After hard-fought wins in the quarterfinals of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Spain and Sweden battled on Tuesday (on FOX and the FOX Sports app) in a true back-and-forth affair. Both squads entered unscathed, and it was even for most of the match until a flurry of activity from the 80th minute and beyond where there were three goals scored in just 10 minutes of game action.
For Spain, the win gives the team its first-ever appearance in a final at the World Cup, led by young superstar Salma Paralluelo, who delivered the first goal of the match for Spain. Later Olga Carmona would add the winner for Spain just one minute after Rebecka Blomqvist knotted the game for Sweden.
Spain vs. Sweden Highlights | 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Spain advanced to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final. Check out the top moments and highlights here! Here are the top plays, featuring analysis from FOX Sports’ Michael Cohen!
FINAL: Spain 2, Sweden 1
Cohen: A pulsating second half between Spain and Sweden produced three goals in nine minutes as a fizzed strike from fullback Olga Carmona on the brink of stoppage time nudged La Roja into their first major tournament final. Carmona received a short corner kick on the left edge of the penalty area and rifled a shot off the underside of the crossbar — stunning Swedish goalkeeper Zecira Musovic, one of the stars of this year’s Women’s World Cup — to secure a 2-1 victory when the game seemed destined for extra time.
Carmona’s breathtaking effort came seconds after Sweden had shocked the raucous crowd with an 88th-minute equalizer from substitute Rebecka Blomqvist, her guided shot off a nodded-down header erasing a Spanish lead for the second consecutive game. The goal was wonderfully, prototypically Swedish in a competition where manager Peter Gerhardsson’s team has relied so heavily on crosses and set pieces as the complement to its stalwart defending. A looping cross found the head of substitute Lina Hurtig, who scored the winning penalty kick against the United States in the Round of 16, and she cushioned it beautifully for Blomqvist.
But just as it has all tournament, the new guard continues to usurp the old in women’s soccer. An immensely talented Spanish side coached by Jorge Vilda plays with the kind of style and flair that has caused the sport’s popularity to soar, and that level of talent proved too much for an aging Sweden squad playing in its fifth World Cup semifinal. Teenage sensation Salma Paralluelo opened the scoring with an instinctive, predatory finish on a loose ball in the box for her second goal in as many games to finally crack the resolute Swedish defense. And nine minutes later the winning strike came from Carmona, a 23-year-old rising star who completed 80% of her passes and won five of her eight duels. Spain becomes the youngest team to reach the final (average age 25.3) since 1995.
La Roja advance to Sunday’s final and await the winner of England vs. Australia.
95′: Sweden making a push
Cohen: Sweden is flooding bodies and crosses forward in an effort to manufacture something in the final minutes of stoppage time. Spain is doing its best to slow the play down by utilizing its third substitution window and wasting time on every stoppage.
90′: GOAL! Spain takes lead right back!
Spain’s Olga Carmona scores goal | 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup
Olga Carmona breaks the deadlock against Sweden in the 89′ for Spain.
Cohen: GOAL! Spain answers right back. Unbelievable. A short corner is played to Olga Carmona on the left edge of the penalty area. She takes one touch to set herself and lasers a shot off the crossbar and in. An incredible strike. Spain now leads, 2-1, in stoppage time.
87′: GOAL! Sweden ties it!
Sweden’s Rebecka Blomqvist scores goal vs. Spain in 88′ | 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup
Rebecka Blomqvist levels the score for Sweden.
Cohen: GOAL! Sweden equalizes. A looping cross from the left end line was nodded down by Lina Hurtig directly into the path of Rebecka Blomqvist, who guides her shot into the far corner. The impact sub has now scored for both teams. First it was Salma Paralluelo, now it’s Blomqvist. What a game we’ve got on our hands.
