The heartbreak will take some getting over; the sunken forms of the players at the full-time whistle said as much. Sarina Wiegman had urged her European champions to play the game of their lives in the World Cup final. They did, they battled relentlessly, but against a mesmeric Spain the game of England’s lives was not enough to put a first star on the shirt.
Instead, a Spain side who dominate the ball with fluid, efficient beauty will have a first stitched above their crest. A Spain side riddled with controversy and divisions still prevailed, the left-back Olga Carmona’s first-half strike the difference, because their brand of football just cannot be stopped.
