Jubilation, cheers and festivities - Spain is celebrating after the country emerged the winner of the 2023 Women’s World Cup for the first time.
Spain forward Jennifer Hermoso says the team is still on a high.
"It is so crazy. Yeah, world champion. ‘It all comes together,’ as my brother says, and so many things happened to make this dream possible. And right now, I don’t have the words to explain it because I think it is the best feeling I’ve ever felt."
Spain now joins Germany as the only two nations on earth to win both the men’s and women’s tournament.
Spanish fan Carlos Marti says the country is proud of their team.
"We had a bad start against Japan. But afterwards the team rebuilt itself. They play so well. It’s incredible to watch them play. They deserve this so much. It’s great. They’ve given us the goosebumps."
Millie Bright is the English team's Captain.
She says the Roses are naturally disappointed.
"Yeah it’s really hard. Got a loss of words of what I’m feeling right now. But heartbroken, disappointed. But then on the flip side, I’m really proud of the girls to be able to say we’ve played in a World Cup final. Yes, we’ve not got the ultimate goal which is to win it, but we’ve been in a really fortunate position to have had the chance to compete for the trophy that we’ve been missing. Is this the end? Absolutely not. We’ll definitely be bouncing back and it’s still on the list of aims. But right now, I think we just have to let the emotions settle.”
England Manager Sarina Wiegman says her players in the Women's World Cup should be proud of themselves despite their loss to Spain.
Ms Wiegman has now lost back-to-back finals, with her Netherlands side beaten by the United States in 2019, and says the hurt of losing a World Cup is difficult.
"Of course everyone was very disappointed that we didn't win the game. At the other hand, I think we can be very proud of ourselves even though it doesn't feel that way at the moment. They were the team with the best possession game to be really honest i think they deserve this win."
Spain also had a good number of Australian supporters who were simply looking to avenge the 3 - 1 English win against the Matildas in the semis.
"Rodrigo: They (Spain) controlled the game and I'm happy for Spain, especially after England beating the Matildas. Daniel: "Well, we were going for England, so we are a little bit disappointed but given I have an Australian accent, I'm not overly disappointed. But it was a great game, very exciting."
And there were football fans who simply had a good time watching the game.
Kate: "I just really enjoyed the whole experience". Jackie: "The whole competition was just amazing, it's such a win for women's football, it was brilliant." Manos: "Happy for Spain, feel terrible for England. Both teams I think could have won. Great game, great tournament, thank you Australia we had a fantastic time."
But for many other fans, Spain's win in front of 75,000 fans in Brisbane is about more than the result.
This fan says it's only the beginning of new enthusiasm for women's sports.
"This is crazy. Who would have thought. So many people supporting the women’s team. It’s incredible to see how we evolve. We are realising that women’s football is also relevant. That we women are also here to make history. Making it this way. Hooray Spain!."
The Australian government is looking to capitalise on that enthusiasm.
They have already promised to invest $200 million in upgrading women’s facilities following the Matildas' historic Women’s World Cup run.
And in New South Wales, Premier Chris Minns says he's considering a change to sports funding to support football in the future, rather than continuing the Active Kids program where parents are provided vouchers for their children to use towards sporting costs.
"As you know, we've means tested the active kids. The reason for that is because of the tight budget situation. Love to continue it but in order for it to continue, it wouldn't be a case of me cutting the funding and putting the money somewhere else I would have to find hundreds of millions of dollars for it to continue. And we're approaching about $180 billion worth of debt in New South Wales, the largest figure ever recorded. We've just got to really think about where we spend our money."
