Women’s Euro 2025 Team Previews | Spain
They are one of the heavy favourites heading into this tournament, but will Spain become the European Champions and add to their World Cup success from 2023?
Time to talk about the team that many will have down as their pick to go all the way and win the whole thing. Spain will be heading into Switzerland as the favourites in the eyes of many people, and rightly so given their success on-field as the World Cup winners in 2023.
Since that major win, La Roja have of course had a lot of off-field troubles obviously with the Luis Rubiales and Jenni Hermoso fallout, which then led to the departure of Jorge Vilda and then Montse Tomé stepping up from assistant to head coach, getting some good results, winning the First Women’s Nations League final, qualifying almost comfortably through to these Euros, but then the Olympics happened and things took a bit of a hit.
A poor showing last year from Spain saw them come away from Paris with no medals at all, and in the last year they have had some other performances that have come under question mainly down to tactical choices. But even in less than brilliant showings from the world champions, they still find a way to get a result like they have shown with a few games in 2025.
Coming from behind to beat Belgium in February right at the end, and even just recently they were behind early on against England before a Clàudia Pina brace helped turn the game around and help them top their Nations League group.
Group B opponents and fixtures:
Portugal | 3rd July - 8PM BST
Belgium | 7th July - 5PM BST
Italy | 11th July - 8PM BST
On paper, Group B doesn’t look like a particularly straightforward group for Spain with Portugal being the easier-looking of the three games they have to play. Belgium are a team that as we have seen previously can cause a problem or two for Spain’s defence if they are not careful. Also, Italy are a much improved team and could be an interesting test in the last group game depending on how it all plays out.
Squad:
Goalkeepers | Cata Coll (Barcelona), Adriana Nanclares (Athletic Club), Esther Sullastres (Sevilla)
Defenders | Irene Paredes (Barcelona), Ona Batlle (Spain), Leila Ouahabi (Manchester City), Olga Carmona (Real Madrid), Laia Aleixandri (Manchester City), María Méndez (Real Madrid), Jana Fernández (Barcelona)
Midfielders | Alexia Putellas (Barcelona), Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona), Patri Guijarro (Barcelona), Athenea del Castillo (Real Madrid), Vicky López (Barcelona), Maite Zubieta (Athletic Club)
Forwards | Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal), Lucía García (Monterrey), Esther González (Gotham FC), Alba Redondo (Real Madrid), Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona), Clàudia Pina (Barcelona), Cristina Martín-Prieto (Benfica)
From the squad that won the World Cup two years ago in Australia, just 11 of them have been chosen to try and win Spain’s first European Championship trophy. One of those notable omissions from the squad is their leading goal-scorer Jenni Hermoso, but considering she hasn’t been featuring much for them as of late, she has been a player that they seemingly have moved on from.
It’s hard given that the competition for places is pretty strong within this Spain squad. Cata Coll is established now as Spain’s No:1. Defensively, they are stacked well enough just like they are in midfield, and one positive for Tomé at this tournament will be having Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmatí and Patri Guijarro all fully fit and able to play in that starting midfield three as they do regularly for Barcelona.
They also have forward players who are in good form and coming off the back of great seasons. Mariona Caldentey is hot off a stellar first campaign at Arsenal, being one of the helping hands to their Champions League success. Plus, striker Esther González is on great form in the NWSL at the moment with nine goals in 12 games.
Even if the starters struggle for Spain, they are a team filled with game-changers who could be so important in being able to help them get over the line. One of those is somebody very capable of being that kind of player, having done so with Barcelona this season despite not starting very often.
Player to Watch - Clàudia Pina
It’s been quite a good season for Clàudia Pina having played 27 times in Liga F (started in 19 of those) and scored ten goals. It was her form in the Champions League which caught everybody’s attention though with 10 goals scored in the nine games she appeared in. She ended this season’s competition as the top scorer and with a scoring frequency of every 49 minutes.
Even with Spain, her form in 2025 has been visible to see. Four goals scored in their recent Nations League campaign which included the two goals off the bench in a 32 minute appearance against England. It’s brought up the question of whether she maybe has earned the right to start more, but as we’ve said, the competition for the starting places is tough.
Pina’s best position is more or less out on the left side. However, she is capable of playing anywhere across that forward line. It’s just down to preference now of whether she starts or not in this team. But even if she doesn’t, she has more than proven what a reliable game-changing substitute she can be for them, and that rotation will be so pivotal for Spain.
Manager - Montse Tomé
After five years as an assistant coach under Jorge Vilda, Montse Tomé took on the big job of head coach of the world champions with the pressure at an all-time high and also was left having to navigate the tensions that all came about from 2023. For the most part it has been managed, but there hasn’t yet been enough to show that she can lead the team to more major success.
Of course, that could all change at these upcoming Euros. She has an unbelievable squad of players who are more than talented enough to go all the way this year easily if they are at their best.
Having the talent is one thing, but will they be spot on tactically in ways that we have seen previously? The way they play is kind of predictable, although with how brilliantly they play they are just so hard to beat. You would expect some teams not to let Spain have it all their own way, so it will be intriguing to see any adjustment Montse Tomé has to or even does decide to make. If they don’t win this tournament, do questions get asked about her position? It would probably depend on how far they get.
How will they do?
The feeling has to be that Spain should be a much more prepared team now in dealing with the challenges that will lie ahead of them. Teams are going to know how they play and will do their best to nullify that. But how many of them actually will be able to stop them from playing at their most ruthless and clinical best?
They will be hoping to bring out the Spain from 2023 rather than the Paris 2024 side that disappointed in their display. Overall, they do have the best team in terms of talent and technicality. Having these qualities just means that the pressure and expectations will be high. But that’s something that these Spain players are more than used to dealing with.
They are in a pretty good position coming into this tournament, so now it will just be about getting through each game and knowing that they have the quality to finally win a European Championship. Anything less than lifting that trophy after the final will feel bad for many of those players.