AFTER FOUR WEEKS of thrills, spills and high drama Down Under, we finally have it: our 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup final pairing.
England and Spain will face off in an all-European decider in Sydney’s Stadium Australia on Sunday [KO 11am, live on RTÉ Two], with both sides appearing in the showpiece for the very first time.
Since USA’s dramatic quarter-final exit when Sweden ended their three in-a-row bid after a penalty shootout, we knew we’d have new champions.
Many had backed a European team to break the Stateside dominance, but few would have foreseen an all-European final. It’s the first since Germany-Sweden in 2003, and only the third since the tournament’s inception in 1991.
It reflects the growth of the game on the continent, with huge strides seen in the Champions League in recent seasons. Reigning champions Barcelona have a heavy presence in the Spain team, while England are Euro 2022 winners with much of their success built in the home-grown Women’s Super League.
Sarina Wiegman has done an incredible job as manager. This is her fourth major tournament final on the spin, having previously steered her native Netherlands to Euro 2017 glory and the 2019 World Cup final, and she becomes the first coach to take two different nations to World Cup finals.
Everything fell into place perfectly at the Euros last summer as the Lionesses triumphed on home soil. They came from behind to beat Spain 2-1 after extra time in the quarter-final, before overcoming Sweden and Germany to lift the silverware at Wembley.
Their big names fired on all cylinders and they reigned supreme, with Wiegman loved and adored and continually getting the best out of her players.
Experienced duo Ellen White and Jill Scott retired afterwards, but it felt like they would ride the crest of the wave and carry their momentum into the World Cup.
Until it didn’t.
Star striker Beth Mead and captain Leah Williamson sustained ACL injuries on club duty and things started to turn against England. Their 30-game unbeaten run came to an end in April when Australia beat them 2-0 in a London friendly and pressure started to heighten. Fran Kirby was also ruled out.
There have been questions over team selection and goalscoring issues, but they’ve answered them all despite some sub-par performances in Australia. They edged past Haiti and Denmark before finding their groove with a 6-1 win over China to top Group D.
Lauren James went from hero to zero as she saw red against Nigeria, and Wiegman’s side got the job done against the Super Falcons and then Colombia — the former on penalties after a stalemate, the latter a 2-1 come-from-behind triumph.
And they held off Australia’s challenge in this morning’s semi-final, goals from Ella Toone — James’ replacement — the impressive Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo seeing them past the Sam Kerr-inspired Matildas. It seems like they may have timed their run to perfection, with another gear or two to go.
While England’s path to the final hasn’t exactly been straightforward, Spain have had a more turbulent few months. Last October, 15 players wrote to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) demanding changes to the set-up, directing the majority of their complaints at head coach Jorge Vilda, and made themselves unavailable for selection.
The federation backed Vilda amidst calls for his sacking. Ona Batlle, Aitana Bonmati and Mariona Caldentey are among the players from ‘Las 15′ who are part of this World Cup squad, but many more world-class names — including Mapi Leon, Patri Guijarro, Claudia Pina and Sandra Panos — are absent for La Roja.
Many wouldn’t have considered them among the favourites due to the off-field controversy, a thought that was compounded when they lost 4-0 in the group stages to Japan. They had comprehensively beaten Costa Rica and Zambia beforehand, and responded by turning on the style in the knockout stages.
They smashed Switzerland 5-1 before late shows against Netherlands (after extra time) and Sweden gave them 2-1 wins in both.
Salma Paralluelo was their game-changer off the bench, the Barcelona teenage sensation bagging the extra-time winner against the Dutch and breaking the deadlock in Auckland.
She replaced star name Alexia Putellas against the Swedes and whether she should start will be a big question over the coming days. Meanwhile, England face a selection debate of their own with James available again following her suspension.
It should be a fascinating showdown: Spain play some lovely football and are happiest in control, while England similarly dominate possession but are probably the more clinical of the sides. They have two of the best defensive midfielders in the world in Keira Walsh and Bonmati, and both should have big says, while it should all be about substance over style.
Not that Fifa’s World Rankings mean anything these days, but England are slightly higher in fourth while Spain sit sixth. Evenly-contested on paper, this one really could go either way.
