Spain won its first Women's 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. Spain's first major international trophy made it the first European team to win the Women's World Cup since Germany in 2007. Also read : Is it coming home? England looks to bring Women's World Cup trophy back to the birthplace of soccer At the final whistle the Spanish players piled on each other in front of their goal. Carmona's left-foot shot in the 29th minute went into the far corner of the net and just out of reach of diving England goalkeeper Mary Earps. Also read : Australia edge France on penalties to reach the Women's World Cup semifinals, will face England 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. Also read : The future is uncertain for the United States after crashing out of the Women's World Cup Spain had a chance to double the lead in the 68th but Jenni Hermoso's penalty attempt was saved by 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. England was coming off a 3-1 victory over host Australia in the semifinal. Lauren James, who was the team's top scorer with three goals and three assists, was forced to sit out two matches because of a suspension for stomping on Nigeria's Michelle Alozie to open the knockout stage. While James was available for the final, Wiegman started Ella Toone. James came into the match to start the second half. The game was briefly interrupted in the 25th minute by a person who raced onto the field but was quickly tackled by security. One of England's best chances was in the 16th when Lauren Hemp's blast caromed off the crossbar. A minute later, Salma Paralluelo raced to the goal but couldn't get a clean shot and Earps stopped Alba Redondo's attempt in the scramble in front of the net.   Vilda started 19-year-old Paralluelo, who scored the breakthrough goal for Spain against Sweden, and the game-winner in extra time over the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. Paralluelo's nearly scored seconds from half time but her shot hit the post. She was handed a yellow card in the 78th minute for a foul on Alex Greenwood, who had a cut above her eye. Hemp had another chance in the 54th but sent it wide. A minute later she was handed a yellow card for a foul on Laia Codina. Spain had a chance to double the lead in the 68th after a video review awarded a penalty after Keira Walsh's handball. But Earps kept England in the game, as she did with a succession of saves late. Coach Jorge Vilda had a challenge in working around two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas, who was still working her way back from a torn ACL last year. For the final, Putellas was on the bench at the start. Putellas went into the game with 15 seconds left in regulation, but there were 13 minutes of stoppage time. There were 75,784 fans at the final at Stadium Australia, including tennis great Billie Jean King. The two teams met last year in the quarterfinals of the Euros, with England coming from behind to beat Spain 2-1 in extra time on Georgia Stanway's goal.

The rallying cry "It's Coming Home" is one game away from reality and the end of England's 57-year drought in global soccer. Also read: 4 women, nat’l women's football team receive Bangamata Fazilatunnesa Mujib Padak-2023 The World Cup trophy can return this Sunday to the birthplace of soccer for the first time since 1966. But if it happens, the journey back to England will be with the women's national team and not the men's. The Lionesses have roared their way into their first Women's World Cup title game, Sunday against Spain. It is the first all-European final since 2003, when Germany beat Sweden. Also read:Bruised Ronaldo scores twice to edge showdown with Messi It has been a magical ride for both teams: England has been on top of the global game since winning the European Championship last summer, and Spain is in its first final less than a year since 15 players quit the team in protest. But England was expected to be here, and all around the world, in pubs and at viewing parties, England supporters have been singing "It's Coming Home," the unintentional reminder that the soccer team hasn't won the World Cup since 1966. The men's team was the winner that year, and the Lionesses' appearance in Sunday's title game is England's first finale in the 57 years since. Also read:Messi scores early in 1st game outside Florida for Inter Miami at FC Dallas England's return to prominence has been led by coach Sarina Wiegman, who was hired in late 2021 as the team's first non-British manager. Wiegman is now back in her second consecutive finale, and the only coach in the history of the tournament to take two nations to the final. Wiegman was coach of the Netherlands when the Dutch lost 2-0 to the United States in 2019. "Every step has been really, really hard. But again, we find a way," she said. "And I think the opponents, the women's game has grown so much that it's really hard to get through. So I know it's very, very special and that's how it feels, too." Wiegman is after he second major trophy at the helm of England after guiding the Lionesses' to their first European championship last year. England is coming off a 3-1 victory over host Australia in the semifinal, the second consecutive game played without leading scorer Lauren James. She was suspended against Colombia and Australia for stomping on a Nigerian player following a tackle in the knockout round. The 21-year-old has three goals and three assists in this World Cup and apologized to her teammates for the split-second play on field that forced England to push its way through the tournament without the Chelsea midfielder. Spain, meanwhile, has defied expectations in the World Cup by reaching the final despite a near-mutiny by players last fall. Spain saw 15 players quit the national team citing mental health concerns. The players called on the federation to create a more professional environment. Three of those players — midfielder Aitana Bonmati, forward Mariona Caldentey and defender Ona Batlle — reconciled with the federation and are back for the tournament. Jorge Vilda has thanked the federation for its support of the coach repeatedly during the tournament, and his players have said they are focused on the present. Spain earned its spot in the final with a 2-1 victory over Sweden on Tuesday. Salma Paralluelo ended a scoreless stalemate