Sarina Wiegman backed her England side to bounce back despite a heartbreaking defeat in the Women’s World Cup final. Spain won 1-0 in Sydney to become world champions for the first time. “I have no regrets,” the manager said.
“I think we gave everything. The players gave everything. We tried different tactics. I also have to give credit to Spain. I think they were the team over the whole tournament who played the best football.”
For Wiegman – who won the European Championship with the Netherlands in 2017 and last year with England – this was a second World Cup final defeat, after losing with the Netherlands against USA in 2019.
“Everyone is very disappointed,” she said. “I think we can be very proud of ourselves [but] it just doesn’t feel that way at this moment. That takes a little bit of time. But everything we’ve done – how we have grown into the tournament; the challenges we have before and during it; how we have adapted to situations. We have given everything that we could.”
Asked whether defeat made them determined to come back stronger at the next edition in 2027, Wiegman said: “Four years is a long time. We’re in a very short turnaround but we’ll start in September with the Nations League to qualify for the Olympics.
“You want to improve all the time and that’s what I see in the team. This group of players are so eager to be successful. So we want to grab every next moment and be better. Growth is one of the things that is really in this team, so we hope that we come back quickly.”
Spain controlled possession in a competitive encounter and retained the edge over England after Olga Carmona’s first-half strike had put them ahead. The Lionesses’ struggles on the ball led to the introduction of Lauren James and Chloe Kelly at half-time, and a tactical shift from Wiegman to try to reverse her side’s fortunes. While England improved, they lacked the clinical edge to bring themselves back into the contest.
“I think everyone has watched an incredible game, a very open game with both teams wanting to play football,” Wiegman said. “There were two very different halves for us. We really struggled in the first to have pressure on the ball, so we changed back to a 4-3-3 which gave us momentum.”
A devastated Millie Bright reiterated her manager’s thoughts on the team’s ability to recover. “This is not it from us,” the England captain said. “I am sure we’ll bounce back but for now it’s hard to take. There are probably one million different feelings. Pride, disappointment – heartbroken that we didn’t win. The girls were unbelievable. We had a lot of critics, a few lost belief in us but we never stopped believing. Sometimes football goes for you, sometimes against you.
“The mentality and the character have always been there. We show that, day in, day out, and in every game. We’ve just played in a World Cup final, it’s hard to see it like that at the moment. We’ve played on the highest stage. We’ve had a shot at competing for the trophy we have always wanted. This isn’t the end of the journey.”
Lucy Bronze said: “I’m just deflated. Obviously we went into the World Cup wanting to win it and we were so close, but in the end we couldn’t quite get it over the line. I think we showed that, against adversity, we showed up. We were determined and resilient throughout ... We showed resilience to carry on and keep fighting.”
The full-back was adamant this was not the end of her international career. “I am not retiring from England if that is what you mean. I think we have a really strong squad. I think we showed that with the fact that we have made a final and nearly won, nearly took it to extra time with many players from [the] Euros having retired or got injured. The starting XI tonight, in attack especially, was very young and they have got many tournaments ahead of them.”
For Spain the victory comes after a hugely difficult year in which 15 players walked out in protest against the Spanish football federation and the head coach, Jorge Vilda. Only three of them returned for this tournament and there were no signs of their off-field woes ending despite winning the World Cup with the team’s official Twitter account posting “Vilda in” over a picture of the divisive leader kissing the trophy.
Vilda would not be drawn on his future after the game. He said: “We’re going to celebrate the World Cup and go back to Spain. Then we’ll see. 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.”
