with at least two deflections coming off the woodwork, Carmona proved the differentiator again.
At 23 years old, she became the youngest goal-scorer in a women’s football World Cup final since USA superstar Alex Morgan in 2011. The left back’s winning strike ensured Spain’s tournament-best tally in three World Cup appearances went up to 18 goals. In a 12-month season when they had already won the Under-17 and Under-20 women’s World Cups, the senior world title, too, is now theirs. The number of teams before them who held all three crowns at the same time: none.
“It's a moment that you literally dream of: when you go to bed, you dream about something that can happen in life, (you think of) moments like these,” said Carmona when asked of her match-clinching goals in the semi-final and the final. “But before the World Cup, I was not expecting to score the decisive goal of this tournament. I am extremely happy, and once again, I believe that the team deserved it; I've said this before. Football has been fair with us and we've managed to win the trophy. We're taking it with us to Spain.”
Few in the lead-up to the World Cup would have put their money on Spain to lift the title. Fewer after their chastening 4-0 group-stage defeat at the hands of 2011 world champions Japan in Wellington on the last day of July. Their turnaround since had been astounding, not least against the backdrop of the protracted battle between the players, federation and staff that saw 15 Spain internationals writing to the Spanish federation last October to raise concerns about coach Jorge Vilda's conduct, management style and other issues behind the scenes.
“It was a turning point, the match against Japan,” said Vilda, who also serves as the RFEF women’s football technical director, at the post-final press conference. “The team changed; the players also increased their contribution. And they were mentally stronger as well. And they believe this is one of the reasons behind us reaching the final and winning the final as well.”
Reflecting on his frayed relationship with the players, three of those mutineers whom he brought back into Spain’s World Cup squad which remained far from its full strength throughout the tournament, Vilda said: "I've always said that if all the suffering was necessary to become world champions, it would be worth it.
"It's been difficult at a personal level in management, but at a sporting level we've achieved results that we've never achieved before. I am very happy that we are champions of the world."
Jorge Vilda at the post-final presser on this Spanish FA post on @X:(translated by FIFA translator) "The support of the federation was essential since the beginning of last year and it's been constant ... from all the colleagues and employees ... so it's been a valid exercise." https://t.co/Jd09Jwfr4v
— Annesha Ghosh (@ghosh_annesha) August 20, 2023
Both England and Spain had fought tooth and nail in pulling themselves up to be the deserving competitors in the World Cup summit clash. They edged out the rest in a race of 32 teams that made the 2023 iteration the largest, grandest, most-viewed, and commercially most successful FIFA Women’s World Cup ever.
Their rivals had all fallen away one by one. Some of those with deafening thuds, others with plonks less earsplitting. The defending champions (USA), Olympic champions (Canada), Asian champions (China), South American champions (Brazil), and African champions (South Africa) had all been sent packing over the past month. Those that remained were Europe’s continental winners and their defeated Iberian opponents at the 2022 Women’s Euro quarter-finals.
Final clash
As Sunday rolled in, the 2023 World Cup, an edition of a myriad firsts that rejigged the world order of the women’s game like never before, stood at its threshold to welcome a new winner and fifth overall in nine editions. A European derby beckoned at Stadium Australia, where exactly a month ago, the whistle went off to set the Australian leg of this footballing showpiece event into motion. Packed to the rafters, the venue welcomed its restricted and sold-out crowd of 75,784 for the fifth and final time in this World Cup.
England, unchanged and in their all-blue kit, strode out under the stand-in captaincy of Millie Bright, on the eve of her 30th birthday. Spain, clad in their traditional deep red and yellow, followed the lead of the second-youngest captain in FIFA Women’s final history: Carmona.
A probing England attack, spearheaded by star forwards Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo, asked questions of the La Roja defence from the get-go. For every pass, tackle and save from the Lionesses, though, Spain, relentless in their pursuit of getting into the box, had a counter up their sleeve.
“We know Spain are so good at the possession game; they always put pressure around the ball - very tight, very technical … So, that's absolutely quality of Spain, too,” said England coach Sarina Weigman. “They were absolutely the team with the best possession game, we knew that ahead of the tournament. And I also think they had a very good tournament and, to be really honest, I think they deserve this win…”
England, behind only the second time all tournament – they came from one goal down against Colombia in the quarter-finals to come up trumps 2-1 – chased after an elusive equalizer with an improved pace in the second half. But it wasn’t to be as, despite a flurry of terrific saves subsequently from the eventual Golden Glove Award winner, Earps, the one-goal deficit proved far too much for the Lionesses.
“(In that final huddle after the loss,) I said to my team that it’s hard to take (this defeat) now,” Weigman said. “We did everything, we gave everything. We've overcome lots of challenges and today, yeah, did everything we could to win. It feels really bad, of course. (We are) very, very disappointed.”
England's wait to win a first Women's World Cup title goes on. On the most important night of this edition, it was Spain who marched into the promised land.
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