Key events
25 min: Spain look to respond quickly. A Paralluelo cross comes in and the ball clearly hits Charles’s arm in the box. But the referee waves to play on much to the crowd’s frustration. England let-off again.
GOAL! Spain 0-1 England (Russo 22)
Charles wins the ball off Paralluelo and the ball is played to a rushing Russo. She is 1v1 against Coll and there was likely going to be one result: the ball in the back of the net.
Spain are not happy because they think there was a foul from Charles. But the assistant referee disagrees and, again, no VAR.
On her 50th cap, that is Russo’s 22nd goal for her country. What form she is in!
20 min: It is getting a bit cagey now. England have been forced to defend deep and compact for most of this opening 20 minutes and Spain are still looking for the spaces.
17 min: Charles plays a great curling ball to Hemp on the flank but Batlle deals with the danger.
13 min: The ball bobbles around in the England box and it breaks towards González but her first touch is a bit too heavy, allowing Hampton to quickly gather the ball.
12 min: Hemp plays Charles into the box but the flag goes up again. This one looked like the right decision.
11 min: Bonmatí is through on goal but the flag goes up for offside. She wags her finger, denying the claim. The replay shows she was well onside with Williamson caught out but there is no VAR in the group stages of the Nations League so play continues.
8 min: Spain get two corners back-to-back. The first ends in a wild Carmona shot and the second is cleared away by Charles.
8 min: What a let-off! Williamson looks like she will easily deal with a rare ball over the top from Spain but instead passes it straight into the pass of González. The striker cuts inside and shoots but it’s well-wide.
6 min: England get up the pitch but Bronze and Mead can’t get their passing quite right.
3 min: Spain win an early corner. Paralluelo takes the set-piece and it lands to Parades who has a swipe at it. It lands towards González, who spins and shoots but Hampton is there, her strong hand coming out and denying what looked like a sure goal. Great save from close range!
1 min: Spain start early with Bonmatí and Paralluelo attempting to combine but Williamson deals with the pressure.
Kick-off: Spain 0-0 England
The players take a knee before the referee blows her whistle. The hosts in all red and the visitors in white and blue.
The teams are out and the national anthems are played. Paredes and Williamson – the two captains – shake hands and we are moments away from kick-off.
The pre-match postbag is here!
Peter questions the line-up:
Stanway starts, Beever-Jones a sub. Why? Stanway has had a few minutes playing for England. Beever-Jones a hattrick. This is the most important game.
Definitely an interesting change from Wiegman. She did not really give a clear answer in her pre-match interview for her reasoning but I believe she’ll want to assess Stanway’s ability before this summer and see if she can keep up against one of the best midfields in the world in Spain. Let’s see if Beever-Jones make an appearance off the bench.
And Assaf with some extra info:
Besides being all-or-nothing for Nations League semi-final qualification, the No 1 team of each League A group also qualifies directly to the 2027 Women’s World Cup. That’s at least four games saved for the increasingly tired bodies of top players.
Great spot! Wiegman has been vocal about the number of games her players are forced to play and I am sure she and the players would be grateful for the rest.
Thank you for all the discussion! Feel free to continue sending your thoughts via email.
Sarina Wiegman speaks to ITV before kick-off:
It is great as everyone was fit today. So everybody could start. It is good to have them on the pitch and good to have other options too.
[On dropping Beever-Jones to the bench after her hat-trick]: She is in good form, but Alessia [Russo] is in good form too. It is good to have all these centre forwards in the squad. It gives me many options.
[On Jess Park starting]: “Jess has done really well. Ella [Toone] is coming back, we have to build her into the squad, coming back with a little niggle, but Jess stays in the lineup.
[On if she knows her starting XI for the Euros]: It is a little bit too early. Of course, the players get some rest, then we play Jamaica, and then we make the decisions.
15 minutes until kick-off at the RCDE Stadium!
