FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 concluded today with Spain lifting the trophy after beating England 1-0 in the final at Stadium Australia on Sunday.
La Roja won the World Cup for the first time in their history and became the fifth team to win it after USA (4), Germany (2), Norway (1), and Japan (1). Prior to this year’s edition, they had only ever won one match at the tournament.
Olga Carmona scored the only goal of the match in the 29th minute of the first half and cemented her name in the history books.
Apart from the World Cup, four individual awards were given to deserving players for their immaculate performances during the month-long mega event.
Spain’s Aitana Bonmati won the Golden Ball for being the best player in the tournament. With three goals and two assists, she contributed to five goals for her team and was undoubtedly one of the key reasons why they lifted the World Cup.
Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa won the Golden Boot as she scored five goals in the tournament, which was the most. Although her team could not go past the quarter-finals but she will have something to take home.
Spain’s hero of the quarter and semi-final Salma Parallvelo was awarded the FIFA Best Young Player award as just at the age of 19, she stepped up in two of the most important matches and guided her side to the final.
England’s Mary Earps won the Golden Glove for her outstanding performance throughout the tournament, especially in the final where she made four saves to keep the tie alive till the last moment. She also kept three clean sheets in the tournament.
The tournament was a massive success in terms of crowd attendance as nearly two million fans passed through the gates in nine host cities after Sunday's final crowd of 75,784 is added to the tally.
It must be noted that more than 1.1. million fans came to the stadiums for 52 matches, with an average crowd of 21,756, during the last Women's World Cup in France four years ago.
