Despite the excitement provided by others earlier in the tournament, the axis of women’s football has been tilting inexorably towards western Europe for some time.
Not long after he had taken up his post as president of the Spanish federation, Luis Rubiales called a meeting with the organisation’s head of women’s football, Rafael Del Amo. Like his boss, Del Amo was new to his role, but Rubiales wanted to gauge his first impressions. He wanted to know what the Spanish women’s team needed in order to succeed.
In one light, it is perhaps a slightly underwhelming denouement to a World Cup that has acted as a showcase for the breadth of talent now flourishing across the women’s game. The last four weeks have been illuminated, at various times, by Nigeria and Jamaica, Morocco and South Africa, Colombia and Australia.
The finalists’ journeys to this point do not match exactly. The roots of England’s transformation run a little deeper, back to the launch of the Women’s Super League in 2011 and taking in the establishment of a second division , the switch to a winter season and full professionalisation . Most of coach Jorge Vilda’s squad in Australia and New Zealand took part in one, or more, of those campaigns: Salma Paralluelo, the brilliant forward who ranks as this tournament’s breakout star, scored twice in the final of the under-20 World Cup last year.
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