with a goal in the 81st minute. After Sweden tied it, Olga Carmona scored the game winner in the final minute of regulation. At the start of practice on Friday, 19-year-old Paralluelo was treated for what appeared to be a cramp in her left leg. Also absent was forward Alba Redondo, who was riding a stationary bike off to the side. "We have all the squad ready for the final. We are going to be 100% ready, everyone is ready for the game. It's nothing to worry about," Batlle said. In addition to the breakthrough goal against Sweden, Paralleulo scored the extra-time winner over the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. "I play against her everyday in training. I knew what she was capable of before this tournament so seeing her do so well for Spain, I have seen that in training," said England's Lucy Bronze, a teammate of Paralleulo's on Spanish club Barcelona. Nine of the Spanish players are on Barcelona's squad, as well as two of the Lionesses. Spain has not seen consistent play during the World Cup from two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas, who tore her ACL before the 2022 European Championship and is still returning to form. But Bonmati's playmaking has helped in her absence. La Roja also have the opportunity to bring home a new trophy, after the men's team won the World Cup in 2010. Spain's women have never won a major tournament. "Now we have the chance to do it," Bonmati said. "It's magic. Unique."

Bangladesh were eliminated from the ICC U-19 Women's T20 World Cup despite beating the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by five wickets in their last Super Six match of Group-1 at the North-West University Ground-1 in South Africa's Potchefstroom Wednesday. After Group-1 Super Six matches, India, Australia, South Africa and Bangladesh secured six points each from four matches. But India (2,844) and Australia (2,210) made the semi-final with a better run rate than Bangladesh (1,226) and South Africa (0.374). In today's match, the UAE folded for 69-9 in the stipulated 20 overs after choosing to bat first. Only Lavanya Keny (29) and Mahika Gaur (17) reached double digits. Rabeya Khan grabbed three wickets for 14 runs in her four-over spell; all-rounder Marufa Akter claimed two wickets for 16 runs in four overs. Chasing 70, Bangladesh scored 73-5 in 9.1 overs. Shorna Akter top scored 38 runs off 19 balls, with four fours and two sixes. Also, Afia Prottasha scored run-a-ball 15 with three boundaries; Robeya Khan made a 13-ball 14 runs, with two boundaries. Also read: U-19 Women’s World Cup: Bangladesh to play UAE on Wednesday for a semifinal berth Samaira Dharnidharka and Indhuja Nandakumar picked up two wickets for 18 and 34 runs, respectively.  Earlier, Bangladesh reached the Super Six after topping Group A with an unbeaten record, securing six points from three straight matches. They earned a seven-wicket victory over giant Australia, a 10-run win over Sri Lanka and a five-wicket victory over the US. But the young tigresses slipped in the semifinal race after losing their first Super Six match against hosts South Africa by five wickets Saturday.    

Six-time world champion Australia swept aside Pakistan by seven wickets Tuesday to remain unbeaten after two group-stage matches at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. Pakistan scored 190-6 after being sent in to bat at Mount Maunganui and Australia surpassed that total in just under 35 overs. Australia's run chase was set up by opener Alyssa Healy who made 72 from 79 balls. Ellyse Perry (26 not out) and Beth Mooney (23 not out) were at the crease when the winning runs were struck. Also Read: Rumana Ahmed on the verge of reaching two milestones as first Bangladeshi woman cricketer For Pakistan, captain Bismah Maroof finished 78 not out, falling one run short of the highest score by a Pakistan player in a Women's World Cup match. Maroof shared a 99-run partnership with Aliya Riaz, a fifth-wicket record for Pakistan in one-day internationals. Riaz made 57. That simple synopsis of the match at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui doesn't come close to encapsulating its significance on International Women’s Day. Australia has competed in every women’s World Cup since the first in 1973, winning in 1978, ‘82, ’88, ‘97, 2005 and ’13. It has produced some of the greatest players in the history of women’s cricket and entered the tournament as the favorite to win again. Cricket Australia recently announced measures to boost the base salary for women players to $65,000 Australian dollars ($48,000) and women's cricket moves steadily toward pay parity with the men's game. There was no formal women’s cricket in Pakistan until the 1990s when it began with the most tentative of footholds at the initiative of sisters Shaiza and Sharmeen Khan. As late as 1997 the Pakistan women’s team was denied permission to play on religious grounds. But he Pakistan Cricket Board established a so-called Women's Wing in 2005 and the women's national team has since participated in four World Cups. With limited resources it had won only two World Cup matches before the current tournament. Most of the current Pakistan team are at least semi professional and the team’s coaches and support staff are full-time But the greatest measure of the progress women’s cricket has made on this IWD is that 29-year-old Mahroof played the innings while her daughter Fatimah, born in August, was in the pavilion. Maroof returned to international cricket six months after her daughter's birth. Also Read: India beats Pakistan by 107 runs at Women's World Cup The Pakistan Cricket Board is sharing costs to allow Maroof “to travel with a support person of her choice to assist in caring for her infant child.” Maroof’s mother cared for Fatimah while her mother was at the crease and in the field. “Of course in this comeback it was very important for me to perform and it’s very special as my mother and daughter are here so I wanted to make it count,” Maroof said. Pakistan played India in its opening match on the weekend and India’s star batter Smriti Mandhana described Maroof’s return to international cricket “inspiring.” “Coming back post pregnancy in six months and playing international cricket is so inspiring,” Mandhana said on Instagram. “Mahroof is setting an example for sportswomen across the globe.”

