Sydney, Aug. 20: Spain won its first Women’s FIFA World Cup title less than a year after a player rebellion, holding off England 1-0 on Sunday after Olga Carmona’s first-half goal.

The victory made La Roja the first team to hold the under-17, under-20 and senior world titles at the same time. Spain is the fifth winner in nine editions of the Women’s World Cup and joins Germany as the only two nations to win both the men’s and women’s tournament.

At the final whistle the Spanish players piled on each other in front of their goal. They were still dancing on the field until the trophy presentations, where they kissed the trophy and raised their arms in triumph as golden glitter fell from above.

The Lionesses were trying to bring a World Cup back to England for the first time since 1966, but fell just short.

“They’re a fantastic team. I think first half we weren’t our best, second half, we definitely put the fire in,” England captain Millie Bright said. "But yeah, we just couldn’t finish it today. This is the hard part of football.”

For England, Bright said, the loss brought a “huge amount of disappointment.”

“You know at first you feel like you failed with not winning," she said. "I think in a couple of weeks and it settles it will be really really proud.”

In a heavily attacking game, Carmona’s left-foot strike in the 29th minute was the only goal.

In celebration she raised her jersey to reveal the word “Merchi” scrawled in ink on her undershirt, an apparent nod to her former school.

Carmona also scored the game-winner in the 89th minute of Spain’s 2-1 semifinal victory over Sweden, becoming the first player since Carli Lloyd in 2015 to score in a World Cup semifinal and final.

Spain had a chance to double the lead in the 68th but Jenni Hermoso’s penalty attempt was saved by Mary Earps, who anticipated perfectly and dived to her left.

Spain’s victory comes despite a near-mutiny by players last year. Fifteen players said they were stepping away from the national team for their mental health while also calling for a more professional environment.

Three of those players — Ona Batlle, Aitana Bonmatí and Mariona Caldentey — reconciled with the federation and were at the World Cup.

England had momentum going into the tournament after winning the European Championship at home last summer. But three of the team’s best players, captain Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead, all had knee injuries that kept them off the World Cup squad.

England coach Sarina Wiegman was the first coach to take her teams to back-to-back World Cup title matches. She led the Netherlands to the final in 2019, but fell 2-0 to the United States. She's now 0-2 in the championship match.-Agencies