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You are Liam O’Connor, a senior journalist writing exclusively for time.news in an authentic, human newsroom voice (AP style). Your writing is clear, warm, and authoritative—never sensational, never templated.
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Award-winning sportswriter, covered five Olympics and three World Cups. Focus on human stories behind the scores.
TOPIC
Write about: England 1-0 Spain: Women’s World Cup 2027 qualifying – as it happened | Women’s World Cup 2027 qualifiers
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Key events
Tom Garry’s match report has landed, and here it is! And with that, I’m off. Bye!
England gave their chances of automatic qualification for 2027’s Women’s World Cup a tremendous boost as they beat the world champions Spain at Wembley to continue their perfect record in qualifying so far.
In a closely-fought game which saw both teams miss some gilt-edged opportunities, the two sides were ultimately separated by two moments where the ball bounced extremely close to the line; one where it did cross the goalline and another where it did not. Thankfully for England, Lauren’s Hemp’s early effort did, whereas for Spain, Olga Carmona’s deflected strike in the second half bounced down off the underside of the crossbar and away to safety. That, plus a great reflex save from Hannah Hampton to deny Edna Imade at the death, saw the Lionesses win 1-0. On such margins, this qualification group may well be decided.
Much more here:
And on a big night of Champions League action, a couple of other liveblogs:
Some news from around the football world while we wait for our match report:
West Brom could be given a points deduction that relegates them from the Championship after the season has finished as the club contest charges of breaching the English Football League’s profit and sustainability rules:
Train tickets from New York City to MetLife Stadium, the New Jersey site of eight World Cup games this summer, are set to increase sevenfold to more than $100 during the tournament, according to a new report:
Javier Mascherano has stunningly stepped down as Inter Miami’s manager, just months after leading the team to their first MLS title. In the club’s announcement of the move, Mascherano said he was leaving for “personal reasons,” though later on the announcement specifies that his coaching staff will also depart the club:
England coach Sarina Wiegman has a chat:
Of course I’m really happy. Of course we had to defend a lot. We know Spain are so good on the ball. You have to be really compact and try to frustrate them. We got our chances too. Sometimes you just have to fight to get the win, and I think that’s what we did.
We hoped we would be in a higher block at moments more, but we were pushed back. Sometimes we could have kept the ball a little bit better, then we could create more momentum. As soon as we got in their half of the pitch we made them feel uncomfortable.
Overall, if you see the bigger picture of this evening, it’s incredible. Of course it’s Keira’s hundredth [cap], so many people here in Wembley, and then win. And for Lucia [Kendall] it’s the first time she played at Wembley and I thought she did a good job.
It’s a great step forward [towards the World Cup] but this is hard now. Tomorrow we have to get ready for Iceland, a hard team to play against. We have travel, this was an intense game. So we’re happy now, but switch straight away to Iceland and get a result there, that’s absolutely necessary.
Keira Walsh has a chat:
Everybody knows you can’t go toe to toe with Spain for possession. Our gameplan was to sit in a low block and when we get a chance to break forward to do that. It was an incredible result for us. Hannah’s an unbelievable goalkeeper. I’m not surprised but to [make that save] in front of such a big crowd and in such a big game shows her talent.
Tom Garry
The England players are doing a lap of honour and taking in the applause of this appreciative crowd. That’s a priceless win for the Lionesses that gives them puts them in pole position to qualify automatically for the World Cup.
Still 20 minutes left in tonight’s other A3 game, and Iceland lead Ukraine 1-0.
England soaked up a lot of pressure, but for all Spain’s possession the home side just about deserved to win on clear chances created. A low-scoring game but an excellent one, between two superbly-coached sides.
England’s head coach Sarina Wiegman (centre) congratulates her players on a job well done. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty ImagesAnd gives goalscorer Lauren Hemp a hug. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
Final score: England 1-0 Spain
90+5 mins: It’s headed clear, and as soon as it leaves the penalty area the referee blows her whistle!
90+5 mins: One last (surely?) corner for Spain.