Suzie Bates scored 79 and shared an unbroken 108-run partnership with Amelia Kerr to steer New Zealand to a nine-wicket win over Bangladesh on Monday in a rain-shortened match at the Women’s Cricket World Cup. The win breathed new life into New Zealand’s ailing campaign after its shock loss to the West Indies in the tournament's opening match put the host a step behind the leading teams after the first full round of matches. For much of Monday, New Zealand faced the bleak prospect that its match against Bangladesh would be washed out, that the teams would share the points and it would be left with only one point from two games. Read:Allan Donald: What Can Bangladesh Cricket Expect From Their New Pace Bowling Coach? But the rain that prevented the start of play at 11 a.m. local time lifted to allow a shortened match to get underway at 3 p.m. A minimum of 20 overs per side was needed to constitute a match. Bangladesh batted first after losing the toss and made 140-8, led by Fargana Hoque, who made 52 from 63 balls. New Zealand lost Sophie Devine, a century-maker in its opening match, with the total at 36 in the seventh over. Bates and Kerr came together and guided New Zealand to victory with seven overs or 42 balls to spare. Kerr dabbed the ball behind point for four to bring up the winning runs and finish 47 not out. Bates’ half century was her 28th in one-day internationals and at 73 she surpassed 1,000 runs in World Cup matches. Her innings was also her first in an international match on her home ground at the University Oval. It was played in intermittent rain and in bitterly cold conditions. New Zealand always faced the nervous prospect the rain might return intensely enough to stop the match before the 20th over, causing the points to be shared. The rain at times was heavy during the New Zealand innings but Bangladesh kept the contest alive regardless and New Zealand won at the completion of the 20th over. Read:India beats Pakistan by 107 runs at Women's World Cup “It’s been a strange day,” said Bates, who was player of the match. “It’s my home town, I’ve never played here and this morning I opened the curtains and I was devastated. “Once I got out there it was just about having fun and having that partnership with (Amelia) and absorbing that pressure. " Bangladesh began aggressively after being sent in, taking a toll on the New Zealand medium pacers and rushing to 31 after only three overs. But the advent of the spinners slowed down the scoring rate and, as wickets fell regularly, it struggled to rebuild momentum. New Zealand made a more cautious beginning and was 29-0 after, 57-1 after 10 overs. Bates and Kerr accumulated steadily, mostly through singles. Bangladesh set a tight ring field and fielded well, making boundaries hard to come by. Near the end, New Zealand stepped up the pace and the century partnership between Bates and Kerr came from 81 balls.

