Jess Park’s 33rd minute winner saw England beat world champions, Spain, 1-0 at Wembley Stadium in their 2025 UEFA Women’s Nations League battle.
Park netted the winning goal from a 33rd minute close-range flicked effort after she met Irene Paredes’ deflection from Alessia Russo’s initial shot.
England now sit second in League A3 behind new leaders, Portugal after the Portuguese won 1-0 away at Belgium, with Spain dropping to third but a point behind Portugal and England who sit just above them.
Speaking to ITV post-match, Park praised her teammates for their effort and resilience to see out the win amidst tough pressure from Spain.
“I thought we were really good in and out of possession. We battled hard, battled to the last minute. The whole team got stuck in and we came out with the win which is so good.”
Park also described her first home international goal at senior level as “… a brilliant feeling and I don’t think there’s anything like it so really happy with that.
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.”
Sat first in League A3 prior to kick-off after a late comeback win over Belgium in their opening group game from 2-0 down, Spain showed better attacking intensity as they dominated the early stages but Salma Paralluelo and Lucia Garcia saw shots deflected by Lucy Bronze and the crossbar respectively.
Aitana Bonmati meanwhile rifled a 20th minute shot over the bar as the reigning world champions continued to dominate but Cata Coll was soon called into action, as the Spanish goalkeeper twice denied Lauren James in the space of two minutes – of which her second save came following Millie Bright’s deep long ball forward.
Spain were lucky not to concede a 27th minute penalty after Laia Aleixandri fouled Leah Williamson during a corner-kick, only for referee – Tess Olofsson to snub England’s penalty appeals.
Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses soon continued to grow in confidence and got their reward in the 33rd minute after Grace Clinton teed up Russo to cut in and put a tightly-angled shot on goal, but a rapid deflective block fell for Park to flick into the bottom-right corner to put the hosts ahead.
Spain though couldn’t be written off given their quality as Paralluelo saw two chances to equalise denied by Hannah Hampton, whilst Bonmati too failed to breach Hampton’s resilient display in England’s goal before half-time.
Mariona Caldentey and Paralluelo continued to prolong Spain’s frustrations early in the second half which saw Caldentey’s shot saved, whilst the latter fired wide.
England almost put the game nearly beyond La Roja’s grasp in the 51st minute as Park teed up Clinton with a cutback pass, yet the midfielder tamely smashed her shot straight into Coll’s arms.
Wembley barely a minute later was plunged into brief darkness due to a power outage before light quickly returned as the world of sport was dealt another power issue, just hours after the opening day of F1’s pre-season testing was disrupted by a lengthy power outage in Sakhir, Bahrain.
Shortly after the game restarted, Bonmati played a move along the box but fired wide as Spain continued to crank up the intensity.
England in-turn almost doubled their lead again after Niamh Charles played James up the left to cut in, but the winger could only see her curled shot punched away from goal by Coll.
Spain eventually managed to get themselves on top midway through the second half minus that crucial cutting edge to their end product, which was evident in the 74th minute as Claudia Pina’s lay-off pass was smashed into the side-netting by Caldentey.
England however had chances of their own on the counter-attack and very nearly settled the match in the 87th minute as Clinton teed up James to blast a low shot on goal, yet Coll was alert to crucially save the ball after a brief spillage fell to the feet of Chloe Kelly who couldn’t turn a shot in on time from close range.
Coll’s save ultimately proved futile as Spain couldn’t find the clinical touch to salvage a point in a nervy finish, which saw them slip to third in the group behind England and new leaders, Portugal.
What’s Next?
England continue their group campaign with a double-header against Belgium which starts with a home game at Ashton Gate, Bristol, on Friday 4 April at 8pm GMT, followed by the away leg on Tuesday 8 April at 8:30pm CET (7:30pm UK Time) in Leuven.
Spain likewise face a double header on the same above dates as they visit Portugal in Ferreira at 8:45 CET on 4 April, before playing host to their Iberian rival in Vigo four days later on 8 April.
Teams
England: Hannah Hampton, Lucy Bronze, Leah Williamson, Millie Bright, Niamh Charles, Grace Clinton, Keira Walsh, Ella Toone (Naz 84′), Jess Park (Kelly 64′), Alessia Russo (Parris 64′), Lauren James
Substitutes: Aggie Beever-Jones, Laura Blindkilde-Brown, Jess Carter, Mary Earps, Chloe Kelly, Maya Le Tissier, Ruby Mace, Anna Moorhouse, Esme Morgan, Jess Naz, Nikita Parris, Millie Turner
Spain: Cata Coll, Ona Batlle, Irene Paredes, Maria Mendez, Olga Carmona (Ouahabi 56′), Aitana Bonmati, Laia Aleixandri (Zubieta 83′), Mariona Caldentey, Claudia Pina, Lucia Garcia (del Castillo 70′), Salma Paralluelo (Redondo 83′)
Substitutes: Laia Codina, Sheila Garcia, Vicky Lopez, Cristiana Martin-Prieto, Adriana Nanclares, Maite Oroz, Leila Ouahabi, Alba Redondo, Esther Sullastres, Maite Zubieta, Athenea del Castillo
Referee – Tess Olofsson
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