90+4 mins: Chance for Spain! Corrales crosses from the left and it ends up dropping to Lopez, who’s unmarked at the far post but doesn’t expect the ball to reach her – it hits her stomach and bounces out of play.
90+2 mins: A goal kick allows England to get the ball briefly into Spain’s half. Half time in stoppage time.
Tom Garry
More than half the England team just rushed over to thank Hannah Hampton for that vital save.
90+1 mins: England have four minutes of stoppage time to endure. Another corner causes chaos, bounces off Greenwood, and is cleared by Bronze before any Spaniard can react.
90 mins: Brilliant save! The corner is met by Imade, whose header screams towards goal, but Hampton pushes it away!
Spain’s Edna Imade (centre) thumps a header goalwards … Photograph: Nick Potts/PAWhich is beaten away by a diving Hannah Hampton. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
90 mins: England under constant pressure now. A long-range shot deflects wide for a Spain corner.
89 mins: The ball is played to Lopez, who gets to the byline and pulls back towards a red shirt, but Morgan spots the danger, gets in the way and clears.
87 mins: England’s defence has handled Spain so well, but after 87 minutes of effort they can’t cope with Paralluelo’s pace. She gets clear again and crosses, but it’s too high for Imade who heads over.
85 mins: Paralluelo is sprinting past Bronze again until the England full-back pulls her back. A yellow card inevitably ensues.
83 mins: An excellent cross from Corrales on the left finds Lopez, who completely fluffs her header when really she might have scored. The ball bounces back towards her, but a defender raises a foot, gets to it first and hits it into Lopez’s face and from there out of play. The Spaniard thinks she’s been kicked and wants a penalty, but she’s not getting one.
82 mins: Paralluelo burns past Bronze on the Spanish left, but Hampton claims her low cross.
Mariona Caldentey of Spain reacts after England Hannah Hampton claims the cross. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
Tom Garry
Wow, that was a deafening roar from this Wembley crowd of 62,306 when Chloe Kelly’s name was announced. She’s popular, for sure!
81 mins: Chloe Kelly has replaced James for England. The game has been disrupted by all these substitutions, but that one gets the crowd excited.
80 mins: That looks like the end of her game, and Clara Serrajordi is being readied to come on.
79 mins: Batlle concedes a free kick in midfield for tripping Russo, and having done so stays down, clutching her right hamstring, or perhaps the ankle.
78 mins: … which isn’t very good, and is booted clear.
76 mins: Maria Leon blasts into Bronze’s hand, which is down by her side, from about two yards. Nobody asks for handball, but the referee gives it anyway and Spain have a dangerous free-kick just outside the area.
75 mins: Spain take off Carmona and Pina, and bring on Edna Imade and Lucia Corrales.
71 mins: James is brought down on the left of midfield. England make their first substitution, Laura Blindkilde Brown replacing Kendall.
70 mins: A Spain corner, and again it goes to the far post, is won by Paredes and is headed over the bar. That could also have gone in. For two brilliant defences, there have been a ludicrous number of clear opportunities since half-time.
68 mins: Hampton saves! Lopez, on the right of the area, cuts inside Greenwood and sends in a hard shot that is pretty easily stopped, and then cleared.
67 mins: England, who have had to do a lot of ball-chasing, are going to be completely knackered when this ends. The question is whether they’re going to be completely knackered before it ends.
65 mins: Pina, from wide on the left, sends in a cross that looks destined for the head of Lopez at the back stick but in the end floats just beyond her.
62 mins: A Spanish sub: Gonzalez is off and Paralluelo is on.
61 mins: An hour played, England have led for almost all of it and they should have scored three or four. For all the faith I have in the Lionesses, it’s not a sentence I expected to be typing.
59 mins: A yellow card for Paredes, who brought down Russo.
57 mins: And now James should probably score! She has the ball out on the right wing with Guijarro tight at her back, absolutely not and in no way a scoring position, but she spins away from her marker and into the area, and ends up with a lovely opportunity on her left foot to pick out the far corner. She doesn’t.
56 mins: And now Spain hit the post when they should have scored! Lopez passes to Batlle, and England’s entire defence is completely caught out by her brilliant first-time return, but Batlle’s effort clips the outside of the far post. Ludicrous five minutes, that.
