On 20 August 2023, at Sydney’s Accor Stadium and in front of 75,784 spectators, Spain won their first football World Cup. A goal from the captain, Olga Carmona, in the 29th minute was enough to fell England and place the women’s national team at the summit of the planet. But the road to that goal was far less linear than the final result suggests.
Spain arrived at the tournament in Australia and New Zealand as one of the favourites, and started like a whirlwind: 3-0 against Costa Rica and 5-0 against Zambia. Then, in the final group game, came the slap in the face: Japan thrashed Spain 4-0. A harsh defeat which, far from sinking the team, served as a warning. Qualified all the same as group runners-up, la Roja entered the knockout rounds with a different face.
From there, the team managed by Jorge Vilda strung together an emotional fightback, match by match. In the last sixteen, 5-1 against Switzerland, without breaking sweat. In the quarter-finals, a gruelling duel with the Netherlands settled in extra time by a goal from the teenager Salma Paralluelo (2-1). And in the semi-finals, against Sweden, the tensest match of all: 2-1 with a Carmona strike in the 89th minute that put Spain into the final for the first time in their history.
The final was an exercise in maturity. Spain dominated, controlled the ball — their hallmark — and struck through Olga Carmona’s goal, a full-back who scored the decisive goal in both the semi-final and the final. England, the reigning European champions, barely threatened. When the referee blew the final whistle, an unrepeatable generation was crowned champions of the world.
The footballing symbol of that team was Aitana Bonmatí, named the tournament’s best player. Around her, a spine of talent — Carmona, Paralluelo, Mariona Caldentey, Teresa Abelleira, Cata Coll — that blended experience and youth in just the right measure.
And yet the image that travelled around the world was not that of the trophy. What happened at the medal ceremony — the Rubiales case — tarnished the celebration and opened a chapter that transcended sport. The sporting conquest and the players’ fight for their dignity were bound together, for ever, in the story of that summer.
Seen with hindsight, the 2023 World Cup was much more than a title. It was the confirmation of decades of history against the tide and the starting point of an era. Two years later would come the final of Euro 2025; and in 2027, in Brazil, Spain will defend a world crown for the first time.
