FIFA confirm Mary Earps WAS on her line for penalty save in Women's World Cup final despite images suggesting it should have been retaken Mary Earps pulled off an excellent penalty save in the Women's World Cup final The goalkeeper may have been off her line, meaning it should have been retaken Spain held on to win the Women's World Cup with a tense 1-0 victory in the final By Michael Rudling For Mailonline Published: 12:44 BST, 20 August 2023 | Updated: 14:35 BST, 20 August 2023 e-mail 601 shares 4 View comments FIFA have confirmed England Women's goalkeeper Mary Earps was on her line for her penalty save against Spain in the World Cup final, which th e Lionesses went on to lose 1-0. The kick was awarded for a handball after a VAR check, but Earps ensured the deficit was not increased with a solid save to her left. A screenshot shared on Twitter from BBC Sport's coverage of the game appears to show Earps was off her line when the penalty was taken. This could have resulted in the penalty being re-taken, giving Spain another chance to double their lead. However, FIFA have now confirmed that her positioning was checked by VAR and found that her foot was on the line when the penalty was taken. It didn't calm the debate online, though, as one fan suggested it could have been a 'big moment' in the game, while others felt the England star was 'clearly off her line.' Mary Earps may have been off her line when saving a penalty in the World Cup final The England stopper dived across well and caught the spot kick easily to keep the score at 1-0 As with all penalties, the Video Assistant Referee checked Spain’s penalty for encroachment by the goalkeeper and determined that Mary Earps’ back foot was in line with the goal line pic.twitter.com/F7vBDBYUOj — FIFA Media (@fifamedia) August 20, 2023 Another argued the penalty 'never' should have been given in the first place due to the lengthy VAR check that led to it. The ball did appear to brush Kiera Walsh's arm, but it was close to her body and moved only slightly as the ball came towards her. Off her line or not, the penalty save was one of several key contributions from Earps, who was among England's best players in the final. The Man United stopper was named goalkeeper of the tournament after conceding just four goals throughout. Spain held on to win the final, their first ever Women's World Cup victory. Sarina Wiegman's side improved after the break, but couldn't quite find an eqauliser against a well-drilled opposition. Earps was awarded the World Cup Golden Glove after conceding just four goals in the tournament Spain held on to their 1-0 lead despite a better performance from England in the second half Share or comment on this article: FIFA confirm Mary Earps WAS on her line for penalty save in Women's World Cup final despite images suggesting it should have been retaken e-mail 601 shares Add comment Comments 4 Share what you think Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all The comments below have been moderated in advance. View all The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Add your comment Enter your comment By posting your comment you agree to our house rules . Submit Comment Clear Close Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. No Yes Close Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy .