The records continued to tumble for Sarina Wiegman in 2023, as the Dutch coach took home two trophies and led England to a maiden FIFA Women’s World Cup™ final.
After being named a finalist for The Best FIFA Women’s Coach award, which takes into account achievements from 1 August 2022 to 20 August 2023, FIFA looks at how Wiegman continued her ascent into the true greats of the game.
From August 2022, England defeated Austria, two-time reigning world champions USA and Japan, while putting 10 goals past Luxembourg in the run-up to February’s Arnold Clark Cup. Wiegman and her England side came into 2023 and continued from where they left off, as three wins from three at that tournament ensured they would take the trophy home for a second consecutive year.
Just two months later, Wiegman led her charges into a maiden Women’s Finalissima in which the Lionesses secured a historic 4-2 penalty shootout win over Brazil. The victory marked a 30th straight game undefeated since Wiegamn took the job in September 2021, and was the perfect build-up to the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“We were really challenged and we needed that,” Wiegman told FIFA following the win over the South Americans. “If you’re not challenged before the World Cup you won’t have that practice. We can always take learnings and I think that was really good from tonight.
“It really helps and shows that we can do it and that we know what job we have to do when going into penalties. Last year we had some hard moments and the team really showed we can do it, but we hadn’t had a shootout yet in an environment like this. Of course, you practice it and try to get as close as possible to a real game, but it can’t get more real than this. Every experience will help you to move forward.”
That Wembley victory secured a second major trophy in as many years for Wiegman and the Lionesses following 2022’s UEFA Women’s EURO success, with the Women’s World Cup the one remaining jewel which required adding to England’s hastily-assembled crown.
While she had already led both the Netherlands and England to continental success, as well taking the former to the France 2019 final, Wiegman was keen to take England to a first-ever decider, while continuing to strengthen the woman’s game back home.
“I really love the medals but what I’m proud of most, absolutely most, is that now young girls have perspective, young girls can play football and young girls can wear shirts,” Wiegman told The Guardian prior to the tournament.
England topped their group with a perfect record before defeating Nigeria and Colombia to set up a mouth-watering semi-final showdown with co-hosts Australia. There, Ella Toone gave the Lionesses the lead before a Sam Kerr thunderbolt levelled proceedings and threatened to tip the balance in favour of the Matildas, who were backed by a raucous home crowd. Wiegman remained calm, however, and was able to mastermind a 3-1 win.
“I never take anything for granted but am I hearing a little fairy tale or something?” Wiegman said following the victory. “It’s an incredible stadium, an away game, and the way we played it, of course it was a hard game, but again we found a way to win. We achieved the final – it’s unbelievable.”
Unfortunately for Wiegman and her squad, though, England couldn’t complete their fairy tale, as Spain ran out 1-0 winners in a tense Sydney showdown. The defeat ensured the coach would return home from a second consecutive World Cup final empty-handed, but the pride of leading another nation to their first-ever showpiece was palpable.
“Of course it feels really bad now. It’s very disappointing. You go to the final and you want to give everything and win the final. Then you lose it, but that happens with sports too,” Wiegman said following the loss.
“What we have done, how we have shown ourselves, who we are and how we want to play as a team, overcoming so many challenges, I think we can be very proud of ourselves – even if it doesn’t feel that way at the moment.”
And be proud Wiegman and Co most certainly should be. The Lionesses finished the qualification period that The Best FIFA Football Awards™ are marked in with just two defeats from 19 games, while the Dutchwoman became the first coach ever to take two different nations to the decider of football’s ultimate prize.
- نویسنده : محمدمهدی اسماعیلی رها
Friday, 18 July , 2025