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Spain win 2023 Women’s World Cup
England’s wait to win a first Women’s World Cup title goes on after Spain deservedly triumphed in the final in Sydney.
The Lionesses, looking to become the first England senior side since the men’s team in 1966 to win the World Cup, suffered a heartbreak after being outplayed by a Spanish side full of flair and creativity.
England’s players fell to their knees in tears at the final whistle as Spain celebrated inside their penalty area after dealing with a final corner kick in the 14th minute of nerve-wracking stoppage time. Spain captain Olga Carmona slotted the winner past goalkeeper Mary Earps in the first half, capitalising after England’s Lucy Bronze lost possession in midfield.
England manager Sarina Wiegman, who has now lost two successive World Cup finals, introduced Lauren James and Chloe Kelly at half-time but Spain maintained control despite the Lionesses’ best efforts.
Earps, who won the Golden Glove award as best goalkeeper at the tournament, made several stunning saves, none better than from the penalty spot to deny Jenni Hermoso in the second half.
The Manchester United stopper moved early to her left and caught Hermoso’s effort, the penalty having being awarded for handball against midfielder Keira Walsh following a lengthy video assistant referee review. But it was one step too far for the European champions, who lost just their second match in two years under Wiegman.
Spain are crowned champions for the first time despite going into the tournament under a cloud of contoversey following a dispute between players and the Spanish football federation.
Both teams came into the final full of confidence, having improved on their performances throughout the tournament.
England, who played in front of a sold-out Wembley crowd last summer to win the Euros final, started brightly, testing Spain’s defence with balls over the top and in behind.
Manchester City forward Lauren Hemp was direct and aggressive, and had England’s best chance but her curling effort from 15 yards hit the crossbar.
However Spain, packed with Barcelona stars who won their second Women’s Champions League title this season, imposed their quality and worked out how to deal with England’s high press.
They dominated large chunks of the game, exposing the spaces left by England’s attacking full-backs and took their chance when Bronze cut inside from the right and was stopped by a wall of red in the centre circle.
Spain intelligently switched play to their left and Carmona ran on to a simple pass from Mariona Caldentey before stroking the ball low past a diving Earps.
Spain had several chances to extend their lead – Earps blocked shots from Ona Batlle, Caldentey and Alba Redondo in each half – while Salma Paralluelo’s first-time strike brushed the post on the stroke of half-time.
It was a deserved victory for Spain but it will feel like a missed opportunity for the Lionesses, who have found a way to win so often under Wiegman but could not find the answers in the biggest game in their history.
Prior to this year’s competition, Spain had only ever won one Women’s World Cup match.
They had suffered defeat at the hands of England in the Euro 2022 quarter-finals but unlike that evening in Brighton when the Lionesses came from behind to win 2-1, Spain stuck to their task and saw out victory.
The streets of Sydney, which had been draped in green and gold for most of the competition, were transformed on Sunday to represent Spain and England’s colours.
England fans came dressed in costumes, banging drums and chanting on the city’s trains en route to the stadium and though they dominated numbers in the crowd, it was Spain’s supporters celebrating at full-time.
Bronze, 31, was in tears lying on the pitch at full-time and had to watch on as many of her Barcelona team-mates danced for the cameras while they prepared the stage for the trophy celebration.
She has won almost everything in the game but still cannot get her hands on the most desired trophy of them all.
Meanwhile, Spain’s achievement is a remarkable one given manager Jorge Vilda survived a player revolt less than 12 months ago. That unrest in the set-up meant they were missing Sandra Panos, Mapi Leon, Patri Guijarro and Claudia Pina, who all helped Barcelona win the Champions League in June.
Their victory could transform women’s football in Spain, which has been thrust into the limelight in recent years following Barcelona’s domestic success.
(BBC Sports)
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Heavy showers about (100-150) mm are likely at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 13 October 2026
Issued at 2.00 p.m. on 12 October 2026 by the Department of Meteorology
A low-pressure area may form over the southeastern Bay of Bengal by 13 October.
Under the influence of this system, an increase in rainfall is expected over the island and the deep and shallow sea areas around the island during the next few days from tomorrow (13).
The general public, as well as the naval and fishing communities, are requested to be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the Department of Meteorology in this regard.
Heavy showers about (100-150) mm are likely at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces.
Fairly heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the other areas of the island. Showers or thundershowers will occur in most parts of the island.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Misty conditions can be expected at some places in the Sabaragamuwa, Central and Uva provinces during the early hours of the morning.
Maaz Sadaqat crashed 96 off 51,Sahibzada Farhan clobbered 73 off 44, and Pakistan scorched their way through the last 12 overs of their innings to mount a fearsome total of 215 for 3. Pakistan reaped 156 runs just in the last 12 overs of their innings, as a 73-run stand between Sadaqat and Farhan was followed by a manic 72-run partnership between Sadaqat and Hasan Nawaz.
