Spain’s appearance in its first Women’s World Cup final on Sunday is the culmination of explosive growth of the women’s game at the country’s club and youth levels, as well as another episode in the ongoing drama of the national team.
La Roja, as the team is known, takes on England in the title game, Sunday at 6 a.m. ET, riding a wave of momentum and controversy.
The team was embarrassed in its final group stage game, a 4-0 loss to Japan, but has rebounded in the knockout rounds with thrilling victories over Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden.
On the field, Spain came into the tournament worried about its superstar, 29-year-old Alexia Putellas, a two-time Ballon d’Or winner who is coming off a knee injury and is still not all the way back. Her career has symbolized the rise of Spain’s professional women’s clubs, thanks to her development into a superstar at FC Barcelona, where she’s led the club to six Liga F titles and the 2020-21 UEFA Women’s Champions League title. While not yet 100%, she’s still made valuable contributions, coming off the bench to help ignite the squad in its victory over the Netherlands.
The depth of Spain’s development program, though, has been shown by the woman who subbed in for Putellas in the second half of La Roja’s semifinal victory. Salma Paralluelo, a 19-year-old who has starred for Spain’s junior national teams, scored the winning goal against Sweden after a similarly electrifying performance with a goal against the Dutch.
The Spanish performance has come amid a year of turmoil off the pitch, after 15 national teamers wrote an email to the Spanish federation complaining about poor training conditions, a lack of preparation for competitions, and inappropriate behavior by head coach Jorge Vilda and his staff. The players’ identical emails asked that they not be called up to the national team, and the depleted squad played several friendlies without them in the fall of 2022. Three other players who did not write emails, including Putellas, expressed support for the other 15.
The Spanish federation stood firmly behind Vilda, however, and while the federation made some concessions on how players were treated, Vilda has kept his job. The temperature cooled somewhat, with talks between players and the federation, with more than half of the players who sent the original email making themselves available for national team selection—three of whom made the cut.
But that still left several talented players off the squad, some by choice, including Barcelona defender Mapi León.
“It makes me sad as I deserve to go to the World Cup, and I contributed to getting the team there,” León, 28, wrote on social media before the tournament. “But it’s not a decision you take lightly, and it’s not easy. My decision is clear.”
León still believes change is coming.
Spain has only participated in three World Cups, including this one, all of them under Vilda. Four years ago, they advanced to the knockout round but lost to the United States, who won the cup. In 2015, the team did not win any of its group matches.
Now, in spite of all the turmoil, the depth of talent in the Spanish system has the team on the brink of a championship.