There is quite a rivalry building between these two sides. England knocked out Spain in the last Euros with Stanway scoring in extra-time.
Spain then went on to beat England in the World Cup final with the sole goal coming from Real Madrid’s Olga Carmona.
Here are some of the stats between these two sides:
England beat Spain 1-0 at home in this season’s Nations League. The USA were the last nation to beat Spain twice in the same calendar year (2019).
Spain are unbeaten at home to England in all competitions (W1 D3), last hosting the Lionesses in June 2010, a 2-2 draw in a World Cup qualifier. They did surrender a 2-0 lead in that match, however.
Spain have won nine of their last 10 home games in all competitions (D1), since a 3-2 loss to Italy in the 2023-24 Nations League.
England have failed to win each of their last three away games in all competitions (D2 L1), last going longer without victory on the road between September 2002 and October 2003 under Hope Powell (P8 D2 L6).
Spain have scored 28 goals in their last seven games across all competitions, scoring 3+ goals in six of those games. Indeed, in nine of their 13 games in the Nations League they have scored 3+ goals.
England are in good form, beating Portugal 6-0 last week with Beever-Jones’s first-half hat-trick leading the rout.
But Spain, the world champions, are a different test all together. Here is what Wiegman said on tonight’s task:
I think Spain is a totally different game than what we had on Friday.
We are aware that Spain is different – it’s the highest level we can imagine so we have to have a good start again. We’re going out there to play the best performance and to take another step in our style of play and our development and have a good gameplan.
I think our squad is strong enough that we can have a good performance against a top, top team but I think we’re a good team too and we’re going to do everything to win that game.
Sarina Wiegman will announce her Euro 2025 squad on Thursday as England begin their title defence against France in Switzerland. Will any of her players make enough of a mark tonight to cause a last minute shuffle?
One player we know will not be on the team sheet is Mary Earps, who announced her shock retirement late last month.
Wiegman has preferred Hampton between the sticks as of late but Earps’ experience would have been invaluable this summer.
Quite a few England and Spain players were a part of the Champions League final last month, where Arsenal – the heavy underdogs – beat Barcelona 1-0. Lucy Bronze, a five-time Champions League winner said it was only a positive more England players have won the pinnacle of club football.
It’s just fantastic for us as an England team and us as a country, to have so many more players who are doing great things and achieving great things.
The Chelsea full-back also spoke on her teammate Millie Bright’s decision to take a break for her mental health.
We’ve all spoken to Millie during the week. We’ve just offered her our support. Both physically and mentally, it’s been a long season for everyone but, having spent every day with Millie, I know she’s someone who’s quite tough and maybe just holds a lot in, so I think it’s been quite brave for her to come out and speak.
Team news
Spain (4-3-3): Coll; Batlle, Paredes, Aleixandri, Carmona; Bonmatí, Guijaro, Putellas; Caldentey, González, Paralluelo
Subs: Nanclares, Sullastres, Fernandez, S García, Méndez, Zubieta, López, L García, Redondo, Pina, Martín-Prieto, Del Castillo
England (4-3-3): Hampton; Bronze, Williamson, Greenwood, Charles; Stanway, Walsh, Park; Mead, Russo, Hemp
Subs: Moorhouse, Keating, Wubben-Moy, Morgan, Carter, Le Tissier, Toone, Kearns, Agyemang, Parris, Beever-Jones, Kelly
Preamble
It is all or nothing for the Lionesses in tonight’s Nations League match between Spain and England as both sides fight to finish top of Group A3 to qualify for the finals.
Spain currently lead the pack in a group that also includes Portugal and Belgium with 12 points while England trail in second with 10.
Sarina Wiegmna’s side need a win tonight to advance to the knockout stage while Spain can get by with only a point.
Join me for team news and buildup before the 6pm BST/7pm CEST kick-off. And, as always, feel free to send me an email with your thoughts, questions, predictions, complaints and rituals. I want to hear it all!
