Millie Bright's 'heartbreak' after England's Lionesses lose FIFA Women's World Cup final to Spain

England's Lionesses were left heartbroken after a 1-0 defeat against Spain in the FIFA Women's World Cup final.

Spanish captain Olga Carmona fired home just before half time with a stunning strike that was enough to hand La Roja the trophy after a controversial few years for the team, with an ongoing player revolt against manager Jorge Vilda pinning the spotlight on the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).

Lionesses' leader Millie Bright expressed her disappointment after Sarina Wiegman's team were unable to come from behind at the Stadium Australia in Sydney, despite a stunning Mary Earps penalty save providing a second-half boost and inspiring ultimately forlorn hopes of a momentum shift.

But amidst the tears and pain, England's elite have shown that they are a team bound for the history books and have insisted they will be back for more.

"This is really hard to take," said Bright. "Hand on heart we can say we gave everything.

"In the first half we weren't at our best but second half we definitely bounced back, showed our fight and showed our character.

"We had chances, we hit the bar, but we just didn't have that final edge today.

"There was a lot of belief after half time. We've been 1-0 down in a game before and we bounced back and that was the aim today. We never give in.

"Sometimes it's hard to take, but it's football. It's tough to take, we're heartbroken, but we can hand on heart say we gave everything."

It was a pacey opening few minutes for both sides, with Lauren Hemp giving the Lionesses early signs of hope as her strike from just outside the box hit the woodwork.

But it was Spain who were the more ruthless, as Vilda's side made use of a Lucy Bronze mistake and Mariona Caldentey, given plenty of space due to