SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Spain’s goalscoring hero Olga Carmona hailed her “unstoppable” side as they beat England 1-0 to win the Women’s World Cup for the first time on Sunday in Sydney.

Carmona drilled home after 29 minutes to put La Roja ahead — and they held on to their lead to triumph.

In front of a packed crowd of nearly 76,000 at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Spain were the more accomplished side and had more chances, including missing a second-half penalty taken by Jennifer Hermoso.

“It was a really tough game; we knew it would be tricky. England have a great team but I think it was our game,” Carmona told Spanish national broadcasters La 1.

“We had the feeling we were going to do it and this is unstoppable. The truth is, I don’t know what to tell you.”

Carmona celebrated her goal by revealing a message on an undershirt that read “Merchi”.

The 23-year-old said it was a tribute for a friend whose mother had passed away.

“I want to say this victory is for one of my best friend’s mother, who died recently. I celebrated the goal with that shirt,” added Carmona.

Spain Coach Jorge Vilda said he was extremely proud of his team.

Vilda was heavily criticised in the build-up to and during the tournament for his tense relationship with a number of players who quit the national team in protest against the coach and the Spanish football federation.

Three of the 15 protesting players returned for the tournament — Aitana Bonmati, Ona Batlle and Mariona Caldentey — all of whom started in the final.

“It’s difficult to describe, immense joy. I’m so proud of this team,” said Vilda.

“I’m so happy for everyone watching us right now; we’ve made them happy too. We’re champions of the world.”

The coach said the celebrations would run on for a long time.

“Now we have to celebrate. I can only imagine how Spain is; we’re celebrating here and we don’t know when it will end. I don’t have any words for this moment — it’s unbelievable. I’m so glad because we did a great tournament. We suffered but also we enjoyed it. We deserve it.”

Bonmati capped a phenomenal World Cup for Spain and herself by being named Player of the Tournament.

She dedicated the award to the women who helped pave the way in Spanish football.

“I want to remember all the women that have been pushing and fighting throughout all the years because we [now] have better conditions,” she told Australian broadcaster Channel Seven.

“This is for them and from them.”

Bonmati also praised her teammates for their mental strength after the disrupted preparations.

“Everyone knew their goal at the beginning of the preparation of the tournament,” she said.

“Everyone is competitive, everyone has strong mentality to win. We have been working a lot of years for this moment. We have it. We have the trophy.”

England Coach Sarina Wiegman has now suffered back-to-back defeats in the final, but her European champions can have few complaints.

She admitted that Spain, who had never won a World Cup knockout game until this tournament, were the better team.

“Of course it feels really bad now. You go to the final, you want to give everything to win the final, then you lose it,” said the Dutch coach who took England to their first major title last summer by winning their home Euros.