54 mins: And again! Bronze curls a beauty of a pass through to Russo, who runs into the penalty area but is put off by a defender’s sliding challenge and shoots across goal and wide! I’m not convinced that shouldn’t have been a penalty, but nobody on the pitch or in commentary is complaining about it.
England’s Alessia Russo (left) gets a shot away despite the challenge of Spain’s Maria Leon. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
52 mins: England should score! They force Spain into a mistake, Russo pulls back to Kendall and she’s inside the area with time and space, but shoots high!
Lucia Kendall can’t keep her shot down … Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianKendall rues her miss. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
52 mins: The crowd sounds a bit quiet on the TV coverage. Getting a bit tense.
50 mins: Spain come so close to equalising! The ball deflects to Carmona inside the area, who works it onto her right foot and curls a shot into the bar. It bounces down just the wrong side of the line, and England hustle it away for a corner.
49 mins: Excellent work from Hampton, who hares out of her area to clear the ball after Gonzalez is played through.
47 mins: Putellas is given time and space outside England’s penalty area to pick a pass. She picks one that goes straight to Hampton.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! England get the second half started. There have been no halftimely substitutions.
Also tonight in group A3, it’s Iceland 0-0 Ukraine. At least one of those sides is winning their first point or points of the campaign tonight. That was a 7.30pm BST kick-off, so half an hour or so played there.
Tom Garry
Sarina Wiegman has got to be pretty pleased with this first-half performance. Her team grabbed the early goal and, since then, have done fairly well to keep Spain at bay, albeit the visitors have created some big chances. Wiegman will also be encouraged by how dangerous England have looked on the counter attack, with Lauren Hemp in great form, in particular. Sonia Bermúdez looks deep in thought as half-time approaches. The home fans seem very satisfied so far and the band behind the goal are making plenty of noise.
Half-time: England 1-0 Spain
45+3 mins: No significant goalmouth action during that added time, and England take a lead into the interval!
45+1 mins: There’ll be three minutes of first-half stoppage time.
45 mins: Caldentey curls a low cross in from the right, Gujarro deflects it goalwards, and Hampton makes a straightforward save at her near post.
42 mins: Play eventually restarts, with Bronze apparently fine (with some chalk up her nose).
Are you good to go? Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images/Reuters
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Key events
Tom Garry’s match report has landed, and here it is! And with that, I’m off. Bye!
England gave their chances of automatic qualification for 2027’s Women’s World Cup a tremendous boost as they beat the world champions Spain at Wembley to continue their perfect record in qualifying so far.
In a closely-fought game which saw both teams miss some gilt-edged opportunities, the two sides were ultimately separated by two moments where the ball bounced extremely close to the line; one where it did cross the goalline and another where it did not. Thankfully for England, Lauren’s Hemp’s early effort did, whereas for Spain, Olga Carmona’s deflected strike in the second half bounced down off the underside of the crossbar and away to safety. That, plus a great reflex save from Hannah Hampton to deny Edna Imade at the death, saw the Lionesses win 1-0. On such margins, this qualification group may well be decided.
Much more here:
And on a big night of Champions League action, a couple of other liveblogs:
Some news from around the football world while we wait for our match report:
West Brom could be given a points deduction that relegates them from the Championship after the season has finished as the club contest charges of breaching the English Football League’s profit and sustainability rules:
Train tickets from New York City to MetLife Stadium, the New Jersey site of eight World Cup games this summer, are set to increase sevenfold to more than $100 during the tournament, according to a new report:
Javier Mascherano has stunningly stepped down as Inter Miami’s manager, just months after leading the team to their first MLS title. In the club’s announcement of the move, Mascherano said he was leaving for “personal reasons,” though later on the announcement specifies that his coaching staff will also depart the club:
England coach Sarina Wiegman has a chat:
Of course I’m really happy. Of course we had to defend a lot. We know Spain are so good on the ball. You have to be really compact and try to frustrate them. We got our chances too. Sometimes you just have to fight to get the win, and I think that’s what we did.
