Preview: Spain Women vs. England Women - prediction, team news, lineups

Spain are looking to win their first major trophy, while both nations are hoping to lift the Women's World Cup for the very first time.

Match preview

Spain have experienced a memorable journey through the tournament, which got off to a perfect start with comfortable victories over Costa Rica and Zambia.

However, a heavy 4-0 defeat to Japan in their final group game suggested that this Spain side would struggle to make a deep run into the competition.

They managed to pick themselves up from that disappointing result to produce a dominant performance in their last-16 tie against Switzerland, as they eased to a 5-1 victory which represented their first-ever win in the knockout rounds of a major tournament.

They demonstrated their character in the quarter-final against the Netherlands after conceding a stoppage-time equaliser, before Salma Paralluelo produced the winning goal in extra-time, setting up a difficult semi-final encounter against a Sweden side that had beaten former winners the USA and Japan.

Spain looked to have spurned a golden opportunity to progress when Rebecka Blomqvist cancelled out Paralluelo's opener, but La Roja quickly retook the lead through Olga Carmona, who fired her country into the final with a sublime long-distance strike.

Having scored 17 goals at the Women's World Cup, La Roja are the leading scorers at the tournament, proving that they have the firepower to trouble the European champions.

England are preparing to appear in a major tournament final for the second year running after following their European Championship success with a memorable run in Australia & New Zealand.

After picking up maximum points in the group stage, the Lionesses were pushed all the way in their last-16 with Nigeria, with England holding their nerve to win the subsequent penalty shootout and book their place in the quarter-final.

Goals from Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo guided the European champions to a 2-1 win over Colombia, setting up a difficult semi-final tie against the tournament co-hosts Australia.

England took a narrow lead into half-time thanks to Ella Toone's first goal of the competition, but Sam Kerr stopped the Lionesses in their tracks when she produced a long-range thunderbolt to level the contest just after the hour mark.

The Lionesses demonstrated the grit and determination that had earned them a place in the semi-final to retake the lead through Hemp, before Russo found the net late on to wrap up a 3-1 win and send England through to their first-ever Women's World Cup final.

Sarina Wiegman has now reached four consecutive major tournament finals, but she will be looking to avoid a repeat of the 2019 final when her Netherlands side were beaten 2-0 by the USA.

England may be able to draw inspiration from the fact they edged out Spain over 120 minutes to win last year's meeting in the European Championships quarter-final.

Spain Women Women's World Cup form:

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England Women Women's World Cup form:

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Team News

Spain boss Jorge Vilda may resist the temptation to bring Paralluelo into the starting lineup and utilise the Barcelona youngster as an impact substitute for a third consecutive game.

Oihane Hernandez, who started in the last-16 and quarter-finals, will return from suspension for the final, but she may have to settle for a place on the bench after Carmona impressed in the absence of the new Real Madrid summer signing.

After dropping to the bench for the semi-final, Esther Gonzalez is in contention to return to the Spanish forward line.

As for the reigning European champions, Wiegman will have to decide whether to start Toone or Lauren James, who is available after serving a two-match suspension.

After scoring in the semi-final win over Australia, Toone is likely to be given the nod, which would see England name an unchanged lineup.

Russo and Hemp have now scored three goals apiece in the tournament, and the dangerous front two will look to add to their respective tallies in the final.

Spain Women possible starting lineup:

Coll; Batlle, Paredes, Codina, Carmona; Bonmati, Abelleira, Hermoso; Redondo, Caldentey, Gonzalez

England Women possible starting lineup:

Earps; Carter, Bright, Greenwood; Bronze, Stanway, Walsh, Daly; Toone; Russo, Hemp

We say: Spain Women 1-2 England Women

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