.png)
1 hour ago
1
Key events
75 min: England with the most possession they have had since the opening minutes of the match. A cross comes in but it is too close and Coll catches the ball with ease.
74 min: England finally get forward and it looks like Bronze can pull one back from an angle after Coll palms it in her direction on the right but Corrales makes the important block.
71 min: Putellas with a simple pass to Pina, whose back is to goal. The substitute drops her shoulder, turns and takes the long-range shot but it is straight at Hampton.
70 min: Guijarro with a wonderful clipped pass to Paralluelo that is just blocked by the one of the white shirts camped in the box.
68 min: López may not have scored but a fantastic performance from her nonetheless as she makes way for Pina – as if England have not been run ragged enough.
63 min: Guijarro with a stunning backheel for López whose curling finish at the near post is just wide. What a stunning goal that would have been.
61 min: Guijarro is almost away celebrating a fourth after she heads a looping corner goalwards but a combination of the crossbar and Hampton just manage to keep it out.
60 min: Corrales surges forward and gets ahead of Wubben-Moy. She tries to find Paralluelo but Morgan cuts out the pass.
58 min: Imade has a go from about 40 yards out as the confidence continues to flow. Wiegman has seen enough and makes two changes with James and Toone off for Kelly and Mead.
GOAL! Spain 3-0 England (Putellas 55)
England have absolutely no answers against the world champions. Some magic footwork from Battle keeps the ball and she cuts back to send the ball to Putellas. She takes the shot and Bronze comes in with the important goalline block only for Putellas to be the quickest to respond and slam it goalwards.
54 min: England are out of their own half. I repeat, England are out of their own half. This feels like breaking news given how the game has gone. Stanway gets the ball on the edge of the box and has a go from distance and it drifts just wide.
51 min: Paralluelo leaps forward to try to get on the end of a ball over the top and Greenwood just does enough to throw off the forward. I wonder if the Spanish centre-backs are stretching and trying to keep warm on the other end of the pitch. The camera has not panned over to them in a while.
50 min: López glides past several England players and tries to walk it into the net but just one touch too many from the Spaniard and the ball is cleared. It is almost a one-woman show at this point.
48 min: Hemp fouls López near the left corner flag but England clear the free-kick in.
46 min: Spain quickly retain possession of the ball and test Hampton early on but it is an easy catch for the keeper. Meanwhile, Mead is already warming up on the touchline.
Second half: No changes at half-time from either side and we are back underway in Mallorca.
Half-time: Spain 2-0 England
Not a single minute of added time from the referee as Spain head in at the break having been the far better team. Work for Sarina Wiegman and England to do.
44 min: López dribbles into the box and finds Imade. She dribbles in the box and trips over the box over Stanway’s outstretched leg. The referee is not interested despite the home fans’ protest for a penalty.
Tom Garry
On the ground: Spain have been significantly better than England so far. Too many England players are off their game at the same time as one another. There have been sloppy passes, loose touches and sleepy marking. It could and perhaps should be 3-0 or 4-0. England have to ride out this Spanish storm and try to get back into the game. The home fans in the stands are loving what they are seeing.
40 min: England, despite the dangerous forwards, are struggling to create much. Hemp wins a corner and Greenwood sends the looping delivery only for Imade to head away immediately … Spain are on the break and it is only Morgan who is back, and she somehow sticks a leg out to stop the attack. Crucial intervention from the Washington Spirit defender.
GOAL! Spain 2-0 England (Putellas 37)
Spain are completely in control of this group now. The hosts pass it around the box with one-touch passes and it is Putellas who is through on goal. Hampton is able to get a hand on the shot but it powers into the back of the net anyway. Putellas had two wasted chances earlier in this match. You can’t give her a third.
35 min: López gallops away, evading multiple white shirts. Wubben-Moy finally gets the slightest of touches after a sliding tackle that allows Hampton to collect.
35 min: James sprints forward and sends a ball in. The ball looks like it is going to float in at the back post but it curves away and there is no white shirt to poke it home.
33 min: Hampton receives the ball and she thinks she just manages to keep it in. The Spanish crowd disagree and the replay shows that they might be right, with the ball out of play. No VAR or goalline technology here in Mallorca today.
31 min: Paralluelo tries to find López but Morgan is able to stick a foot out. The ball switches flanks and Corrales attempts a cross but Hampton catches the ball.
28 min: England again lose the ball at the edge of the box and Paralluelo pounces. She skips forward but nothing comes of the chance. Spain are taking charge but have been very wasteful.
25 min: Spain win the ball back in the final third after England’s sloppy passing at the back. Putellas again … and her low shot is on target this time but straight at Hampton.
24 min: Spain pass the ball around casually and it gets to Putellas, who is unmarked at the edge of the box. Luckily for England, she skies it high and wide.
20 min: A bit of drama after the goal scored … Hampton kept hold of the ball despite the Spanish players attempting to get it from her grasp and Guijarro had a few words for the referee. England hope to respond with a corner which they fail to do.
GOAL! Spain 1-0 England (Guijarro 19)
Patri Guijarro was born here in Mallorca and she is the one who opens the scoring with a fantastic low shot that wrong foots Hampton after she nutmegs Stanway in midfield. Huge goal for Spain, who need to win today to have a chance of topping the group.
17 min: James has a go at a curler after an England corner but the ball hits a sea of red shirts and bounces to Walsh. She then attempts a shot and it drifts just above the bar. Not a bad effort at all.
15 min: Guijarro finds Paralluelo with another ball over the top. The latter can’t get the touch right but she recovers well and gets past her marker but her cross is headed away. The ball limites to Caldentey, who has a go from distance, but it dribbles wide.
