Spain qualify for Women’s World Cup after winning away to Scotland

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Spain followed up their 8-0 home win over Scotland with another 2-0 away win at Hampden Stadium, Glasgow to secure top spot in Group B and qualify for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand

On a dreich and drizzly evening, a record 7,804 crowd for a competitive women’s match in Scotland turned up at the national stadium in Glasgow to see if Scotland could somehow spring a surprise and break Spain’s impressive 100% record of five wins in a row, scoring 43 goals without reply.

Scotland took to the field wearing their new dark blue and yellow strip for the first time, following its launch in March. They faced a Spanish side wearing an untraditional light blue away strip brimming with confidence from their strong twenty-match unbeaten run.

Scotland didn’t seem phased by their 8-0 battering in Seville in November last year as they battled throughout the match picking up four yellow cards in the process. They got off to a promising start when they threatened as early as the first minute, taking the game to Spain.

However the optimism was short lived as Spain were awarded a penalty in the tenth minute following a trip by Nicola Docherty on the 2021 Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas. Spain’s captain Jennifer Hermoso coolly converted the penalty to give the visitors an early lead.

Spain thought they had doubled their lead in the 34th minute when Putellas headed in off the crossbar, but the effort was ruled out for offside. Similarly Scotland thought they had equalised in the 72nd minute when Martha Thomas broke free but the flag went up for offside long before the ball hit the back of the net.

Just five minutes later the contest was finally settled when Hermoso scored her’s and Spain’s second of the night after a well-worked move.

Scotland’s Spanish coach Martínez Losa reflected after the match on the ability of his team to compete better than they did in the reverse fixture a few months ago.

“The fact we’re disappointed today with a 2-0 loss means something. We improve more as we have time to work on preparing for our opponents and to make sure the girls understand what it means to compete at the highest levels.”

Losa also commented on the record-breaking crowd.

“We are looking to inspire girls, families and fans — not just girls — to follow us and feel proud of what we produce and to qualify for major tournaments.”

The result leaves Scotland battling it out with Ukraine and Hungary for second place in Group B, which would secure a playoff spot in October.  Scotland currently lead Hungary by one point and will be guaranteed second spot if they win their final two matches against Ukraine (likely in June) and Faroe Islands away in September.

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