Spain clinched its first-ever semifinal berth at the Women's World Cup thanks to an 111th-minute strike from Salma Paralluelo, eventually beating the Netherlands 2-1 in Wellington, New Zealand.
Spain settled into its trademark form early on against the Netherlands, dominating in possession while racking up passes and shots. The team nearly scored in the 17th minute when two successive shots hit the post but failed to pop into the back of the net, but continued to search for an opening goal as the half continued. Spain took 12 shots in total, though only three were on goal during the first 45 minutes. The Netherlands, by contrast, had a single shot during the first half, and it was off target.
The second half played out much like the first half, though Spain's shot creation slowed. The Dutch nearly earned a reward in the 62nd minute when, in a rare move forward, Lineth Beerensteyn was shoved from behind in the box by Irene Paredes. Referee Stephanie Frappart initially awarded the Netherlands with a penalty and issued Paredes a yellow card, but took it back after a video review.
Just 15 minutes later, though, a penalty call went Spain's way after a blatant handball from Stefanie van der Gragt. Mariona Caldentey smoothly converted the penalty to give her team a 1-0 lead with nine minutes plus stoppage time on the clock.
With their World Cup campaign on the line, the Netherlands finally began an earnest search for a goal for the first time all match and were rewarded in the first minute of stoppage time. Victoria Pelova smartly played a pass toward van der Gragt, who earned redemption for conceding a penalty by scoring the equalizing goal from close range.
Spain remained dominant in extra time, and though Beerensteyn had a few looks, La Roja found the go-ahead goal through Paralluelo in the 111th minute. Spain will face either Japan or Sweden in the semifinals.
Spain lack finishing touch
For all of Spain's passing flair and shot creation, the team struggled to notch meaningful chances at times. Spain had 28 shots but only five on target, which points to a potentially worrying habit ahead of the semifinals. The team had an eerily similar performance against Japan, when they had 76% possession but just two shots on target out of 10, posted an expected goals tally of just 0.7 and ultimately lost 4-0.
The struggles could be attributed to Alexia Putellas' inconsistent fitness. The Ballon d'Or winner only returned from an ACL tear in April and has yet to put in a 90 minute shift at the World Cup, and only came on in extra time against the Netherlands. Spain does have talent to make up for Putellas' absence, though the players had varying levels of success in the quarterfinals -- Aitana Bonmati was not as present as she has been in previous matches, but 19-year-old Paralluelo was bright after coming on as a substitute.
Should Spain meet Japan again in the semifinals, it will be fascinating to see if the team changes tack or takes confidence from the defensive output in their previous meeting. Japan may have won 4-0, but had an unusually productive scoring run -- they had five shots on target out of seven but only had an expected goals count of 0.9.
Netherlands unimpressive in World Cup run
The result marked the end of the Netherlands' World Cup, and though they can take pride in making it to the last eight, it was a less-than-ideal follow-up to their run to the final in 2019.
The Dutch picked up decisive wins against the likes of Vietnam and South Africa, but took a major back seat when they faced tougher opposition like the U.S. women's national team and Spain. They were able to stifle the USWNT at times and earned a point, but conceded 18 shots along the way and managed just five shots of their own and only a single one on target. The Netherlands doubled their shot count against Spain but their preference to absorb pressure did not truly pay off, and the team only seemed serious about scoring once they conceded.
The performance could be down to the players available to Andries Jonker, who was notably missing forward Vivianne Miedema with an ACL tear. The Netherlands did build a reputation for being a tough team to play under Jonker at the World Cup, but the tactical approach so far leaves doubts about the team's ability to make deep runs at major tournaments.
