Captain Olga Carmona scored the winner in the first half as Spain won the Women's World Cup for the first time by beating England 1-0 in front of 75,784 fans at Stadium Australia on Sunday.

La Roja, robbed of some of their best talent by a mutiny against coach Jorge Vilda only a few months ago and thrashed 4-0 by Japan in the group stage, outplayed England to deservedly claim their first major title in only their third World Cup.

Aitana Bonmati and Teresa Abelleira ran the game from the Spanish midfield and the margin of victory would have been greater had England goalkeeper Mary Earps not saved a second-half penalty from Jennifer Hermoso. "It's the best feeling of my life," a tearful Hermoso said.

England's second defeat in 39 matches since Dutchwoman Sarina Wiegman took over as coach denied them the chance to add a maiden world title to the European Championship crown they won last year.

"It's really hard to take," said captain Millie Bright. "We gave everything, in the first half we weren’t at our best but in the second half we were back.

"There was a lot of belief, we have been 1-0 down, we never give in. We are absolutely heartbroken but unfortunately we weren't there today. The girls are unbelievable."

The first Women's World Cup final not to feature either the United States or Germany started at quite a pace with England just about enjoying the upper hand in the battle of two first-time finalists.

Forward Lauren Hemp continued where she left off in the semi-final against Australia and screwed the ball towards goal in the fifth minute before clipping a shot off the bar 12 minutes later.

Spain responded immediately, with Carmona overlapping down the left flank and driving the ball across the goal but teenager Salma Paralluelo was unable to make contact and Alba Redondo's shot from the far post was well saved by Earps.

La Roja took the lead just before the half-hour mark after England were dispossessed in midfield and Abelleira curled a sublime cross-field pass to Mariona Caldentey, who slid the ball forward to Carmona.

The left back drove into the area and let fly with an angled shot which flew past the fingertips of Earps and into the far corner of the net.

Bonmati hit the bar with a long-range effort just after the hour mark and the Spanish appealed vociferously for a handball against Keira Walsh during their next visit to the England box.

The award of a penalty looked a formality from the moment referee Tori Penso was instructed by VAR to review the footage but Earps dived low to her left to stop Hermoso's spot kick. (Reuters)