The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup final was an association football match that determined the winner of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. The match was played at the Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia, on 20 August 2023, and was contested by Spain and England. It took place in front of 75,784 supporters, and Spain won the final 1–0 through a goal from Olga Carmona, assisted by Mariona Caldentey.
For both finalists, this was the first appearance in a Women's World Cup final. Both teams were looking to become only the second country to win both men's and women's World Cups – Germany accomplished the feat in 2003 – as well as becoming the first team representing UEFA to win the tournament since Germany in 2007. This was the third all-European final in the Women's World Cup, after the 1995 and 2003 finals, both of which were also contested between two sides that had not won the tournament.
Background Both teams were making their Women's World Cup final debut. Spain had appeared in two previous Women's World Cups and advanced as far as the round of 16 in 2019. England had played in five previous Women's World Cups and achieved their best prior performance in 2015, when they finished third.
This final was the third all-European final in Women's World Cup history after 1995—when Norway won their first title by beating Germany in Stockholm—and 2003—when Germany won their first title via a golden goal against Sweden in the United States to become the first country to have won both senior World Cups; at the time, their men's team had won three world titles. The winners of the match would follow Germany in that respect; Spain men's team had won the 2010 World Cup, while England's title came in 1966. They would also become the first European team to win the tournament since the Germans in 2007 and the first new Women's World Cup champions since Japan in 2011.
This was the seventeenth meeting between the two teams: England had been more successful, with seven victories to Spain's three, and six draws. Three of those matches had been in a major tournament, all at the UEFA Women's Championship. Spain won their first Euros encounter, with England winning the last two matches at the 2017 and the 2022 tournaments respectively.
Spain's Jorge Vilda managed in his fourth consecutive major championship and the second in the Women's World Cup. He became the first man to manage a Women's World Cup-winning side since Norio Sasaki with Japan in 2011 and the first European man since Even Pellerud in 1995 to win it.
England manager Sarina Wiegman was also at her fourth consecutive major championship, and fourth consecutive final after winning the 2017 Euros and finishing as runners-up in the 2019 Women's World Cup with her native Netherlands in addition to winning the Women's Euro 2022 with England. She was the first person to lead different nations in multiple men's or women's World Cup finals and seeking to become the first manager to win either tournament with a foreign national team. As she lost, she became the first manager to lose two successive World Cup finals.
Venue
The final was held at Stadium Australia (also known as Accor Stadium) in Sydney, New South Wales. The venue has a capacity of 75,784, and hosted four matches during the World Cup which included a semi-final. The stadium was confirmed to be the host of the final when the final stadiums for the World Cup was confirmed on the 31 March 2021.
Built for the 2000 Summer Olympics, it opened in March 1999. In addition to the opening and closing ceremonies and the track and field events, the stadium hosted the men's football gold medal match. The venue was also chosen as a venue for the men's 2015 AFC Asian Cup, where it hosted seven matches including the final, which Australia won against South Korea to win the tournament for the first time. It was also the host of the 2005 shootout victory over Uruguay in the OFC–CONMEBOL playoff, which qualified the Socceroos for the 2006 World Cup, their first appearance since 1974.
Route to the final Spain + Spain's route to the final Phase Opponent Result3–05–00–45–12–1 2–1
Spain first qualified to a major women's tournament in 1997, reaching the semi-finals of their first European Championship, and qualified for their first Women's World Cup in 2015. Their previous best performance in the Women's World Cup was elimination in the round of 16 in 2019.
Heading into the tournament, Spain was ranked sixth in the FIFA Women's World Ranking. They were drawn in group C with Costa Rica, Zambia and 2011 champions Japan. Their opening match of the World Cup was against Costa Rica saw an own goal from Costa Rican player Valeria del Campo before goals from Aitana Bonmatí and Esther González in the space of four minutes secured a 3–0 victory. In the following match day, Spain booked a spot in the knockout stage with a 5–0 over Zambia with the opening goal being scored in the ninth minute by Teresa Abelleira before two goals from Alba Redondo and Jennifer Hermoso who was playing her 100th match got the victory. The final match day against Japan saw their Spanish be counterattacked with two goals from Japanese striker Hinata Miyazawa giving Japan a 4–0 win and placing Spain in second place for the group.
