Start of the Road to the World Cup: Comfortable Wins for England and Spain, and Iran's Protest

The start of the 2027 Women's World Cup qualifiers in Europe brought expected results, though the style of victory for the top teams varied. The England team, led by Sarina Wiegman, dominated the encounter with Ukraine, winning 6-1. The key figure of the match was Alessia Russo, whose two goals set the tone. The Lionesses imposed a high tempo from the start, fulfilling the coach's pre-match goal of securing a convincing win against a lower-ranked opponent. Meanwhile, the Spanish national team, the current world champions, faced a much tougher task against Iceland's well-organized defense. Despite clear dominance in possession and the number of chances created, the Spanish players struggled for a long time to break down the Icelandic 'wall.' Ultimately, the result was decided by a moment of individual brilliance from Clàudia Pina, who secured a narrow but extremely valuable 1-0 victory for her team. Coach Sonia Bermúdez emphasized after the match that defeating such a deep-lying opponent required immense patience and precision in play. The FIFA Women's World Cup has been held since 1991, and its prestige has been steadily growing. The last tournament in 2023, hosted by Australia and New Zealand, became the most profitable event in the history of women's football, cementing the global professionalization of the sport.Entirely different emotions accompanied the opening of the Asian Cup, where the Iranian national team faced their opponents under the shadow of a powerful political demonstration. In a gesture of solidarity with protests in their country, Iranian players refused to sing the national anthem. Additionally, the players presented their hijabs in a manner that media interpreted as a deliberate act of defiance against the regime's strict guidelines in Tehran. This incident immediately became the number one topic in the global sports and political press, pushing the actual match result into the background. In other European zone matches, Switzerland, under new coach Francisco Navarro, defeated Northern Ireland 2-0. Although the Swiss did not impress with outstanding form, their victory was considered a solid foundation for the next phase of qualifiers. Much worse moods prevail in the Italian camp. The Italian national team lost to Sweden, which coach Andrea Soncin summed up with a sense of great frustration, arguing that his players dictated the terms of the game for most of the match. „No es fácil jugar contra un equipo que se mete en...” (It's not easy to play against a team that retreats so deep...) — Sonia Bermúdez