Preview: England & Spain chase history in Sydney

A wide open FIFA Women's World Cup reaches its conclusion on Sunday, as two teams familiar with adversity - and each other - collide at the Accor Stadium in Sydney.

There's a couple of metrics to decide how good a tournament has been. Firstly, were there any genuine shocks? And secondly, was there at least three great games in the knockout stages? This World Cup has undoubtedly ticked both of those boxes.

Japan were the neutrals' darlings until Sweden caught them on an off day and dumped them out in the quarters; Australia had a nation on tenterhooks before their gutsy sprint towards glory ran out of gas in the semi-finals; Nigeria and Colombia stole hearts; the USA and Germany underwhelmed.

And after a month of thrills and spills we're left with a pair of really good teams who adopt very different approaches.

There is Spain, slick and technical, who've made it this far despite manager Jorge Vilda having a dysfunctional [to say the the least] relationship with his players. Some of them are sitting at home watching the tournament on TV after opting out of the squad completely due to well publicised frustrations over the culture and preparation standards. It does not look like a harmonious camp.

And there is England, the reigning European champions majestically led by Sarina Wiegman but without a trio of injured stars - Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead - who were key to their Euros triumph on home soil last summer.

Europe's 16-year wait for a winner of a Women's World Cup will end no matter what way this shakes one down [Germany most recently went all the way in 2007] and though it's foolish to be reductive about such a high-stakes game, it does have the look of a classic clash of styles.

Wiegman's England have passed