13 min: Huge chance! Imade sneaks off the shoulder of Morgan and meets a looping ball that comes in over the top. Hampton comes out and catches the ball before dropping it but no red shirts are around to hit the rebound. Relief for England.
9 min: Spain now enjoying the ball. Corrales gets forward and with a great cross to an unmarked Putellas. She had all the time to bring the ball down but she opts to head it straight away and fails to hit the target.
6 min: England enjoying the possession but Spain have a chance to counter here … and Imade is offside.
5 min: Encouraging from England. Stanway wins the ball back in the final third and the visitors are on the attack again. Greenwood and Russo try to combine and Spain just manage to clear it. Hemp then wins the ball back on the left and attempts a cross but Spain, once again, deal with the danger.
4 min: James shrugs of Paredes and finds Greenwood with a great pass forward. Greenwood then finds the central Russo but Greenwood was well offside.
Tom Garry
On the ground: What an atmosphere inside this stadium, with almost every single Spain fan waving their national flag in their air as the anthems are played. They respectfully applauded after ‘God save the King’ and then really upped their noise levels. High up here in the top tier of the stands, we have a view of the mountains to our left and the sea to our right. The sun is setting and the scene is very picturesque.
2 min: López and Imade try to combine but James is all the way back and wins the ball back. Caldentey then plays a good ball in but Bronze deals with it eventually with an awkward header away.
Kick-off: Spain 0-0 England
Here we go! Spain in their red shirts and navy shorts and England in their white tops and blue shorts.
The players are out of the tunnel and the national anthems are about to be sung.
Here is a reminder of the teams:
Spain XI (4-3-3): Coll; Batlle, Paredes, León, Corrales; Caldentey, Guijarro, Putellas; López, Imade, Paralluelo.
Subs: Rodríguez, Nanclares, Méndez, Carmona, Codina, Serrajordi, Bonmatí, Benítez, González, Del Castillo, Navarro, Pina.
England XI (4-3-3): Hampton; Bronze, Wubben-Moy, Morgan, Greenwood; Toone, Walsh, Stanway; Hemp, Russo, James.
Subs: Moorhouse, Baggaley, Le Tissier, Carter, Charles, Fisk, Kendall, Mead, Park, Godfrey, Blindkilde, Kelly.
Preview: Can England show that they are ready to be world champions? Here’s a bit of Tom Garry’s thoughts.
Spain away is the toughest fixture in international football. Topping a difficult qualifying group – in a fixture that is a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final – would show the Lionesses are ready for a world title to add to their two European triumphs.
As Europe’s two strongest sides, and as two of the best in the world alongside the USA, these rivals met in the European Championship final only 11 months ago, which England won in a penalty shootout.
Lucy Bronze says Spain “bring out the best in us”, the England right-back adding: “It’s one of those rivalries where we have made each other better over the years. It’s good for the game and it’s good for each other.”
Read the full preview below.
Sarina Wiegman speaks to ITV before the match.
On Wutten-Moy slotting in for the injured Leah Williamson:
She has had a very good season and she and Leah tend to swap positions when Leah is out, or if she isn’t. She is ready for tonight.
On Toone’s first England start since November:
Ella is very talented and brings something different to our team. I expect a very intense game and I hope she can bring what she can do.
On what will be learned from this game:
You learn from every game. We learned a lot from Iceland. We learned a lot from Ukraine. This game will give us the most pressure we can imagine, in execution but also decision making.
On James returning from injury:
Having Lauren is a boost. The squad is in a good place. [James] had a small injury and she recovered really well.
Tom Garry
On the ground: We are expecting about 20,000 fans here tonight and the atmosphere is lively outside. We have drummers, dancers, a DJ and red-and-yellow Spain kits everywhere.
Permutations: The league stage of the Uefa’s Women’s World Cup qualifiers runs until 9 June.
Four direct qualification spots for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil will be decided by then while 32 slots in the playoffs (drawn on 18 June) are also up for grabs. Teams are also competing for promotion and relegation ahead of the next edition of the Nations League.
England will qualify as group winners if they avoid defeat by Spain today while Spain will be confirmed in the playoffs if they do not beat England.
Should Spain beat England today, the two teams will both be on 12 points. From there, qualification will be based on goal difference.
Iceland and Ukraine make up the other two teams in the group. Both are confirmed in the playoffs and the former are safe from relegation after beating the latter 1-0 earlier today.
Team news
Spain XI (4-3-3): Coll; Batlle, Paredes, León, Corrales; Caldentey, Guijarro, Putellas; López, Imade, Paralluelo.
Subs: Rodríguez, Nanclares, Méndez, Carmona, Codina, Serrajordi, Bonmatí, Benítez, González, Del Castillo, Navarro, Pina.
England XI (4-3-3): Hampton; Bronze, Wubben-Moy, Morgan, Greenwood; Toone, Walsh, Stanway; Hemp, Russo, James.
Subs: Moorhouse, Baggaley, Le Tissier, Carter, Charles, Fisk, Kendall, Mead, Park, Godfrey, Blindkilde, Kelly.
Referee: Ivana Martincic (Croatia)
Preamble
The newest chapter of the Spain-England rivalry will be written today in Mallorca where the World Cup holders host the European champions.
The two teams have met six times since Sarina Wiegman’s side beat Spain 2-1 during the quarter-finals of the Women’s Euro 2022. Most recently, England beat Spain 1-0 at Wembley and, with the only perfect record remaining in Group A3, will qualify for next summer’s showpiece event in Brazil with a game to spare if they avoid defeat.
Spain have been here before – back in the 2025 Nations League, Spain lost 1-0 at Wembley before beating England 2-1 to qualify – and eventually win – the World Cup in Australia.
Permutations and team news to come. Join me for the 8pm BST kick-off.
