The winners of the FIFA Women’s World Cup will be decided when Spain Women and England Women face off on Sunday. Both nations aim to win the Women’s World Cup for the first time. Spain is seeking their first big title.
Preview (Spain Women vs England Women)
Spain has had a wonderful tournament experience. They had a faultless opening round with easy wins over Zambia and Costa Rica. However, a dismal 4-0 loss to Japan in their final group match signaled that this Spain team would find it difficult to advance far in the tournament. After that dismal outcome, they were able to regroup and put up a commanding display in their last-16 match against Switzerland, cruising to a 5-1 victory that marked their first-ever triumph in the knockout stages of a significant tournament.
The European powerhouses had to demonstrate their tenacity against the Netherlands in the quarterfinal after giving up an equalizer in stoppage time. Salma Paralluelo then scored the game-winning goal in extra time to advance to the semifinals. Rebecka Blomqvist’s goal appeared to have given Spain a chance to advance. La Roja immediately regained the advantage thanks to Olga Carmona. She sent her nation into the final with a stunning long-range strike. La Roja is the Women’s World Cup’s top scorer with 17 goals. They have demonstrated that they have the firepower to worry the European champs.
Following their success at the European Championship with a remarkable run in Australia & New Zealand, England is getting ready to play in a major championship final for the second consecutive year. England held their composure to win the ensuing penalty shootout and secure their spot in the quarterfinals. The European champions defeated Colombia 2-1 thanks to goals from Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo. It set up a challenging semifinal matchup with the tournament’s co-hosts Australia.
Team News
Alba Redondo and Paralluelo are anticipated to be well enough to compete in the championship. The latter might make his third straight appearance as an impact sub. Oihane Hernandez, who started in the round of 16, as well as the semifinals, will be available for the championship game after serving her ban, but Carmona has performed well in her absence. Esther Gonzalez is a candidate to rejoin the Spanish forward line after sitting out the semi-final. For the defending European champions, Wiegman will have to choose between starting Lauren James, who has served a two-match suspension, or Toone.
Toone is set to get the nod after scoring in the semifinal victory over Australia. It would result in England selecting the same starting lineup. Both Russo and Hemp have now scored three goals in the competition. The potent front two will want to increase their totals in the championship game. Although the Lionesses possess their own attacking threat and we believe they will draw on their experience from last year’s European Championship final victory over Germany to edge out La Roja and win the Women’s World Cup, we believe that Spain has enough quality in the final third to breach the strong England defense.
Spain Women 1 – 2 England Women
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