Scoring in a World Cup final is the ultimate dream for any footballer, especially if it's the crucial goal that wins the World Cup for your country.
Players go into folklore and are remembered for generations, and they can serve as inspiration for young footballers aspiring to reach the same heights.
Finals of any major competition are usually seen as low scoring affairs with teams usually playing cautious, defensive football due to a fear of being caught on the counter-attack in such a crucial game, but that hasn't stopped some players from scoring a hatful of goals on the big occassion.
The Sporting News has a look at which players have scored the most goals in the Women's World Cup final over the years.
MORE: Which teams have qualified for the 2023 Women's World Cup?
List of Women's World Cup finals
The first Women's World Cup final in 1991 saw the United States defeat Norway 2-1 at the Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou, China.
One of the most notable finals came in 1999 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where hosts USA and China could not be separated after extra-time, necessitating a penalty shootout; Brandi Chastain scored the winning penalty and celebrated by taking her shirt off, which became one of the most iconic images in women's football.
One of the most heartwarming World Cup final wins came in 2011 when Japan, a country rocked by a massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country and almost forced them to pull out of the tournament, shocked the world by defeated the USA in a penalty shootout in the final.
The last final in 2019 saw the USA take on first-time finalists the Netherlands, but there would be no fairytale ending for the Dutch, as the USA ran out 2-0 winners to win their second straight tournament.
| Year | Host nation | Match |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | France | USA 2-0 Netherlands |
| 2015 | Canada | USA 5-2 Japan |
| 2011 | Germany | Japan 2-2 USA (Japan won on pens) |
| 2007 | China | Germany 2-0 Brazil |
| 2003 | USA | Germany 2-1 Sweden (Germany won on golden goal) |
| 1999 | USA | USA 0-0 China (USA won on pens) |
| 1995 | Sweden | Norway 2-0 Germany |
| 1991 | China | USA 2-1 Norway |
Most goals scored in Women's World Cup final
There has only been two occasions where a player has scored more than one goal in a Women's World Cup final and both players have been American.
Michelle Akers scored twice in the USA's win in 1991 over Norway, with those goals in the final taking her tally to 10 goals for the tournament (a record that still stands today).
The other player to do that was Carli Lloyd in 2015, and she did it in some style by scoring a 13 minute hat-trick in the first half of a 5-2 win over Japan.
It was an extraordinary moment in an extraordinary first half where the USA scored four goals in 13 minutes, with Lloyd's third goal being from the halfway line.
Carli Lloyd scores the very first hat-trick in Women's World Cup final history inside 16 minutes. Extraordinary. pic.twitter.com/8VLZPF02rc
— Squawka (@Squawka) July 5, 2015
She became only the second player in the men or women's game to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final after Geoff Hurst for England in 1966. Kylian Mbappe became the third with his hat-trick in France's penalty shootout defeat to Argentina in 2022.
