Until Sunday night, England met every tough situation it fell into during the Women’s World Cup the same way: It found a way out.
When it arrived at the tournament without three injured stars, it quickly found a new one, and when it lost her to a suspension after the round of 16, it figured out how to win two games without her, too. When it fell behind against Colombia in the quarterfinals, it scored a tying goal almost immediately. When it came face to face with elimination in the semifinals against Australia, up against both the home team and an entire stadium after striker Sam Kerr erased England’s early lead, it held fast and delivered two more goals to post a convincing win.
So it was understandable when, in the 70th minute of the World Cup final against Spain on Sunday in Sydney, Australia, England Coach Sarina Wiegman thought her team had found an escape hatch yet again. Goalkeeper Mary Earps had just saved a Spain penalty kick. England had a lifeline. Surely, Wiegman thought, it would find a new way out.
“I thought, ‘Now we are going to score a goal,’” Wiegman said. “‘Now we are going to score a goal and get to 1-1.’ But we didn’t.”
The goal never came, the minutes ticked away, and then it was over: England had lost to Spain, 1-0. Lucy Bronze, who…
