SPAIN QUALIFIES FOR FIRST-EVER WORLD CUP FINAL 🇪🇸

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It’s Tuesday, August 15th. Give us four minutes, we give you everything World Cup.

“Being so close really does make it feel inevitable” Sam Mewis describes the feeling of making a World Cup semi-final live on Twitch with Rog 

I. Spain has qualified for their first-ever World Cup Final 🇪🇸

From the start of this tournament (and with only one stumble against Japan), La Roja have looked like a side that could do it all. They scored goals with ease, with coordination, with technical flair. Their depth of talent proved over and over to be perhaps the deepest in the world. The goals came from all across their XI, from the bench, from thin air.

They escaped the group in second place (hats off once more to Nadeshiko Japan), then tore through Switzerland and held strong against the Netherlands.

This evening in Auckland they passed one more historic test. Meeting a Sweden full of swagger, rife with experience, threatening with skill and precision at both ends of the pitch, La Roja won. In just about as dramatic a finish as one can imagine, they defeated the Swedes 2-1 with a quick succession of last-minute goals to progress to their first-ever World Cup final.

Spain controlled the match overall, but Sweden stole the pace and the possession for large patches in the middle. Spain’s substitutions changed the game. In particular, Barcelona’s 19-year-old burgeoning wonder, Salma Paralluelo, arrived in the 57th minute and quickly changed fate.

Just as she’d done with the match-winner against the Netherlands, Paralluelo found Spain their first go-ahead goal, making it 1-0 in the 81st minute. Sweden, never to be discounted, came roaring back with a response from a substitution of their own, Rebecka Blomqvist (Wolfsburg), who volleyed in the equalizer from close-range. But just 93 seconds later, Spain struck the dagger in to finish it from a set-piece as Olga Carmona found herself in a sweet spot: striking in Spain’s second goal of the night from the top of the box.

And with that, Spain’s long-term ascension meets the next step in an already remarkable campaign. They’ll fight on for ultimate glory in the World Cup final next Sunday in Sydney, waiting to meet either England or Australia on the other side.

II. An epic rivalry meets Wednesday in Sydney. Who can pull it off? 🇦🇺 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (6 a.m. EST, FOX, Peacock, Telemundo, Universo)

Sarina Wiegman has lost just one game in the entirety of her tenure as manager of England’s Lionesses. That loss, of course, came against Australia earlier this year.

Played in Brentford, Sam Kerr scored (alongside Vittsjö GIK defender Charli Grant) in a 2-0 Matildas victory that marked the end to England’s long-term unbeaten run.

Wednesday evening before a sold-out crowd of over 75,000 fans leaning heavily in the Matildas’ direction, they’ll look to do it again.

But can they?

If you subtract Australia’s raucous and record-decibels breaking crowd (though that’s some hefty subtracting), the vigor of host nation momentum, and the fate that suddenly fated on the Matildas side… England should be the favorites in this match. On paper. Where we all know football is not played.

Sure, they’ve yet to look like the free-flowing, creative force ready to score from all angles that we saw at the Euros. But they’re still exceptionally talented. And they’ve proven their stuff at this tournament in a different way. They’re adaptable. They’re mentally tough. They have the depth. And they can find ways to win before hostile crowds after falling behind in a knockout.

And according to their injured captain, Arsenal’s Leah Williamson, they have something to prove:

“I think the girls have got something to prove. They're [Australia] the only team that have beaten England since Sarina took over”

On the high-emotions and looming intensity of this test:

“You've got their history, they hate us. Then us having a bit of a point to prove. I'd literally just draw on all this. Despite it being a home crowd for them, I think there's a lot of pressure. People are even talking about us being the underdog. So, fair enough. Like let's roll with that.”

But while England might remain favorites on paper- and may well have something to prove- Australia have proven themselves to be a collective force with formidable depth in their own measure. With Sam Kerr’s ill-timed injury, they’ve stepped up, collectively, to grow into a tournament and pull off wins.

Speaking of Sam, she marked Australia’s victory over France with the most significant minutes she’s played all tournament. Her impact was immediate, dangerous, setting up a play for what could have been a memorable assist. That she might be ready to start against England is a potential game-changer, so long as Matildas’ manager Tony Gustavsson finds a way to slot Kerr into the lineup without throwing off the magic of what’s worked.

Winning a World Cup requires a recipe of talent, depth, tactics, momentum, and no small measure of luck. In this moment, Australia seems to have it all.

And for whatever reason, perhaps it's the increased frenzy spreading through Australia as eyes turn toward what the Matildas might do (be the first team to win a home World Cup since the US did in 1999?), but England’s talent feels increasingly irrelevant in the face of all this momentum shifting somewhere else.

III. News and Notes

1. The 2023 World Cup continues to break new attendance records and TV ratings as 2 million tickets set to be sold

2. ‘Not just a rugby country’: New Zealand hosts its final match of the 2023 World Cup amid record success

IV. Parting Shots

19-year-old Salma Paralluelo has made the difference two matches in a row, scoring first for Spain this evening and sending in the match winner against the Dutch. After today’s match, Aitana Bonmati celebrated by hugging Paralluelo’s lucky foot.