In the round of 16, Spain took on Group A winners Switzerland. Bonmatí scored the opening goal in the 7th minute before an own goal from Laia Codina who back-passed to Cata Coll which gave the equaliser for Switzerland. The following 30 minutes saw Spain score three goals with Redondo, Bonmati and Codina all scoring to give Spain a 4–1 lead at half-time. After Switzerland almost a second goal from Meriame Terchoun, Spain sealed up the match with a fifth coming from Hermoso and securing a spot into the quarter-finals for the first time. Spain's quarter-final opponent was against the Netherlands who finished runner-up at the 2019 World Cup. The opening half saw the Spanish have a goal disallowed while the Dutch had a penalty being waved away. In the 81st minute, Mariona Caldentey scored from the penalty spot to give Spain the early lead after Stefanie van der Gragt had a hand touch the ball. Van der Gragt, who moved forward, got the equaliser nine minutes later with an assist from Victoria Pelova, putting the game into extra time. On the 111th minute, Salma Paralluelo scored the match winner and booked a semi-final spot. In the semis at Eden Park, Spain faced Sweden. They scored first through Paralluelo, before conceding an equaliser by Rebecka Blomqvist. Just a minute later, Olga Carmona scored a wonderful goal to send Spain to only its second senior World Cup final ever and the first since the men's 2010 triumph over the Netherlands in Johannesburg.
England + England's route to the final Phase Opponent Result1–01–06–1 0–0 2–13–1
England first qualified to a major women's tournament in 1984, finishing as runners-up in the European Championship. They first qualified for the Women's World Cup in 1995. Their previous best performance in the tournament was finishing third in 2015.
Heading into the tournament, the Lionesses had not only won their first major trophy at Women's Euro 2022 as hosts but also had gone on to defeat Copa América Femenina winners Brazil on penalties at Wembley in the first Women's Finalissima. They had lost once with Sarina Wiegman as manager – a 2–0 friendly defeat to Australia in Brentford – and entered the Women's World Cup ranked fourth in the FIFA Women's World Ranking. They were drawn in Group D with Haiti, Denmark, and 1999 runners-up China. In the first two games, England won 1–0 against both Haiti and Denmark; the winning goals were a penalty from Georgia Stanway and a goal from Lauren James. Needing a point to win the group, England defeated China 6–1 with James scoring two goals.
In the round of 16, England faced group B runners-up Nigeria. During the match, the English were outplayed against the Nigerians. After initially getting a yellow card, James was then sent off after a VAR check for stepping on Michelle Alozie's back. After a goalless 120 minutes, the match went into penalties. After Stanway's shot went wide, the next four penalties were slotted in and with Nigeria missing two in return, England won the shoot-out 4–2. England next match was against Colombia who were playing in their first quarter-final at the World Cup. After Leicy Santos scored, England quickly equalised through Hemp before the first half ended. A 63rd-minute goal from Alessia Russo won the Lionesses a spot in the semis to face co-hosts Australia. Ella Toone scored first, but Australia equalised through Sam Kerr. Hemp and Russo then scored to secure England a first Women's World Cup final and only its second senior World Cup final ever, the first since the men's 1966 triumph over West Germany in London.
Pre-match
Officials On 18 August 2023, FIFA named American official Tori Penso as the referee for the final. She became the first American referee to officiate a World Cup final after previously being the head referee for four matches of the World Cup including the semi-final between Australia and England, thus becoming the third referee ever and the first since Ivan Eklind in the 1934 men's World Cup to officiate a single World Cup semi-final and the final. Penso had been a FIFA international referee since 2021, refereed the 2021 NWSL Championship Game and had also become the first female referee in Major League Soccer history. Her assistants, Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt, were also from the United States. They were joined by fourth official Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan. Tatiana Guzman led the video assistant referee team. Guzman was assisted by Pol van Boekel, Ella De Vries, and Armando Villareal. Carol Anne Chenard and Drew Fischer served as standby VARs.
Team selection From their 2022 Women's Euro team that beat Spain in Brighton and Hove before winning that tournament, England could not call up captain Leah Williamson, player of the tournament and top scorer Beth Mead, or Fran Kirby due to knee injuries. The World Cup squad included some returning senior players and new young players instead. One of the young players called up after the 2022 Euro, Lauren James, was available to play in the final after a straight red card against Nigeria in the round of 16 resulted in her being suspended for the quarter-final and semi-final.
Following the 2022 Euro, a group of 15 Spain players boycotted matches due to a dispute with the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and manager Jorge Vilda. Several continued to boycott, with others excluded, and only 3 of the 15 were included in the World Cup squad. Two-time reigning Ballon d'Or Féminin winner Alexia Putellas was available for the tournament after recovering from an ACL injury. Oihane Hernández was available for the final after having accumulated two yellow cards and missing the semi-final.
Both of the teams were considered golden generations of the women's game in their countries, though each missing key players through the injuries and boycott.
The combined tournament squads of England and Spain featured eleven players who, at the time the match was played, were signed to Barcelona; ten (eight for Spain, two for England) played in the final. The teammates had joked about meeting each other in the final, without truly expecting it. Ahead of the match, the awareness of each others' strengths and weaknesses was a point of discussion, as were the Barcelona players who had refused to play for Spain.
Representatives