1 Lucy Bronze – England

The Manchester City right-back began Canada 2015 fresh from fairly major knee surgery and as very much a squad player. She played the first game, against France, on the left of midfield but then captured her preferred position from Alex Scott. Not content with merely defending superbly, the 23-year-old who spent her early childhood living on Holy Island, or Lindisfarne, off the north Northumberland coast, also scored a spectactular long-range winner against Norway in the round of 16 and registered a vital quarter-final header against Canada. No wonder they are talking about the dawn of “The Bronze Age” in English women’s football. Mark Sampson, England’s coach says she is the best right-back in the world.

2 Aya Miyama – Japan

When Miyama plays well, so, invariably, do Japan. The 5ft 2in central midfielder tends to be at the hub of their best passing moves and also serves as the team’s set-piece specialist and penalty taker. This is the 30-year-old captain’s fourth World Cup, with the highlight of her career arriving when she lifted the trophy four years ago in Germany. A self-confessed coffee addict, Miyama now appears for the Okayama Yunogo Belle club but spent extensive parts of her career in the United States, playing in Los Angeles and Atlanta. A lovely midfielder to watch, she posed England plenty of problems in the semi-final.

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3 Kadeisha Buchanan – Canada

At only 19 Buchanan is a dynamic, remarkably assured central defender known not only for rarely losing aerial battles but an ability to play the ball smoothly out from the back. She represents a big reason why John Herdman, Canada’s English coach, believes the future is bright for women’s football in the host country. The youngest of seven sisters brought up by a single mother, Buchanan combines life as a university student with playing for the Virginia Mountaineers in the United States. This will surely be the first of several World Cups for a young woman who makes a habit of exceeding expectations. “Kadeisha is the Christine Sinclair of my defence,” says Herdman. Praise indeed.

4 Carli Lloyd – USA

Pia Sundhage, the former USA coach, claimed Lloyd was difficult to work with because of a constant craving for praise, but there has been no sign of mental fragility from the attacking midfielder or second striker at Canada 2015. A big-occasion player, Lloyd – who has scored 66 goals in 201 international appearances – can look peripheral before suddenly scoring vital, wonderfully incisive goals. Her winner against China and penalty against Germany are two big reasons why Jill Ellis’s side find themselves in the final. At 32 and now with Houston Dash, Lloyd appears in her prime. “She’s having the tournament of her life,” says her team-mate Abby Wambach.

5 Lady Andrade – Colombia

Even her team-mates say the brash 23-year-old star of Colombia’s World Cup could do with living up to the first part of her name a little more, but there is no doubt this improvisational creator lit up the tournament. Her adhesive control, breathtaking change of pace and vision enabled Lady Andrade to bewitch fans and bewilder opponents in equal measure as her side progressed from the group stage of a World Cup for the first time. Along the way the attacking midfielder or deep-lying forward scored in her country’s shock 2-0 group stage win over France and also contributed a consolation goal in the defeat against England. Her club, Finland’s PK-35 Vantaa, should expect suitors queueing at the door.