Spain and Sweden go head to head in the first of the 2023 Women’s World Cup semi-finals this week, battling to make it into the final and give themselves a chance to lift the trophy.
Already at this World Cup there is guaranteed to be a brand new champion following Japan’s elimination at the quarter-finals, losing to Sweden. The 2011 champions followed former winners United States, Norway (both last 16) and Germany (group stage) out of the competition.
Of the four teams left, which also includes Australia and England in the other semi to be played a day later, Sweden are the only one to have reached a World Cup final before, doing so in 2003. The Scandinavians also finished third in 2019 and played in each of the last two Olympic finals.
Given their reputation as one of the most talented squads on the planet, Spain are remarkably competing at just their third World Cup, having been knocked out in the group stage in 2015 and only going as far as the last 16 four years ago.
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Country/region |
TV channel/live stream |
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United Kingdom |
BBC One, BBC iPlayer |
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United States |
FOX, Peacock Premium, fubo, Telemundo |
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Canada |
TSN1, TSN4, TSN5, TSN+ |
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Australia |
Optus Sport |
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Ireland |
RTE2, RTE Player |
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Middle East/North Africa |
beIN SPORTS |
Across 11 previous meetings, Spain have never beaten Sweden, losing seven and drawing four. In fact, Spain’s two worst ever results have both been at the hands of Sweden, an 8-0 defeat in 1996 and a 7-0 thrashing in 2000. Each time, it was in European Championship qualifiers.
It isn’t a fixture with much recent history, though. A 1-1 friendly draw in October 2022 is the only time they have played each other in the last 20 years, with most other games coming in European Championship qualifying campaigns throughout the 1990s.
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Round |
Spain |
Sweden |
|---|---|---|
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Group stage matchday 1 |
Spain 3-0 Costa Rica |
Sweden 2-1 South Africa |
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Group stage matchday 2 |
Spain 5-0 Zambia |
Sweden 5-0 Italy |
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Group stage matchday 3 |
Japan 4-0 Spain |
Argentina 0-2 Sweden |
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Last 16 |
Switzerland 1-5 Spain |
Sweden (p) 0-0 United States |
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Quarter-finals |
Spain 2-1 Netherlands (aet) |
Japan 1-2 Sweden |
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Aitana Bonmati and Laia Codina are both expected to shake off muscle injuries, but Oihane Hernandez is suspended following bookings against Netherlands and Japan.
On her journey to full fitness, back-to-back Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas has not been a regular starter at the tournament, managing 33 minutes off the bench so far in the knockouts.
Kosovare Asllani, who spent two years at Real Madrid until last summer, is hoping to be available despite coming off against Japan with a problem. Caroline Seger remains a major doubt.
Spain showed with victory over the Netherlands last time out that their group stage thrashing against Japan was either a blip or something they very quickly learned from and corrected.
Sweden made Japan look very ordinary last time out and will again fancy their chances against a technically-drilled opponent. With successive former champions knocked out so far, their confidence should also be sky high at this point.
Prediction: Spain 1-1 Sweden (Sweden to win on penalties)
