As the pre-tournament favourites to win the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Spain becomes one of the first national teams to seal their spot in the knockout stages of the tournament with a stunning 5-0 win against Zambia this Wednesday in their second Group C match.
Spain seal their spot in the knockouts after beating Zambia 5-0
The second victory was provided to Spain in one of the most one-sided matches played in the tournament so far as Teresa Abelleira scored the opening goal for the Spanish, followed by two goals each by Jennifer Hermoso and Alba Redondo.
Both teams of Spain and Japan have sealed their deals for the knockouts and will face each other on the upcoming Monday to decide the Group C topper, on the other hand, the eliminated Costa Rica and Zambia will be playing for the third spot.
One of the big game changer for Spain and danger for Zambia was when midfielder Alexia Putellas was put in the starting eleven. The two times Ballon d’Or winner had fully recovered from the injury which had been troubling her and contributed immensely to the buildup play throughout.
Spain and Japan become first teams to qualify for knockout stages
Abelleira scored the opening goal for Spain at the 9th minute of the match, which also became the fastest goal of the tournament so far as she hit the net from a long range into the top corner.
The final two goals by Spain had been awarded after a lot of VAR confusion which was caused after the referees had first ruled them out over some offside confusion; however, they were later awarded to a bewildered Spain and a horrified Zambia after a proper VAR review.
Zambia did have some opportunities to score their own set of goals during their counter-attacks; however, they failed to convert those opportunities as a result of some wayward shots.
As Spain shattered the hopes of Zambia of winning the tournament, Zambia skipper Barbra Banda stated later that Spain were a very experience team, while they were only just a developing team who still needed much more experience.
