England or Spain will be crowned champions for first time in front of record crowds
\n SYDNEY
\nA Women\u2019s World Cup that has broken records on and off the pitch will reach a suitable climax on Sunday when England or Spain are crowned champions for the first time.
\nAbout 75,000 fans will pack Stadium Australia in Sydney for the final of a World Cup that began with 32 teams, compared to 24 four years ago, and saw many of the favourites fall early.
\nGermany bowed out in the group phase together with Brazil, Italy and Olympic champions Canada, then holders the United States followed them out the trapdoor in the last 16 \u2013 their earliest exit ever.
\nSouth Africa, Jamaica and Morocco all reached the last 16 for the first time, and Colombia made a maiden quarter-final appearance before a 2-1 defeat to England.
\nThe exploits of the lower-ranked sides are evidence that the gap has closed significantly in international women\u2019s football, but in the end, it is two of the leading sides who will contest the final.
\nSarina Wiegman\u2019s England are European champions and came into the World Cup as favourites along with the United States.
\nBut like Spain, England have never reached the World Cup final before.
\nThe two teams met in the quarter-finals of last year\u2019s European Championship, with Wiegman\u2019s Lionesses winning 2-1 in extra time and going on to beat Germany in the final for their first major title.
\nOn that occasion, England had the backing of fervent home support, a luxury they will not have this time. If anything, Australian fans at the final are likely to cheer for Spain.
\nThe anticipated sell-out crowd at Stadium Australia will bookend a tournament that is the best-attended in Women\u2019s World Cup history.
\nWiegman has a world-class squad to call upon, but it is the coach herself who is arguably England\u2019s biggest asset.
\nShe is the standard-bearer for woman coaches, having won the Euros with her native Netherlands and then repeating the feat with England.
\nDescribed by her players as calm but direct, Wiegman took the Dutch to the World Cup final four years ago, where they lost 2-0 to the United States.
\n\u201cHaving the chance as a coach or a player to make it to two finals is really special,\u201d the 53-year-old said after her side defied a partisan crowd to defeat co-hosts Australia 3-1 in Wednesday\u2019s semi-final.
\n\u201cI never take anything for granted, but it\u2019s like I\u2019m living in a fairytale or something.\u201d
\nWiegman is already hugely respected in her adopted country but now she is one victory away from joining Alf Ramsey, who took England to the men\u2019s title in 1966, in winning a World Cup for England.
\nSpain have defied turmoil off the pitch to make their own history.
\nTheir preparations were clouded by a dispute with 15 players who last year said they no longer wanted to be considered for selection.
\nCoach Jorge Vilda and his strict personality were chief among a litany of complaints, but here they are, missing 12 of the 15 but on the cusp of world domination.
\nEngland have not been perfect in reaching the final and needed penalties to see off Nigeria in the last 16, before more convincing displays in defeating Colombia and Australia.
\nBut Spain have also had their challenges at this tournament.
\nThey were thumped 4-0 by Japan in their final group game, the caveat being that both teams had already qualified for the knockout rounds.
\nSpain then thrashed Switzerland 5-1 and squeezed past the Netherlands and Sweden by identical 2-1 scorelines, the victory over the Dutch coming in extra time.
\nVilda says that the turmoil that once threatened to torpedo their World Cup \u201cmade all of us stronger\u201d.
\n\u201cNow we can file it away and put it behind us and think about the future, and think that we deserve to be where we are,\u201d he said after Olga Carmona\u2019s sumptuous 89th-minute strike propelled them past Sweden in the semi-finals.
\nIt is proof of Spain\u2019s depth of resources that they have hardly missed the players who refused to play under Vilda.
\nOn top of that, reigning two-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner Alexia Putellas has been reduced to a bit-part role as she struggles to regain form and fitness after injury.
\nIn her place, Barcelona playmaker Aitana Bonmati \u2013 who had been part of the protesting 15 \u2013 has emerged as Spain\u2019s creative force and the player England must stop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
England or Spain will be crowned champions for first time in front of record crowds SYDNEY A Women\u2019s World Cup that has broken records on and off the pitch will reach a suitable climax on Sunday when England or Spain are crowned champions for the first time. About 75,000 fans will pack Stadium Australia in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-350247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n