When Alexia Putellas debuted for Spain in June 2013, she was doing so for a nation that was ranked 18th in the world; one that had never qualified for a World Cup in six attempts, and were only just about to embark on their second major tournament ever.
At that summer’s European Championship, Spain exited in the quarter-finals after a limp 3-1 defeat to Norway. When it came to their first World Cup two years later, they picked up their only point against a Costa Rica side that finished above them in a miserable group stage.
The 2017 Euros were no better: after blanking for a third game running with a goalless draw against major tournament debutants Austria in the last eight, La Roja burned out on penalties. Then at the most recent World Cup in France, Jorge Vilda’s team squeaked through their group with a solitary victory against South Africa before facing the might of eventual winners the USA in the last 16.
But that was all then – and evidently, none of it matters a jot. Because in 2022, Spain’s women are just about still the bookies’ favourites for Euros glory… and with very good reason. With form firmly in their favour after a seismic change of fortunes, La Roja head for England as the nation to beat.
That’s mainly because no one’s actually managed to do it for well over two years now, since the USA saw them off in March 2020 at the SheBelieves Cup. It’s not even through a lack of competition, either: England (twice), the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Canada, Germany and Brazil have all tried to topple Vilda’s outfit without success.
It meant Spain breezed through qualifying with a near-perfect record, conceding just one goal in their eight matches (well done to the Czechs, in a 5-1 demolition) and posting another 48 at the other end. Poor Azerbaijan felt the brunt of 10-0 and 13-0 whippings.
Even by the measures of women’s football, where several nations have taken some vast strides in a relatively short space of time, the Spanish ascent feels particularly rapid. The formation of a Women’s Football Association (ACFF) in November 2015 was a landmark, but in general the Spanish FA have been on a mission to get girls under 16 choosing the sport over basketball. With that, grassroots participation is booming.
Money always helps, too. Domestically, TV rights and major sponsorship deals have ploughed new cash into the Spanish game, making attendances surge: the 60,739 crowd that Atletico Madrid got for a league game in March 2019 made international headlines, before Barcelona’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Wolfsburg this season attracted 91,648 to the Camp Nou – a record for a women’s match this century. When you consider the Spanish government only granted professional status to La Liga Femenina in 2020/21, some 33 years after its launch, it’s all the more remarkable.
At club level, Real Madrid finally decided to start caring about women’s football in 2020, but they’re playing catch-up to a dominant Barça who’ve made incredible strides of their own – Spain’s rise goes hand in hand with that of their best club, who only made it to their first Champions League final in 2019 but have now contested three of the last four. As Chelsea discovered in their painful 2021 pummeling – or better still, as Blues boss Emma Hayes summed it up to FFT last year – “there was a huge gap”. Eight of their starting XI that night were Spanish.
Still, the Spanish are stinging, as their two best players will be missing in England. Much of the attention this summer was going to rest on their star midfield all-rounder Alexia Putellas, who was set to win a record 100th cap for Spain, not to mention 32-year-old forward Jennifer Hermoso, who has averaged 0.86 goals per game since joining Barça and posted a one-in-two record for her nation. Indeed, heading into June, the standout pair had scored seven of Spain’s last eight goals.
Disaster has struck, though. First, Hermoso sprained a ligament in her right knee, ruling her out of the tournament before partner-in-crime Putellas tore an ACL. Following La Reina's injury, the country is in mourning: Marca announced "we need 23 Alexias now" in the wake of the incident.
The favourites tag feels very different now. They’ll be up against it from the off as they take their place in a particularly tricky group, but the hype around them is justified – just ask the 18 countries who’ve tried to burst their bubble in the last two years...
