England women inspire next generation despite World Cup heartbreak

England fell to a 1-0 defeat to Spain in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 final but can leave the tournament with their heads held high having inspired the next generation of young women and girls. 

Looking to become the first England team to win the World Cup since 1966, Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses started the match well in Sydney and were inches away from scoring in the 14th minute, when Manchester City's Lauren Hemp smashed a shot against the crossbar. 

Instead, Real Madrid's Olga Carmona gave Spain a 29th-minute lead, running into space vacated by England right-back Lucy Bronze and finishing well into the bottom corner. 

England's Mary Earps, the winner of the tournament's Golden Glove award, had earlier made a great save with the score at 0-0, and the Manchester United goalkeeper came to the rescue in the second half with a fantastic stop from a penalty awarded for a handball by Keira Walsh.

But England, who brought on Chelsea's Lauren James and Man City's Chloe Kelly at half-time, were unable to find an equalising goal, with James's shot that was tipped over the crossbar the closest they came to forcing extra-time. 

Power of the women's game

England's run to the final has showcased the power of the women’s game and inspired women and girls around the world to get involved with football at a time when there are more opportunities than ever before to get involved.

Some 67 FA Girls' Emerging Talent Centres (ETC) across England are being funded by the Premier League with the aim to double the number of female players aged 8-16 engaged in The FA programmes from 1,722 to over 4,200 by the end of this season.

“Opportunities at the younger age groups have changed, developed, grown since I was a young player coming through as we see with the evidence today at the Emerging Talent Centres that have been heavily invested in by the Premier League,” said Fara Williams, England’s most-capped player.

The funding for the ETC is part of some £21million that the Premier League is investing in women’s and girls’ football over the next three years.

Premier League Kicks, run by 90 clubs up and down the country, offers girls the chance to play football for free on a weekly basis.

See: Get involved in PL Kicks

The Premier League Primary Stars Kit Scheme is providing 4,000 sets of Nike football kit to schools with a girls’ team, while the Premier League Primary Stars School Tournament offers schools’ girls teams with an annual tournament on a Premier League pitch.

See: 'PL Kicks encourages girls to play football'

This is the second successive summer in which the Lionesses have won the nation's hearts, having won the UEFA Women's Championship in 2022, and the return of the Women's Super League in October is the next chance to see the heroes in action.

Twenty of the England squad play in the WSL, all for clubs who are in the Premier League.

See: WSL schedule

Record viewing figures

The expansion of the tournament to 32 countries has demonstrated the strength in depth of women’s football across the globe as established footballing nations have met their match in up-and-coming countries below them in the rankings.

Almost two million spectators have watched the tournament across Australia and New Zealand, a record, with the 75,784 fans who watched Australia’s match v Ireland the highest WWC attendance for 24 years. Almost two billion fans across the world tuned in to watch the 62 matches leading to the final.

And with the growth of the women's game so has a benefit to football as whole, as the latest viewing figures from Sky Sports demonstrated. 

Of Sky's eight million viewers from their opening weekend, 2.9m were women, a 50 per cent increase from last year.