Pooja Rastraka made a career-best 69 in a 112-run seventh-wicket partnership with Sneh Rana which lifted India to a 107-run win over Pakistan in its opening match Sunday at the Women’s Cricket World Cup. India was the first team in four matches at the tournament to bat first on winning the toss. The other three teams, New Zealand against the West Indies, Bangladesh against South Africa and England against Australia, all bowled first and failed in run chases. Read:ICC Women's World Cup: Tigresses start campaign on wrong foot In Sunday’s match, India made a commanding 244-7, then defended its total superbly through the spin bowling of Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Deepti Sharma and Rana as Pakistan struggled to generate momentum and was out for 137 in 43 overs. Left-armer Gayakwad and off-spinners Sharma and Rana bowled with relentless accuracy to a suffocating off-side field and the Pakistan batters couldn't find profitable scoring areas. Gayakwad took 4-31 from her 10 overs. Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh claimed five dismissals. There wasn’t much turn from the pitch at the Bay Oval but the India spinners used flight and drop to restrict Pakistan. After five overs Pakistan was 6-0, after 15 overs 43-1, after 20 overs 65-3. Pakistan also bowled well early in the India innings, checking the scoring through the use of spin. India lost opener Shafali Verma in only the third over but a half century from Smitri Mandhana allowed it to recover to 96-1 in the 22nd over when Mandhana fell for 52. India then lost five wickets for 18 runs between the 23rd and 34th overs, slumping to 114-6 as Pakistan appeared to grab the upper hand. The wickets that fell included India captain Mithali Raj for 9. In taking the field Sunday, Mithali became the first woman and third player after Javed Miandad and Sachin Tendulkar to play at six World Cups after her first in 2000. Mithali has played in all 11 of India’s matches against Pakistan and India is unbeaten in those matches. Her goal on Sunday was for India to score 250 or more and they fell just short. Vastrakar was the reason they even came close, coming to the crease No. 7 and reaching her one-day international half century from 48 balls. Her entire innings of 69 came from 57 deliveries and swung the match heavily towards India. “I’m very happy to win my first Player of the Match trophy and in a World Cup game,” Vastrakar said. “The focus was to get the team towards 200 and I planned my batting with that in mind. “I love batting in pressure situations. In domestic cricket, coaches always send me out to bat when the team is under pressure.” Read:Domingo expresses disappointment over sloppy fielding Vastrakar found the perfect partner in in Rana who also scored at a high rate, reaching her maiden ODI half century from 45 balls with four boundaries. India was 160-6 in the 40th over and added 84 runs in the last 10 overs to put a score on the board which required Pakistan to reach its highest World Cup total to win. India’s win took it to the top of the points table on run-rate after the first full matches. South Africa, Australia and the West Indies also have two points.

Bangladesh women's cricket team, playing in their first ever ICC Women's World Cup game, failed to mark the occasion with a positive note as they fell to a 32-run defeat against South Africa at University Oval in Dunedin, New Zealand on Saturday. Despite staying in the hunt for most of the game, and probably edging it at the innings break, some tidy work with the ball and in the field came unstuck during the run chase, as failure to score freely in the first half of their innings left the Bangladeshi girls with simply too much to do in the final stretch, and they failed to keep up. Sent in to bat first, the Proteas women were bowled out for a moderate 207 in 49.5 overs, featuring a 71-run sixth-wicket stand between Chioe Tryon and Marizanne Kapp. The pair helped carry the South African team total past 200 after coming together at 119/5. Kapp contributed the team highest 42 runs off 45 balls with three boundaries, while Tryon scored a 40-ball 39, hitting one four and two sixes. Opener Laura made 41 runs off 53 deliveries with five hits to the fence in the other notable score. Read: T20I series drawn after AFG better BAN in low-scoring affair Left-arm pacer Fariha Islam Trisna, 19,  was the most successful among the Bangladesh bowlers, taking a career-best 3/35. Jahanara Alam and Ritu Moni claimed two wickets each conceding 28 and 36 runs respectively. Chasing a moderate total, Bangladesh  were dismissed for 175 in 49.3 overs, despite two good partnerships. Openers Shamima Sultana and  Akhter dropped anchor and Bangladesh lost their first wicket with 69 runs on the board - but they used up almost 20 overs in the process. Sharmin contributed the highest 34 runs, but she struggled to get the bowlers away, taking 77 balls for a strike rate of just 44, despite four boundaries. Her partner Shamima fared marginally better in terms of strike rate, compiling 27 off 50 deliveries (strike rate 54). Read: Cricketers remember Warne in Pakistan vs Australia test Even captain Nigar Sultana was tied down, scoring a painstaking 29 off 59 balls (strike rate 49) as runs dried up in the middle overs as well. When Salma Khatun was dismissed cheaply for 2, Bangladesh were 113/6 in the 36th over, and the game looked out of reach. That brought Ritu Moni (27 runs off 38 balls) out to join Rumana Ahmed (21 off 32), and they rallied with a spunky partnership of 53 off 10 overs that brought Bangladesh within range again. But when the partnership was broken, the required rate had grown to 10 an over, and that was always going to be a tall order for the tail, who managed to only add another nine runs to the scoreboard, as South Africa applied the finishing touches.  Ayabonga Khaka finished with figures of 4/43 off 10 overs, including three maidens, and in the process became the fifth South African to take 100 ODI wickets. It was also her second four-for in ODIs. She was adjudged player of the match. Bangladesh will play their next match against hosts New Zealand on Monday (Mar 7).