Spain Women vs Costa Rica Women – Match preview, Live stream, kick-off time, prediction, team news, lineups
Spain faces Costa Rica for the opening game of their 2023 Women’s World Cup campaign on Friday at the Wellington Regional Stadium.
It’ll mark Spain’s third World Cup appearance, while Costa Rica are preparing to feature in the tournament for the second time.
Group C: Spain vs Costa Rica (08:30, Wellington) – BBC Two
Match Preview
Spain’s World Cup campaign
Spain – eliminated in the group stage in 2015 and exiting in the last 16 in France four years ago, are hoping to get further along in the competition this time around.
But their preparations for the World Cup have been dominated by a protest from 15 players, who signed a letter in September last year complaining about head coach Jorge Vilda and the conditions in the national setup.
The Spanish federation chose to back Vilda, and 15 players made themselves unavailable for selection, resulting in a long dispute.
Some of the players have returned to the national side, including Ona Battle and Aintanan Bonmati.
The squad will be focusing now on getting out the group stage – their group contains Costa Rica, Zambia and Japan.
They will head into their first game off the back of six consecutive wins – including a 9-0 win over Vietnam.
Costa Rica’s World Cup campaign
Costa Rica are preparing for their second World Cup appearance after they reached the knockout stages of the 2022 CONCACAF Championship to book their place in Australia and New Zealand.
Their first appearance at the World Cup – in 2015 – saw them eliminated in the group stage after picking up just two points from three matches.
Incidentally, Costa Rica also began the 2015 tournament with a 1-1 draw against Spain, and they would be content with picking up a similar result on Friday.
But their recent form has been poor and getting a positive result from this match may be difficult. They have won one, drawn two and lost eight in their last 11 matches.
Their only victory in that period took place at the Central American and Caribbean Games earlier this month against Haiti, but they were unable to follow up that result in a World Cup warm-up against South Africa, which resulted in a 2-0 defeat.
Team News
While the likes of Batlle and Bonmati have returned to the national side, Mapi Leon, Patri Guijarro and Claudia Pina decided against ending their international exile.
After spending the majority of the 2022-23 season on the sidelines, Alexia Putellas has recovered in time to be included in the World Cup squad, and she is hoping to be fit enough to start Friday’s opening game.
Experienced striker Jenni Hermoso is expected to feature up front, and she could be joined in the forward line by Mariona Caldentey and Salma Paralluelo.
As for the visitors, Daniela Solera is likely to start in goal, and she could be shielded by the central defensive pairing of Mariana Benavides and Fabiola Villalobos.
With over 100 international caps to her name, Katherine Alvarado will offer valuable experience in the Costa Rica midfield.
Melissa Herrera represents one of Costa Rica’s main attacking outlets, and she could be given the chance to lead the line against Spain.
Spain Women possible starting lineup:
Misa; Batlle, Codina, Ivana, Carmona; Bonmati, Abelleira, Putellas; Paralluelo, Caldentey, Hermoso
Costa Rica Women possible starting lineup:
Solera; Guillen, Benavides, F. Villalobos, Del Campo; G Villalobos, Alvarado, Rodriguez, Granados, Chinchilla; Herrera
WTX Sport predicts Spain 2-0 Costa Rica
Spain have won 10 of their last 11 internationals and are in great form, it’s likely this will show on Friday and the team will win comfortably.
