Twitter reacts as Spain beat England to claim first Women's World Cup title
At this point, everyone knows the story of England at World Cups.
So often a source of heartbreak and pain for a sporting public crying out for success on the biggest stage, dreams of glory at football's global tournaments have been vanquished and replaced by nightmares filled with penalty shootout misery and petulant red cards, often accompanied by some haphazard goalkeeping.
That wasn't quite the story this time around, however, though there were similarities here and there.
England's Lionesses were already champions heading into the 2023 Women's World Cup thanks to their success at the Euros last summer but their preparations for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand were hit with sizeable debris at every inopportune moment.
Captain Leah Williamson, star forward Beth Mead and attacker Fran Kirby were ruled out before the competition kicked off with injuries. Keira Walsh suffered a knee problem against Denmark that threatened her future involvement and Lauren James was suspended for two games for a stamp on Nigeria's Michelle Alozie.
Even so, England went through the group stage with a perfect record — even if the Haiti game produced a performance nowhere near faultless — held their nerve on penalties against Nigeria and proved too strong for both Colombia and co-hosts Australia in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.
The final step proved just one too far. The Lionesses' couldn't cook in the final against Spain like they had throughout the tournament as opposition captain Olga Carmona's 29th-minute strike proved the winner. Having beaten the same team at Euro 2022, England came up against an inspired Spanish midfield in Aitana Bonmati, Teresa Abelleira and Jennifer Hermoso and the big chance to equalise
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