We managed to be world champions, but this is going to motivate a lot of young women to play football and other sports. Its wonderful. Translation ive been playing football since i was little. I feel like i was them. I wish i was there to celebrate. Its so exciting. The only goal of the game came from the spanish captain olga carmona, who slotted the winner past goalkeeper mary earps in the first half. It means englands wait to win a first womens world cup title goes on. In london, there were tears, hugs and disappointment for the lionesses, who were looking to become the first england senior side since the mens team in 1966 to win the world cup. In a statement, king charles said while i know how sore todays result must be, let none of you feel defeated, for to have reached the finals at all is an immense tribute to your skill, determination and team spirit in the finest sporting tradition. The tournament has broken attendance and tv records and raised hopes of a Surge Interest for the
yeah. obviously disappointed for them. you could see in the tournament how much they adapted, how much they gave to make us proud. and they did. do you know, being runners up in a world cup, we ve never got to a final before. and yes, we believed. we hoped, but today i think spain were deservedly the winners and theyjust controlled the game, especially in that first half where they did that damage. and i agree that we came back into it in the second half when we made those changes in that formation change. but we just didn t have enough couldn t make enough chances to really put the pressure on spain and the game kind of got a bit patchy with all the extra time and everything and delays but i m just so proud of the team. i know what it feels like to feel despondent after being knocked out. i played in a euros final in 2009 and you dream big. but then once that settles and that disappointment of not getting that prize, which you worked so hard for in weeks to come, i think the team will
some had tears in their eyes. a little boy told me, i just actually cannot believe that this has happened. this is a team that has been through so much turmoil off the pitch. so much disagreement between coach and players, and yet, they ve come through and gotten better in that tournament, and here they are, world champions. new world champions, that is. their name, a new name is now etched on that world cup trophy. this fan zone has been the hub of so many emotions throughout the tournament. huge heartbreaks, achievements, triumphs and celebrations, nail biting penalty shoot outs that we have lived through, upsets that nobody expected. often, the england fans were outnumbered here, but today, they actually had a strong presence. you could hear the cheers and the jeers for the lionesses. they leave here disappointed. this is not the night they wanted, and yet, they are very proud of their team.
i m interested what you were saying there about the build up and coming away from a final. what is it like that almost wind down after such a big event? playing for weeks, preparing for months, if not years? what are these hours and days like for the players? it will be hard. even, i got to the quarter finals in a world cup, but it s that you feeljust empty for quite a few weeks afterwards because you ve been preparing. that s been your focus. you played your season, but you know that world cup is at the end of the season. and when you re in that bubble, it s so intense. and obviously, to get all the way to the final with the extra kind of pressure and expectation, i suppose, nowadays on the team, even though i think they handled that brilliantly. you know, you want to go and achieve, you want to use that to get. i mean, they got so close. i remember it being almost like a month, maybe even longer. that kind of emptiness feeling stays in you. and that wasn t even when i got to a final.
the tournament has broken attendance and tv records and raised hopes of a surge interest for the women s game around the world. and let s hearfrom the england coach, sarina wiegman: of course, everyone was very disappointed that we didn t win the game. on the other hand, i think we can be very proud of ourselves, only it doesn t feel that way at this moment. that takes a bit of time, because now, the disappointment is the most what you feel. but everything we have done, how we have grown into the tournament, the challenges we had before the tournament, during the tournament, how we have adapted to situations. and we have given everything what we could in this tournament, and also in this game. well, the bbc s shaimaa khalil was watching in sydney. spain s fans are still processing that momentous achievement by their team. i was looking at them as they watched la roja lift that world cup trophy, and you could see the emotions.