Ryan Asman

“We do have a plan and we are on a journey.” Leah Williamson reflects on the reverse of events after England secured a 1-0 victory over World Cup Champions, Spain.

Salma Paralluelo with the first chance of the game, her quick footwork taking her past the large majority of English defence before Millie Bright clears the ball for England. The home side had not a lot to show from the first 15 minutes of the game, but Spain continued to look ruthless, significantly when Lucia Garcia almost caught England goalkeeper, Hannah Hampton, off-guard on the goal line and minutes later, narrowly missing the target and hitting the crossbar.

England began to build into the game at Wembley Stadium, with an influx of attacking play after mistakes from the Spanish defence. A free kick from Lauren James, the best of the opportunities, was blocked by Cata Coll at the near post. The Lionesses were unable to convert any of their corner kicks to goals in the first half despite the messy defending from the Spanish team.

In a fantastic rum of play, it wasn’t long before England punished the Spanish defence when a lack of communication between the away side allowed England’s Jess Park to knock the ball into the back of the net, opening the scoresheet in the 33rd minute under the arch.

Spain once again proved their drive and came back fighting against the English defence, Pina and Paralluelo unable to hit the target, firing the ball just wide of Hampton’s net. Hampton was England manager Wiegman’s only change from the starting line-up that played against Portugal, a decision that proved to be a successful choice due to Hampton’s impressive shot-stopping display against a world-class Spanish front line.

There was a chaotic start to the second half with shots coming from either end of the pitch. The Spanish looked to catch the England side (off-guard) with continuous shots from range, while the home side perfected their build-up play on multiple occasions, only just unable to complete the attacks.

Montse Tome was first to make a substitution with the only goalscorer of the World Cup final, Olga Carmona, making way for Leila Ouahabi. England’s first substitutes of the evening saw Alessia Russo and Jess Park make way for Nikita Parris, for her first England appearance since 2022, and Chloe Kelly, on for her 50th cap in an England shirt.

Wiegman’s backline consistently looked in great shape, something that has previously punished the side. The Spanish forwards continued to display their quality in front of goal, striking with accuracy and power but Hampton was accurate in saving the shots.

Despite bringing attacking threats off of the bench, Spain were unable to challenge the solid performance from the English backline who prevented the opposition from making a mark on the score sheet. After Spain’s extra-time comeback against Belgium, it became clear that the Spanish weren’t going to give-up on taking a point away from the fixture but it was England who tonight sealed a 1-0 victory over the World Champions.

The Lionesses were back on top at the same place they conquered Europe back in 2022. England’s defence displayed one of their best performances against the World Champions, keeping a clean sheet at Wembley stadium.

Post-match, Lionesses captain Leah Williamson agreed stating, “individually there were some spectacular individual performances in 1v1s in defence.” She also praised the attacking play from her team, “in the first half, especially, there were some lovely passages of play.”

“They're a top team and they’re world champions for a reason.”

She hadn’t faced the Spanish side since the 2022 European semi-final as an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury prevented her from playing the World Cup final in Sydney nearly two years ago.

Bright, another defender who put on an impressive performance on the pitch, noticed how the team had changed after the draw against Portugal earlier this camp, “tonight we showed huge improvements from the last game”, adding, “yes we dropped points in the last game but we don’t let that derail us.”

“The next step now is creating more chances and scoring more goals.” Bright suggested.

England recorded nine shots and six on target and their opponent with over double the amount of opportunities in front of goal, 20 shots and five on target, all of which were stopped by Hampton in the net.

England topped the group at the end of the first camp of the 2025 Nations League, matched by Portugal who also finished the international break with four points. For the Lionesses, their upcoming fixtures are home and away legs against Belgium on 4th and 8th of April respectively.

England: Hampton Bronze Williamson Bright Charles Clinton Walsh Toone → Naz (84’) Park Russo → Parris (64’) James → Kelly (64’)

Unused Substitutes: Beever-Jones Blindkilde Brown Carter Earps Le Tissier Mace Moorhouse Morgan Turner

Spain: Coll Battle Paredes Mandez Carmona → Ouahabi (55’) Bonmati Aleixandri → Zubieta (83’) Caldentey Pina L. Garcia → del Castillo (70’) Paralluelo → Redondo (83’)

Unused Substitutes: Codina Garcia Lopez Martin-Prieto Nanclares Oroz Sullastres