Spain vs England – Women’s World Cup final preview: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction

There is guaranteed to be a brand new name on the trophy whatever happens between Spain and England in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final on Sunday.

This is actually the first time since the inaugural World Cup in 1991 that the final has featured two teams who have never played in it before. In fact, it’s the first final ever that hasn’t included either the United States or Germany, highlighting the shifting balance of power in women’s internatonal football.

Spain started brightly in the group stage and overcame a blip against Japan in time for a relatively smooth ride through the knockouts. They have shown resilience by beating Netherlands in extra-time and scoring a late semi-final winner against Sweden in arguably the tougher side of the bracket.

England have grown into this tournament, starting slowly and later riding their luck when Nigeria threatened to dump them out in the last 16. But the Lionesses have started to look fierce at the right time and survived the hostility of a semi-final against co-hosts Australia.

The most notable meeting between Spain and England came in the quarter-finals at Euro 2022 just last summer. The Spanish were heading for victory until Ella Toone equalised to force extra-time and then a screamer from Georgia Stanway won it for the Lionesses.

There was a 0-0 draw at the 2022 Arnold Clark Cup, while Alexia Putellas scored a late winner in a SheBelieves Cup match in February 2020 right before Covid-19 shut down the whole world.

Putellas also scored a late winner in a 3-2 Spain win during what was an utterly disastrous Euro 2013 for England, but the Lionesses have tended to always have the upper hand in this fixture and won comfortably when the sides also met at Euro 2017.

For the most part, Spain’s best results have been draws, but they did beat England in a playoff to qualify for Euro 1997, which was their first ever major tournament – and their only until 2013.

READ THE LATEST 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP NEWS, PREVIEWS & PLAYER RATINGS

Salma Paralluelo is pushing for a start after scoring off the bench in successive knockout games, but might now be seen as better in that impact sub role. Alexia Putellas is also not guaranteed to start as she continues to build her match fitness back up after long-term injury.

Oihane Hernandez is back from a yellow card suspension served in the semi-final.

The big news for England is that Lauren James is available after completed a two-game suspension for her red card in the last 16 victory over Nigeria. Whether she comes straight back into the starting XI is another matter, with Ella Toone performing well in that role, particularly in the semi-final.

Sarina Wiegman has stuck pretty religiously to the 3-4-1-2 formation, or close variants of it, ever since the Lionesses thrashed China in the group stage.

England have found a way to keep winning this summer, even when not playing particularly well, and that is absolutely invaluable in tournament football. The Lionesses have a coach in Sarina Wiegman who just knows how to get it done in these kind of settings – she has never failed to make a final in either a World Cup or European Championship and has won two out of three to date.

Spain are certainly no pushovers and will undoubtedly dominate the ball. But they do have weaknesses that can be exploited, as shown by Japan in the group stage, while England have already won this very fixture in a tournament knockout game within the last 13 months.

Prediction: Spain 1-2 England (aet)

WATCH THE WOMEN’S WORLD CUP FINAL PREVIEW EDITION OF 90MIN TALKS

Rachel & Sophie from Girls On The Ball chat with Alex Ibaceta for this extra special episode of 90min Talks, discussing the semi-finals which saw The Lionesses beat hosts Australia and look ahead at the historic World Cup final. If you can’t see this embed, click here for the full video.