‘We're heartbroken but we can hand on heart say we gave everything’

England captain Millie Bright acknowledged she was heartbroken after the Lionesses’ World Cup final defeat to Spain but has a huge pride in how her team have performed during the course of the tournament.

This group made history by becoming the first Lionesses side to reach a World Cup final and the first Men’s or Women’s senior team to make a World Cup final in 57 years.

Sarina Wiegman’s side missed out on lifting a second major trophy in as many years though after losing 1-0 to the incredibly talented Spain in Sunday’s final.

Bright said: "It's really hard to take. We gave everything, hand on heart we can say we gave everything.

“In the first half we weren't at our best, second half we definitely bounced back, showed our fight, showed our character. We had chances, we hit the bar, we had chances but we just didn't have that final edge today. Obviously they put theirs in the back of the net.”

She continued: "[There is a] massive amount [of pride]. The girls were unbelievable. We had a lot of critics at the start of the tournament, probably a few lost a little bit of belief in us. But we never stopped believing in us and even today we had full belief.

“Sometimes football goes for you, sometimes it goes against you. We just couldn't quite cut it, but we played in a World Cup final. In a couple of weeks we'll really appreciate that day, but at the moment it's hard to take.

“We're winners, we want to be winners. It is what it is." 

England found themselves 1-0 down at half-time due to Olga Carmona’s goal and opted to switch formation and introduce Lauren James and Chloe Kelly at the interval.

The Lionesses improved in the second half but they couldn’t find the goal they needed to take the match into extra-time.

Bright said: "There was a lot of belief [after half-time]. We've been 1-0 down in a game before and we bounced back. That was the aim today, we never give in.

“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. Unfortunately, we just weren't there today.”