Is it coming home? England looks to bring Women’s World Cup trophy back to the birthplace of soccer

SYDNEY — The rallying cry “It’s Coming Home” is one game away from reality and the end of England’s 57-year drought in global soccer.

The World Cup trophy can return this Sunday to the birthplace of soccer for the first time since 1966. But if it happens, the journey back to England will be with the women’s national team and not the men’s.

The Lionesses have roared their way into their first Women’s World Cup title game, Sunday against Spain. It is the first all-European final since 2003, when Germany beat Sweden.

It has been a magical ride for both teams: England has been on top of the global game since winning the European Championship last summer, and Spain is in its first final less than a year since 15 players quit the team in protest.

But England was expected to be here, and all around the world, in pubs and at viewing parties, England supporters have been singing “It’s Coming Home,” the unintentional reminder that the soccer team hasn’t won the World Cup since 1966. The men’s team was the winner that year, and the Lionesses’ appearance in Sunday’s title game is England’s first finale in the 57 years since.

England’s return to prominence has been led by coach Sarina Wiegman, who was hired in late 2021 as the team’s first non-British manager. Wiegman is now back in her second consecutive finale, and the only coach in the history of the tournament to take two nations to the final.

Wiegman was coach of the Netherlands when the Dutch lost 2-0 to the United States in 2019.

“Every step has been really, really hard. But again, we find a way,” she said. “And I think the opponents, the women’s game has grown so much that it’s really hard to get through. So I know it’s very, very special and that’s how it feels,…