FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 : Spain vs England Match preview, team news, possible lineups and every details

A month long tournament is about to come to an end as the final of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is set to take place between Spain and England on the 20th of August at Sydney, Australia. Both the teams have played extraordinary football and the World cup trophy is nothing short of what they deserve, even though only one team is going to get their hands on the trophy. So here's the match preview of Spain vs England where we provide you with team news, possible lineups and other details related to the match in order to prepare you for the final of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023.

Read also : Sweden vs Australia FIFA Women's World Cup 2023: Live Blog, Scores, Updates, and Everything

Spain vs England

Match Information

Date : 20 August, 2023
Venue : Accord Stadium, Sydney, Australia
Time : 8:00 pm (GMT) and 3:30 pm (IST)
Live Streaming : Fancode and DD sports

Match Preview

The Spanish side's journey have not been the most comfortable one in the World Cup. They have one of the most youngest squads in the tournament which led the whole world into believing that they couldn't compete but they proved all of them wrong despite the ongoing feud between the players and the management before the start of the tournament.

In the group stages, the first two matches were comfortably won by them against Costa Rica and Zambia. But in their last match against Japan, they suffered a heavy defeat of 4-0 which was an indication that this team would go far in the tournament.

But they managed to pick themselves up from that disappointing result and produced a dominating performance against the the Swiss team as they eased past them to a 5-1 victory which represented their first-ever win in the knockout rounds of a major tournament.

In the Quarterfinals, they faced tournament favorites Netherlands, in that game we saw a resilient Spanish team who, after conceding a stoppage time equalizer scored an extra time winner, setting up a difficult semi-final encounter against a Sweden side that had beaten former winners the USA and Japan.

In the Semi finals, they came face to face against a strong Swedish team. The game was evenly poised until the 81st minute, when Spain broke the deadlock, but Sweden came back just after five minutes just to concede another spainsh goal under 2 minutes, which took them to the finals of the World Cup for the first time ever.

Statement by Aitana Bonmati, Spain

"We're in the World Cup final. The World Cup final. It's unbelievable, it's a very special moment. It's an incredible feeling for all of us. Some of us are very lucky. We've won two Champions Leagues with Barcelona. We've played at Camp Nou many times. We have the record crowd – 90,000 people came to see us play. We've played in many big games with big crowds, great atmospheres. But playing a World Cup final in front of 75,000, it will be crazy. I can't believe it's going to happen. Am I in a dream? To play in a World Cup final is already very special, but this will be on another level. This tournament has been amazing for women's football. The standard of football, the great games, the atmospheres. To get the chance to play in the final is something we've dreamed about for so long."

On the other hand we have the European Champions, England. They came into the tournaments as one of the favorites despite losing key players to injuries. They've the opportunity to be only the second team to win the Euro and the World Cup on two subsequent years.

England were one of the few teams who've managed to have a perfect record in the group stages, winning all of their matches against Haiti, Denmark and China. In the Round of 16 stage, they faced their toughest opponent in Nigeria. The match was won by the Lionesses in the penalty shootout and progressed into the quarterfinal stage.

Goals from Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo guided the European champions to a 2-1 win over Colombia, setting up a difficult semi-final tie against the tournament co-hosts Australia.

England took a narrow lead into half-time thanks to Ella Toone's first goal of the competition, but Sam Kerr stopped the Lionesses in their tracks when she produced a long-range thunderbolt to level the contest just after the hour mark. The Lionesses showed great determination to come back from the set back and scored two more goals and advanced into their first ever final.

Statement by Millie Bright, England captain

"I'm really happy for the fans back home, for our nation. It's something that we've all been driving towards and it's something that's been missing. Now the opportunity we have is incredible. You can win in many different ways and, for us, we've faced so many challenges at this tournament. It's hard for people to see on the outside, but as players, we know that there's more to football than just pretty passes and connecting. In each game, we've proved something different about how we play, what we're capable of. We're very adaptable to what teams throw at us. But things are really starting to click now and we're getting the ball in the back of the net."

Spain vs England will be an evenly poised contest because England are yet to be defeated in this tournament whereas Spain is the highest scoring team in the tournament, so it's going to be a nail biting contest as both the teams have the chance of winning the trophy for the first time ever and make history.

Spain vs England Team News

The main decision facing England coach Wiegman revolves around whether to bring James back into the starting line-up now that the Chelsea player is free from suspension.

James impressed in the group-stage wins over Denmark and China but was well shackled by Nigeria before her red card. However, the way Spain play would appear more likely to afford James the space to pose problems if she is recalled to the team.

Ella Toone was brought back into the team in place of James for the Colombia game and after scoring the opening goal against Australia, she will be hoping to retain her place, especially with Wiegman having named the same starting XI for the last two matches.

Wiegman will also have to decide whether to stick with the wing-back system which has served England well since the change was made ahead of the China game.

Like Wiegman, Spain coach Vilda has a similar decision around whether to bring a player capable of causing panic in the opposition defence back into the starting line-up.

Teenage winger Paralluelo started the opening four games of the tournament but was introduced to decisive effect as a substitute in the knockout-stage wins over the Netherlands and Sweden.

Paralluelo scored the winner against the Netherlands and then broke the deadlock against Sweden, with her pace and direct running capable of putting England's defenders on the back foot.

Another key decision for Vilda will be whether to retain Alexia Putellas in the starting line-up. Putellas started the semi-final against Sweden before being replaced by Paralluelo.

Spain vs England Possible Lineups

Spain Women possible starting lineup:
Coll; Batlle, Paredes, Codina, Carmona; Bonmati, Abelleira, Hermoso; Redondo, Caldentey, Gonzalez

England Women possible starting lineup:
Earps; Carter, Bright, Greenwood; Bronze, Stanway, Walsh, Daly; Toone; Russo, Hemp