The 2023 Women’s World Cup was one to watch. The biggest thing to process is that, for the first time in the team’s history, the U.S. Women’s National Team was nowhere near the spotlight of the final game. Going into this tournament, the U.S. team was the clear favorite, but it was knocked out in the Round of 16 against Sweden.

Heading to the championship final this weekend were two teams that have never made it this far. England’s national team, fondly known as the Lionesses, has made it to the knockout stage for the past five World Cups. But Spain? Well, its national team has only qualified for the World Cup three times. Neither team was really on the radar for being World Cup finalists.

In a stunning championship game, Spain’s Olga Carmona scored the only goal in the 29th minute. (Regrettably, Carmona found out after the final that her father had died.)

OLGA CARMONA HAS DONE IT!

SPAIN TAKES THE 1-0 LEAD 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/zqJBDRXngJ

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 20, 2023

The Spanish women, referred to as La Roja, then held off the Lionesses for another 61 minutes plus 13 minutes of stoppage time. What a phenomenal ending to an unpredictable World Cup.

A lot of the coverage of the fantastic win by Spain has focused heavily on several controversies. One, the fraught relationship between several of Spain’s elite women players and the national team’s coach, Jorge Vilda. He apparently made working conditions untenable, and 15 players declared that they wouldn’t play for the national team as a result.

Another was the infamous unsolicited kiss from the Spain federation president, Luis Rubiales. He had shown exuberant affection to all the players — some were hugged and lifted into the air; the rest were kissed on the cheek. But when it came to Jenni Hermoso, the Spanish team’s lead scorer, he planted one right on her lips. Unprofessionalism has been a huge complaint by the women’s side in their battles with the federation, and this seems to be a more egregious example, though he later apologized.

Other publications covering the World Cup victory blamed the second-class-citizen status of women, or they declared that these women should use their newfound platform to champion causes.

If there is anything that this old women’s soccer fan would advise, it would be to ignore the noise. Enjoy your World Cup win. There are going to be thousands of young girls inspired by your courage and great skill. Be their role model, but don’t make the same mistake the U.S. women’s team and other Western teams have made in tournaments past. Don’t allow the faddish social justice agenda to dictate your platform, and certainly don’t denigrate your country.

Congratulations to Spain on a game well played.