Spain and Netherlands, two of Europe free scoring teams in the ongoing 2023 FIFA women’s world cup will square up against each other today in the first quarter-final match of the day.
The Spain vs Netherlands encounter will be played at the Wellington Regional Stadium by 2am Friday morning with Stephanie Frappart from France as the centre referee.
In the second quarter-final of the day,
Japan the only Asian team left in the tournament will be up against Sweden
another European representative.
The match will be played at Eden Park by 8:30am Friday with Esther Staubli from Switzerland as the centre referee.
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Spain’s qualification campaign was superb, winning all eight matches, scoring 53 goals and conceding none.
Their standout result was a 10-0 victory against the Faroe Islands, with Amaiur Sarriegi bagging four goals in an impressive win.
Spain qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup in style with a 5-1 thrashing of Switzerland in Auckland. Jorge Vilda’s side bounced back emphatically from losing 4-0 to Japan in their final group game as they ran riot in the first half.
However, Spain is yet to win a major title and must overcome the Netherlands challenge if they are to break their duck in today’s encounter.
Netherlands on the other hand ease past African champions South Africa 2-0 to book a date with fellow Europeans Spain in the quarter-final.
Japan on the other hand will be flying the Asian flag when they go up against Sweden for a place in the semi-finals of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Japan had a perfect showing in the group stage toping Group C winning all three matches (9points) and scoring 12 goals in the process.
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