Women’s Nations League: Spain beats Sweden; Germany borders France

Defending champions Spain defeated Sweden 4-0 and Germany defeated France 1-0 in the first leg of the Women’s Nations League on Friday.

World champions Spain won the inaugural edition of the tournament last year and are now firmly on course for the two-legged final in November/December after a dominant performance in Malaga.

Barcelona’s two-time Ballon d’Or midfielder Alexia Putellas produced a stunning free-kick to give Spain an 11th-minute lead.

Putellas’ curling strike beyond the reach of Swedish goalkeeper Jennifer Falk leveled her with Veronica Boquete as the second all-time top scorer in La Roja history with 38 goals.

Her Barcelona teammate Claudia Pina doubled Spain’s lead after the half hour, shortly after replacing the injured Salma Paralluelo.

READ ALSO | Hermoso in tears after remembering Spain: “I worked for this every day”

Putellas then closed in on Spain’s all-time top scorer Jenni Hermoso in the 35th minute, with Vicky Lopez providing the assist, with Pina adding an injury-time goal to give new coach Sonia Bermudez a dream debut at the helm.

Sweden will now have to do a lot of work to overcome the deficit in front of the home fans in Gothenburg on Tuesday.

This was a repeat of the 2023 World Cup semi-final, which Spain won 2–1 on their way to the championship title.

Bayern Munich striker Klara Buhl previously fired Germany to a 1-0 win over France in Düsseldorf.

France, beaten finalists last year, are on the back foot for Tuesday’s second leg at home to Caen after Bruhl’s decisive intervention in the 79th minute.

Published on October 25, 2025