Sri Lanka’s batting was woeful in response. They slumped to 64 for 5 by the 11th over, with none of their top seven managing to get to 30. They limped to 133 for 7, having had their hopes of leveling the series wrecked by quicks Mohammad Imran and Salman Mirza, who took five wickets between them.
Sadaqat propels Pakistan into the stratosphere
The openers had laid a decent platform with Pakistan having got to 55 for 1 by the end of the seventh over. But it was Sadaqat who injected the energy that truly set Pakistan on course to their mammoth total. Having gone at less than a run a ball in his first eight balls, Sadaqat unleashed a spectacular lofted square drive off Eshan Malinga to collect his first six, before pumping the same bowler down the ground later in the 10th over.
Sadaqat would go on to clobber six further sixes and five further fours. The big hits tended to come down the ground, while his fours were more square of the wicket. Of the 125 runs Pakistan plundered in the second half of their innings, 79 off 40 came from Sadaqat, who pummeled both pace and spin with equal relish. Off the sixteenth over, bowled by Maheesh Theekshana, Sadaqat thumped three sixes in the arc between long on and midwicket.
Sadaqat, whose previous top score in three T20Is had been 50, could have gone to triple figures off the last ball of the innings, but holed out to deep cover instead, unable to quite find the power to lift a Malinga slower ball over the ropes. He had utterly dominated the middle and late overs, however.
Farhan sets the tone
On another flat Rawalpindi deck, Farhan made the first big charge, although he waited until spin came on to really get into high gear. Theekshana was one of his main victims as well. Farhan’s first six came from a slog sweep off Theekshana in the seventh over, before he launched the same bowler over wide long on and cow corner off successive balls in the ninth over. Getting to his 12th T20I fifty off the 31st ball he faced, Farhan began to aim big blows off the seamers as well. He was caught at deep third off the bowling of Dasun Shanaka, in the 15th over.
Sri Lanka stumble in the powerplay
An excellent Salman Mirza bouncer took the glove of Lahiru Udara in the first over, ending the innings of one of Sri Lanka’s few form batters for a mere five runs. And although Sineth Jayawardena – playing his first international in a full-strength Sri Lanka side – hit three consecutive boundaries in the third over, Sri Lanka were unable to build up any momentum in the powerplay. By the end of the sixth over, they had laboured to 35 for 2.
Imran’s spell lights up the middle overs
A full house in Rawalpindi was treated to some excellent fast bowling by Imran, who finished with the game’s best figures of 3 for 11 from his four overs. Having got Jayawardena to top-edge a desperate pull shot at the end of his second over, Imran had Kusal Mendis caught behind off a slower delivery, before two balls later (a wide in between), he took Sahan Arachchige’s edge with a quick delivery angled across the left-hander. Wicketkeeper Khawaja Nafay made two diving grabs to convert these chances in the eighth over.
All through his unbroken spell, Sri Lanka’s batter struggled to so much as hit Imran off the square, despite the good batting conditions on offer. Imran mixed up his pace, frequently going to slower balls, but his line and length control were also excellent through the spell. When he finished his unbroken spell at the end of the 10th over, Sri Lanka’s required rate had climbed past 15.
Chamindu Wickramasinghe and Theekshana struck some late boundaries, but by the time they came to the crease, Sri Lanka did not have a realistic shot at levelling this series. They lost by 82 runs in the end.
Scores:
Pakistan 215 for 3 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 73, Fakhar Zaman 22, Maaz Sadaqat 96, Hasan Nawaz 19*; Maheesh Theekshana 1-55, Eshan Malinga 1-41,Dasun Shanaka 1-30) beat Sri Lanka 133 for 7 (Sineth Jayawardena 22, Kamnbdu Mendis 23, Chamindu Wickremasinghe 29, Maheesh Theekshana 32*; Salman Mirza 2=28, Mohammad Imran 3-11, Saim Ayub 1-19, Shadab Khan 1-19) by 82 runs
[Cricinfo]
At least 139 people, including 15 children, have died and 84 are missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti, according to the United Nations migration agency.
In a statement on Sunday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) quoted survivors as saying that the incident happened near Guhere off Djibouti’s eastern coast in the Gulf of Aden near the Bab al-Mandeb strait from Thursday night to before dawn on Friday.
The boat was heading from Djibouti to Yemen with more than 300 people on board. More than 80 people – all Ethiopians – survived the shipwreck while Djiboutian search and rescue operations continued.
“Our teams are on the ground alongside local authorities to provide emergency assistance,” IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti Alexandre Coissac said, lamenting the “devastating loss of life”.
That number only includes those buried by authorities in Djibouti. Others have been buried by the migrants themselves but they won’t be added to the official count until authorities can verify the bodies, Alexandre Coissac, IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti, told the Associated Press.
“This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities,” Coissac added.
[Aljazeera]
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Showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva and North-Western provinces and in Anuradhapura and Mannar districts.
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