 England's wait for a World Cup trophy goes on. As the team were applauded through Sydney airport, heading home on a plane on Monday afternoon, the mood felt downcast. There were tears on the pitch at the final whistle, because of course there were. This was not the way the story was supposed to end. English football has a fairly strained relationship with winning but the Lionesses had shown that could change in July last year. It felt like this was a side who looked to always find a way, who would not take no for an answer. But up against Spain, they faltered and in truth, they did little to show that they deserved to win. Many of the same problems that they had had throughout the tournament and in the build up reared their heads. A lack of connection going forward limited their ability to create chances, whilst they struggled to deal with pace in the channels. Sarina Wiegman's decisive half-time changes would have been heralded as a masterstroke if they had come off, but despite the introduction of Lauren James and Chloe Kelly, Spain's grip on the game only tightened. In the end, despite 13 minutes of added time, England never really looked like scoring. Given the fact Spain had conceded in every one of their knockout games, that was a frustrating end to a tournament where England had regularly been clinical in front of goal. For now the wait goes on for a World Cup trophy. Lucy Bronze has been an England mainstay for a decade (Picture: Getty) What comes next for this England team? Whilst the sadness of losing the final obviously hangs over everything right now, this still represents England's best ever finish at a Women's World Cup. To reach consecutive finals at a European Championship and World Cup is something very few teams manage to do, let alone teams who have been forced to replace four starters in 12 months. This England team was weakened repeatedly and found a way to get back up.){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
England’s wait for a World Cup trophy goes on. As the team were applauded through Sydney airport, heading home on a plane on Monday afternoon, the mood felt downcast.
There were tears on the pitch at the final whistle, because of course there were. This was not the way the story was supposed to end.
English football has a fairly strained relationship with winning but the Lionesses had shown that could change in July last year. It felt like this was a side who looked to always find a way, who would not take no for an answer.
But up against Spain, they faltered and in truth, they did little to show that they deserved to win. Many of the same problems that they had had throughout the tournament and in the build up reared their heads. A lack of connection going forward limited their ability to create chances, whilst they struggled to deal with pace in the channels.