What is Spain’s Women’s team’s record against Sweden?

Spain and Sweden will step out Eden Park, Auckland on Tuesday both with their hearts set on securing their place in the Women’s World Cup final. The Scandinavians have been in this situation before - they made it all the way to the 2003 final only to lose out to the United States and have finished third three times (1991, 2011 and 2019). But for Spain, this is a brand new experience - this is the furthest they have ever got and will be doing everything they can to extend their excellent run in the tournament.

Whoever goes through, the loser will still have a chance to get among the medals in the match for third place in Brisbane on Saturday. But for now, the idea is to make the final and this edition promises a new winner.

We’ve seen the defending champions and favorites, the USWNT fall by the wayside before the quarter finals and some of the other fancied teams, Japan, France and two-time winners Germany bow out. So in some ways, it makes little sense to look at the respective histories of Tuesday’s semi-finalists, in this tournament and their previous encounters between each other in official and unofficial competition - then again, it’s not every day that you get the chance to play in a World Cup final… so let’s take a look at the figures.

Sweden, trailblazers in women’s football

Women’s football is very popular in both Spain and Sweden but in terms of reputation and tradition, the Scandinavians have the edge - simply because women’s football has been established for much longer in Sweden and it is deeply rooted in its culture.

The Swedish women’s league, the Damallsvenskan, was set up in 1973 and established as a professional league in 1988 - the same year that a women’s league, on a much smaller scale, was founded in Spain.

It’s a similar story at international level. Sweden were one of the first countries to create a national women’s team - they started in the 1960s and are considered pioneers in that respect. The Spanish Football Federation organized a women’s national team in 1980, so they have had a lot of catching up to do. In recent years, under Jorge Vilda, Spain have made giant steps and that is reflected in the world ranking.

Spain climbs the world ranking

When FIFA created the Women’s World Ranking in 2003, Spain were ranked 22nd in the world; they are now sixth and have not been out of the Top 10 since September 2021. Sweden on the other hand have never slipped out of the Top 5 and head into Tuesday’s match ranked third globally.

And as Vilda pointed out in his pre-match press conference, Spain have never beaten Sweden either in official competition or a friendly. Up until relatively recently, Spain tended to struggle against all of the northern European teams - Norway, Sweden, Germany… whose players were generally taller and more physical. That’s changed too.

Previous encounters

Spain and Sweden have met a total of 11 times since their first encounter in October 1991. Out of those games, Sweden have won seven and the remaining four ended level. La Roja were hammered 0-8 in June 1996 and 7-0 four years later but the most recent meeting is more of an indicator as to where both teams are at. They met in a friendly in Córdoba in October last year. Rebecka Blomqvist put the visitors in front with a goal which bore all the hallmarks of this Sweden side - a lightning break and a firm, clinical finish. Likewise, the equaliser had a lot of the characteristics which Spain have shown throughout this World Cup - dogged resilience and determination - Irene Guerrero fired in a low centre for Marta Cardona to turn in from close range.