After losing to Spain in the World Cup final in Sydney, England’s thrilling World Cup odyssey came to a disappointing conclusion.
In the first half, Sarina Wiegman’s team performed far below expectations, and Spain deservedly took the lead through Olga Carmona on the half-hour mark.
Salma Paralluelo attempted to score from close range but somehow missed, despite Mary Earps’ spectacular save keeping the score even.
The finest opportunity for the Lionesses in the first half fell to Lauren Hemp, but her curving shot from the edge of the box was stopped by the woodwork.
On the verge of halftime, Paralluelo came near to extending Spain’s lead but the post stopped her.
At the half, Wiegman changed England’s formation from a 3-5-2 to a conventional 4-4-2 thanks to that error.
Alessia Russo and Rachel Daly were replaced at halftime by Chloe Kelly and Lauren James, who had been suspended for the previous two games following her red card against Nigeria in the last-16.
This offered England greater width, and it nearly immediately paid off when Kelly sent a beautiful cross towards Hemp, but the Manchester City attacker missed the target.
The pressure from Spain had been reduced thanks to Wegiman’s adjustments, and England’s performance after the half greatly improved.
However, just as England began to gain control of the game again, the Lionesses let up a contentious penalty when Kiera Walsh was found to have handled in the area following a VAR review.
With 20 minutes remaining, Jenni Hermoso had the opportunity to give Spain their first World Cup victory, but Earps stood in her way as she made the correct judgement call to stop Hermoso’s effort.
After Cata Coll made the save, England gained momentum, and James immediately tested the Spanish goalie. Coll made a deft save at the front post to preserve England’s lead.
The ball was hardly in play for the final 10 minutes of regulation time due to Alex Greenwood’s injury and a string of incidents that stopped play.
Fortunately, there was 13 minutes of stoppage time, during which England gave the Spanish everything they had in an effort to draw level.
However, despite pressing Millie Bright into attack, England was unable to create the kinds of opportunities they had hoped for.
In actuality, this simply gave Spain more room, and they had multiple opportunities to seal the victory, but Earps once more stood in their way.
It was not to be for England, who battled through every obstacle on their route to the final and faced a fantastic Spain team.