By Scott French, Senior Editor

in Carson, Calif.

Nia Kuenzer's twisting header eight minutes into overtime gave Germany its first Women's World Cup title with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Sweden in Sunday's thrilling championship game.

It was a terrific finish, from Renate Lingor's 32-yard free kick, and a controversial end, with Sweden coach Marika Domanski Lyfors berating Romanian referee Floarea Cristina Ionescu for whistling the final foul.

Germany added the women's crown to three men's World Cup titles — in 1954, 1974 and 1990 — with a near duplication of its 2001 European Championship triumph, won over Sweden on an overtime goal by Claudia Mueller, who was not on the German World Cup roster.

The match was played before a crowd announced as 26,137 at the Home Depot Center.

The Germans, who had lost to Norway in the 1995 Women's World Cup final, overcame a difficult first half and a 1-0 deficit, getting a goal from WUSA MVP Maren Meinert just seconds into the second half and dictating play most of the rest of the way.

Sweden, with Malin Mostrom playing a superb two-way game in midfield, had the best of the first 45 minutes and was rewarded when Victoria Svensson's 41st-minute throughball sent Hanna Ljungberg sprinting past defender Ariane Hingst. Ljungberg's critical finish, to the far post, left goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg no chance.

Meinert's equalizer, in the 46th minute, took advantage of poor Swedish positioning.

The attack came from the left, with Kerstin Garefrekes finding Birgit Prinz with her back to the goal at the top of the box. Prinz carried the ball toward the right, then fed Meinert, who was alone with Swedish left back Sara Larsson pinched in as part of a group effort to shut off Prinz.

Meinert's first touch was poor, and her shot was nothing special, but it caught goalkeeper Caroline Jonsson wrong-footed, and the ball went off the keeper's right foot en route to the net.

Germany kept up the pressure for another 20 minutes and was unfortunate not to get the lead in the 58th minute, but Ionescu — seemingly out of her element — missed a clear penalty when Jane Tornqvist tripped Garefrekes as the tall German midfielder streaked into the box from the right.

Two minutes later, Jonsson made a fine stop — but was unable to hold on — on a Hingst header from a Meinert free kick, and Tornqvist cleared Prinz's rebound off the line.

The Swedes, in their first World Cup final, regrouped midway through the half and again at the end, when Rottenberg stopped a Ljungberg shot and Frida Ostberg's header went just wide following a frenzied battle in the box.

Germany, which supplied steady pressure with 24 corner kicks, had nearly all of the play in overtime, leading to the Kuenzer's 98th-minute heroics.

Kuenzer, an 88th-minute substitute who had scored just one goal in 31 previous international matches, had blown two solid chances earlier in the extra period, crossing through the goalmouth when presented an open shot in the 93rd and forcing Jonsson into a foot save following a nice buildup in the 97th.

There was some controversy on the winning goal, set up when Ionescu whistled Svensson for what appeared to be a clean tackle on German defender Kerstin Stegemann.

Lingor, calling out Kuenzer's name as she approached the ball, sent a perfect free kick into the center, and Kuenzer's 8-yard header cleared Jonsson en route to the goal's ceiling. Kuenzer was immediate enveloped by her teammates as the Swedes collapsed onto the turf in disbelief.

Svensson said after the match that fourth official Sonia Denoncourt of Canada told her that the foul against Stegemann should never have been called. During the awards ceremony that followed the match, the officials were booed, with Domanski Lyfors fanning the jeers.

''I was upset about the free kick,'' Domanski Lyfors said afterward. ''It wasn't a free kick — I think everyone saw it. … I'm very sad because we'd been fighting so much, and then the final result [is decided] on a free kick that wasn't a free kick. … I was real angry.''

Kuenzer deflected praise as the match's heroine, saying all the Germans were heroes, and that she hadn't thought about scoring in a final beforehand.

Asked if the finish matched her ''wildest dreams,'' she laughed.

''My wildest dreams?'' she said. ''They don't have anything to do with soccer.''

Prinz, with seven goals, won the Golden Shoe as the World Cup's top scorer and was selected the Golden Ball winner, as tournament MVP, in a vote by media.

Svensson won the Silver Ball and Meinert captured the Silver Shoe and Bronze Ball. Brazil's Katia won the Bronze Shoe. Rottenberg was selected by the FIFA Technical Study Group as the tournament's best goalkeeper.

China won the Fair Play Award, and Germany was selected the most entertaining team in balloting on FIFA's World Cup Web site.