Sydney, Australia - Spain won the 2023 World Cup with captain Olga Carmona sweeping in the only goal for a deserved 1-0 victory over England in Sunday's big final!

In front of a crowd of nearly 76,000 at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Spain was the better side and had more chances, including missing a second-half penalty.

England coach Sarina Wiegman, who has now suffered back-to-back defeats in the final, and her European champions can have few complaints.

Spain is the fifth team to lift the World Cup since the tournament began in 1991, joining the US, Germany, Norway, and Japan.

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In front of Spain's Queen Letizia, defender Carmona scored what turned out to be the winner, rampaging from left-back to thrash the ball in low and hard on 29 minutes.

It was an unlikely triumph for a deeply divided group, less than a year after 15 Spanish players said they no longer wanted to represent their country under controversial coach Jorge Vilda.

Though an uneasy truce was eventually reached, that dynamic was evident throughout the tournament, up to and including the dramatic final. At the final whistle, the coaching and playing staff celebrated in separate huddles.

Wiegman had resisted the temptation to recall Chelsea attacker Lauren James after her two-match ban and kept faith with the team that beat co-host Australia 3-1 in the semi-finals.

England had the first sniff of a chance in the fifth minute, but Lauren Hemp shot weakly at goalkeeper Cata Coll.

There was little to choose between the teams in the opening exchanges before both had golden opportunities on the quarter-hour mark.

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First, Manchester City forward Hemp struck the bar with a curler that had Coll well beaten.

Spain went up the other end and should have scored but Salma Paralluelo – in for superstar Alexia Putellas – missed the ball in the six-yard box.

Then Alba Redondo hit a first-time strike straight at goalkeeper Mary Earps with the England goal gaping, with Hemp having another tame effort saved, before the game was momentarily held up in the 24th minute when a spectator darted on to the pitch before being wrestled away by security.

Five minutes later Spain, who had never won a knockout game at the Women's World Cup until this tournament and had lost 4-0 to Japan in the group phase, was ahead.

Mariona Caldentey slid in an inch-perfect pass for Carmona, who came flying unmarked down the left before lashing the ball into the bottom corner.

England looked uncharacteristically rattled and the 19-year-old Barcelona attacker Paralluelo, who was a constant threat, shaved the post with the last kick of the half.

James and Chloe Kelly replaced Rachel Daly and Alessia Russo as Wiegman switched from a back five to a flat back four.

But it was Spain who nearly doubled its lead almost straight after halftime, Caldentey dinking inside and forcing Earps to turn the ball around the post.

Hemp was booked for clipping Laia Codina as England's frustration mounted.

Midfield schemer Aitana Bonmati, who has been one of the players of the tournament and was one of the three players recalled by Vilda after last year's mutiny, fired narrowly over Earps's bar.

With 20 minutes left, Spain were awarded a penalty when VAR was called into action and, after a long review, Keira Walsh was judged to have handled the ball in the box.

Jennifer Hermoso stepped up but her penalty was weak and Earps saved comfortably to keep England just about alive.

But despite 13 minutes of injury time, there would be no last-gasp comeback and Spain stood victorious at the end of a record-breaking tournament.