85′: Paralluelo giving Spain extra dimension
Cohen: The heatmap of Salma Paralluelo, courtesy of WhoScored, shows just how high she’s been playing. So many of her 14 touches have been in or around the Sweden penalty area. She’s added a totally new dynamic for Spain.
83′: How does Spain finish?
Cohen: The question now is how Spain tries to see out this game. Do the Spanish retreat into a more defensive shape and use a low block for the remaining handful of minutes? Or do they try to kill the game by keeping the ball, maintaining possession, and preventing Sweden from generating any chances at all? We shall see.
81′: GOAL! Spain strikes first 1-0
Spain’s Salma Paralluelo scores goal vs. Sweden in 81′ | 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup
Salma Paralluelo opens the scoring in the semifinals.
Cohen: GOAL! Salma Paralluelo does it again. The hero from Spain’s quarterfinal win is the super sub once more. A dangerous cross from Jennifer Hermoso deflected off a Swedish defender and into the path of Paralluelo, who instinctively rifled it into the bottom corner on her first touch. Spain leads, 1-0.
Did You Know?
Spain’s Paralluelo (age 19) is the second teenager in Women’s World Cup history to score in a semifinal joining Canada’s Kara Lang, who did it first in 2003 at age 16.
77′: Sweden subs in some help
Cohen: Sweden answers with its own potential impact sub in Rebecka Blomqvist. She leads all players at this year’s World Cup in non-penalty xG per shot at 0.68, which is a reflection of her ability to get into dangerous positions for high-quality shots. She’s also third in goal-creating actions per 90 minutes with 1.55 thus far.
76′: Sweden just misses on golden opportunity
73′: Here come reinforcements for Spain
Cohen: A potential impact substitution for Spain as forward Eva Navarro replaces Alba Redondo. Navarro leads all players at the World Cup in assists per 90 minutes at 1.48 and ranks second in xAG (expected assisted goals) per 90 minutes at 1.39.
71′: Paralluelo making a difference for Spain, another chance
Cohen: The introduction of Salma Paralluelo for Spain has shifted their shape. Paralluelo is playing as a true central striker while Jennifer Hermoso, who began the game as the central forward, is now dropping into the midfield as an extra attacking mid/deep-lying forward. Her off-ball movement has been excellent since Paralluelo came onto the field.
66′: Spain with a chance
Cohen: Chance there for Spain. A beautiful pass from Jennifer Hermoso slotted Salma Paralluelo into the penalty area, but her attempted cross was deflected away. Paralluelo has better size to contend with Sweden’s height along the back line. She can combine some traditional hold-up play with the blinding pace that makes her so dangerous. She’ll be looking to play on the back shoulder of Sweden’s defenders in search of those piercing through balls.
65′: That’s gotta hurt
62′: Final numbers for Putellas
Cohen: Some final numbers for Alexia Putellas: 15 of 21 passes completed (71%), 7 of 10 duels won, 1 dribble completed, 0 key passes, 0 shots, 33 total touches.
57′: Putellas exits, Paralluelo enters
Cohen: Alexia Putellas lasts 57 minutes before getting subbed off. Putellas, who is arguably the best player in the world when healthy, is still recovering from a torn ACL last summer. She has yet to play 90 minutes in any game this tournament and only made two starts prior to today’s game. She was replaced by Salma Paralluelo, the hero from Spain’s quarterfinal win.
55′: Swedes taking it to Spain early in second half
Cohen: Ten minutes into the second half and Sweden has flipped the possession numbers (for now). The Swedes have kept the ball 54% of the time in the early going here and hold a slight 45-40 passing edge over Spain. Those numbers are likely to revert to the first-half norm as the half progresses, but it’s a solid indication of Sweden’s more proactive approach after the break.
51′: Sweden comes out ready
Cohen: Strong start to the second half for Sweden. They created an early chance after an aggressive pressing movement forced an errant pass from Spanish keeper Catalina Coll. Then, a beautiful pass down the right side slipped Kosovare Asllani into space for a cross…