England Women manager Sarina Wiegman lauded the Lionesses' "tremendous" achievements in 2023 after winning The Best FIFA Women's Coach Award in London but stopped short of hailing the year as her best in management.
The 54-year-old edged out Chelsea's Emma Hayes and Barcelona's Jonatan Giraldez to take home the prestigious honour after leading England to the World Cup final last summer, where they lost to Spain.
In addition, Wiegman's team defeated Brazil in the inaugural women's Finalissima and successfully defended their Arnold Clark Cup crown to further capture the imagination of the country after triumphing at Euro 2022.
Wiegman triumphed with 28 points in the voting, compared to 18 for Hayes and 14 for Giraldez, but when asked by Sports Mole if she could label 2023 as her finest year in management, the Dutchwoman was loath to do so.
"That's really hard to say. We had some huge challenges which we had to approach. If you look at the results then you can't say that, and it's always result-related," Wiegman said.
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"And it's hard to compare because inside so many things happen, and that's what I look back at. We have a goal, that's what we want to reach.
"But what happens on our journey and how can I influence that? How can I collaborate with staff and with players? So that's really hard to say."
In addition to Wiegman's crowning, a total of seven Lionesses were selected for the FIFA FIFPRO Women's World XI, including Mary Earps, Lucy Bronze, Alex Greenwood, Keira Walsh, Lauren James, Ella Toone and Alessia Russo.
Despite winning their inaugural Women's World Cup crown, Spain only had two representatives in the shape of Olga Carmona and Aitana Bonmati - who was also crowned the Best Women's Player - while Alex Morgan and Sam Kerr completed the team.
"What it most of all it means to me is that the world has seen England and what we've done off the back of the Euros," Wiegman said of England's World XI domination to reporters.
"It's really hard to keep the performances at a high level, and we had some very huge challenges and I think it shows the support from the FA, how the staff collaborate together, lots of expertise, and then the players who stepped up all the time. It's me being awarded tonight, but that part is what I'm most proud of.
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"It shows that the English players were visible and did a tremendous job. I'm really proud of the whole team because when you perform as a team then the individual can flourish and play at their potential, and that's what team sport is about. When a team doesn't collaborate, in most cases the individual can't play at her highest level, so that's the strength of this team."
This year's edition of The Best FIFA Football Awards were centred around the achievements and growth of women's football over the past 12 months, but Wiegman has still issued a call for further investment to help close the gap to men's football even further.
"Worldwide, the women's game is in different situations and different positions. What you want is investment in the game, improvement in the game, get every kid access to football, whether you're a girl or a boy. That's one, and that's still not the case," Wiegman added.
"Then equality, so the same access to the same facilities for girls, and of course to keep investing in the game. I think it's really important that we invest in all the stages. It's an industry and we want to make money, and we have to make the right choices to do so.
"I think we're going in the right direction, but I think there's still a way to go and that's what we work on every day to try to perform at the highest level, get visibility and also influence positive change."
England ended the year on a sour note, though, missing out on a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics as Great Britain's representatives owing to their second-placed finish in their UEFA Nations League group.
Ben Knapton
