England and Spain will face off for the first time since the 2023 World Cup final when they go head-to-head in the Women’s Nations League.
With 128 days to go before England bid to defend their European Championship crown, they welcome world champions Spain to Wembley Stadium on Wednesday for a mouth-watering rematch of the 2023 Women’s World Cup final.
In a huge test for both sides, the Lionesses will hope to fare better than they did when narrowly coming out second best in Sydney.
With July’s European Championship in Switzerland looming large, England are craving a statement result that would give them some much-needed momentum going into the tournament.
The rivalry between England and Spain is growing. Both nations have shaken up the status quo of women’s football with their major tournament victories over the past three years.
Facing off this time in the Nations League, they will play each other twice before this summer’s showpiece event.
However, Lionesses fans may be feeling less confident than before about the chances of England retaining their European crown, given a drop in their performances since that 1-0 loss to Spain at Stadium Australia.
England vs Spain Head-to-Head
England’s recent record against Spain is not actually that bad. They’ve won three of their last six meetings, though their World Cup defeat was their last encounter.
Despite being well short of their best lately – they’ve won just two of their last six games including friendlies (D3 L1) – England remain a tough side to beat. They have lost only one of their last nine competitive fixtures in all competitions (W5 D3), going unbeaten in four (W2 D2) since a 2-1 home loss against France in May last year.
However, Sarina Wiegman does not have a great record against Spain.
The Dutch manager has faced La Roja on six occasions as a coach, and only once has she tasted victory – an extra-time win in the quarter-finals of Women’s Euro 2022.
Wiegman has lost four times to Spain, suffering defeats in each of her three meetings with them as Netherlands boss, and losing in the World Cup final with England. Her teams have managed just two goals in those games, conceding seven in return.
Lionesses Lacking Bite?
England’s attacking form has certainly waned since their run to the World Cup final in 2023.
They had been free-scoring under Wiegman previously, but in the 18 months since that loss, they are lacking bite up front.
England have played 19 matches since the World Cup, scoring 42 goals from 38.0 expected goals (xG). That is an average of 2.2 goals per game, and 2.0 xG per game, which is not bad going, but when compared to their previous attacking displays, the drop-off becomes clearer.
In 17 matches across the 2023 World Cup campaign (including qualifying), England scored an extraordinary 93 goals from 67.7 xG.
Those numbers meant the Lionesses were scoring at an average of 5.4 goals per game in that period and creating chances worth 3.9 xG per game.
Looking at the same split, their numbers for shots and touches in the opposition box tell a similar story. Across their last 19 matches, they’ve averaged 14.4 shots per game (down from 28.8 in the 17 matches prior) and 28.8 touches in the opposition box (down from 56). That downturn is an issue Wiegman will need to address ahead of the Euros.
The England boss also needs to address a worrying trend of her team dropping off in the second half of matches: England have conceded 10 second-half goals since the World Cup, from 89 shots.
In their Nations League opener against Portugal, substitute Kika Nazareth fired into the top right-hand corner to earn the hosts a 1-1 draw with 15 minutes to go after Alessia Russo had put the visitors in front in the first half.
The Lionesses accumulated 0.94 of their total 1.12 xG in the first half, and a second-half momentum shift once again highlighted the issue.
In their 17 matches across 2023 World Cup qualifying and the tournament finals, they conceded only two second-half goals and allowed 29 fewer shots (60).
Spain’s Unpredictable Attack
As we saw from their own Nations League opener on Friday, Spain are not infallible either.
They fell 2-0 down to Belgium, before rallying in the second half to win 3-2.
Like England, they have also had a tricky spell of form since their victory in the World Cup final. A disappointing run at the 2024 Paris Olympics culminated in them being knocked out by Brazil in the semi-finals.
But Spain will be buoyed by their comeback win over Belgium, and further boosted by the Lionesses’ second-half troubles.
They have a fine array of attacking talent, too.
Alba Redondo didn’t score against Belgium, but registered the highest xG (1.36) of any player on Matchday 1 in the Nations League, despite playing just 60 minutes. She will be hoping to be more clinical, having hit the target only twice from six shots.
Redondo also had 11 touches in the opponent’s box – a tally bettered only by Poland’s Ewa Pajor (12). Teammate and Women’s Super League newcomer Mariona Caldentey also topped the charts for touches, with a whopping 142, 17 more than next-best Teresa Abelleira (125).
Caldentey created five chances, the joint-most of any player across the Nations League opening fixtures along with Italy’s Manuela Giugliano.
Four of the top six players for successful passes across the matchday were Spanish – Caldentey (87), Irene Paredes, Laia Aleixandri and Abelleira (all 85).
After MD1, Caldentey (0.73) and Salma Paralluelo (0.7) lead the Nations League for expected assists (xA), with each of those players teeing up a goal apiece, so England will need to be wary of the creative threat posed across a supremely talented Spain attack.
The Players to Watch
With the rapid growth of the WSL and Liga F, it is no surprise that these two sides have been the teams to beat in the last four years.
Spain boast Aitana Bonmatí, the two-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Only Caroline Graham Hansen (176) has had more touches in the opposition box than Bonmatí (131) this season across Europe’s top five leagues. She also ranks second in Europe’s top five leagues for chances created (49 – level with Hansen and behind Giugliano’s 50).
Paralluelo is another of Spain’s emerging talents who England will also have to be wary of.
She has five goal contributions in just 304 league minutes this season, meaning she averages a goal or assist every 60 minutes.
Arsenal pulled out all the stops to bring Caldentey to London in the off-season, and she has proved a creative force for the Gunners, crafting 26 chances in the WSL this term, a figure bettered only by teammate Katie McCabe (33). She also has the highest xA (4.29) in the competition.
England have a forward in form in Russo, who is finally flourishing at Arsenal under new manager Renee Slegers, sitting second in the Golden Boot race with eight goals, behind only Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw (11).
Russo also ranks fourth for WSL goal contributions (10 – eight goals, two assists) this term, and has had more shots (48) than any other player in the league. Only Shaw has recorded a higher xG (6.74 to Russo’s 6.13).
Midfielder Keira Walsh, who made a blockbuster move from Barcelona to Chelsea in the winter transfer window, will be known well by her Spanish opponents.
At 91.5%, she has the second-best passing accuracy across Europe’s top five leagues this season of midfielders to attempt at least 50 passes.
A lesser-known quantity for Spain however will be Manchester United’s Grace Clinton, who broke into the England senior side last year and has been a sensation in the WSL this season, leading all player for duels (204), while no midfielder in the competition has either attempted (50) or completed (20) as many dribbles.
Clinton scored the winning goal in each of her last two England appearances and was aiming to become the youngest player to score in three straight for the national team on record (since 2013), but she could not find the net against Portugal.
With no Georgia Stanway, Clinton will have another chance to prove she is capable of playing a big role. A star performance against one of the world’s best teams would do her chances of securing a starting spot at the Euros no harm at all.
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