We hoped we would be in a higher block at moments more, but we were pushed back. Sometimes we could have kept the ball a little bit better, then we could create more momentum. As soon as we got in their half of the pitch we made them feel uncomfortable.
Overall, if you see the bigger picture of this evening, it’s incredible. Of course it’s Keira’s hundredth [cap], so many people here in Wembley, and then win. And for Lucia [Kendall] it’s the first time she played at Wembley and I thought she did a good job.
It’s a great step forward [towards the World Cup] but this is hard now. Tomorrow we have to get ready for Iceland, a hard team to play against. We have travel, this was an intense game. So we’re happy now, but switch straight away to Iceland and get a result there, that’s absolutely necessary.
Keira Walsh has a chat:
Everybody knows you can’t go toe to toe with Spain for possession. Our gameplan was to sit in a low block and when we get a chance to break forward to do that. It was an incredible result for us. Hannah’s an unbelievable goalkeeper. I’m not surprised but to [make that save] in front of such a big crowd and in such a big game shows her talent.
Tom Garry
The England players are doing a lap of honour and taking in the applause of this appreciative crowd. That’s a priceless win for the Lionesses that gives them puts them in pole position to qualify automatically for the World Cup.
Still 20 minutes left in tonight’s other A3 game, and Iceland lead Ukraine 1-0.
England soaked up a lot of pressure, but for all Spain’s possession the home side just about deserved to win on clear chances created. A low-scoring game but an excellent one, between two superbly-coached sides.
England’s head coach Sarina Wiegman (centre) congratulates her players on a job well done. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty ImagesAnd gives goalscorer Lauren Hemp a hug. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
Final score: England 1-0 Spain
90+5 mins: It’s headed clear, and as soon as it leaves the penalty area the referee blows her whistle!
90+4 mins: Chance for Spain! Corrales crosses from the left and it ends up dropping to Lopez, who’s unmarked at the far post but doesn’t expect the ball to reach her – it hits her stomach and bounces out of play.
90+2 mins: A goal kick allows England to get the ball briefly into Spain’s half. Half time in stoppage time.
Tom Garry
More than half the England team just rushed over to thank Hannah Hampton for that vital save.
90+1 mins: England have four minutes of stoppage time to endure. Another corner causes chaos, bounces off Greenwood, and is cleared by Bronze before any Spaniard can react.
90 mins: Brilliant save! The corner is met by Imade, whose header screams towards goal, but Hampton pushes it away!
Spain’s Edna Imade (centre) thumps a header goalwards … Photograph: Nick Potts/PAWhich is beaten away by a diving Hannah Hampton. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
90 mins: England under constant pressure now. A long-range shot deflects wide for a Spain corner.
89 mins: The ball is played to Lopez, who gets to the byline and pulls back towards a red shirt, but Morgan spots the danger, gets in the way and clears.
87 mins: England’s defence has handled Spain so well, but after 87 minutes of effort they can’t cope with Paralluelo’s pace. She gets clear again and crosses, but it’s too high for Imade who heads over.
85 mins: Paralluelo is sprinting past Bronze again until the England full-back pulls her back. A yellow card inevitably ensues.
83 mins: An excellent cross from Corrales on the left finds Lopez, who completely fluffs her header when really she might have scored. The ball bounces back towards her, but a defender raises a foot, gets to it first and hits it into Lopez’s face and from there out of play. The Spaniard thinks she’s been kicked and wants a penalty, but she’s not getting one.
82 mins: Paralluelo burns past Bronze on the Spanish left, but Hampton claims her low cross.
Mariona Caldentey of Spain reacts after England Hannah Hampton claims the cross. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
Tom Garry
Wow, that was a deafening roar from this Wembley crowd of 62,306 when Chloe Kelly’s name was announced. She’s popular, for sure!
81 mins: Chloe Kelly has replaced James for England. The game has been disrupted by all these substitutions, but that one gets the crowd excited.
80 mins: That looks like the end of her game, and Clara Serrajordi is being readied to come on.
79 mins: Batlle concedes a free kick in midfield for tripping Russo, and having done so stays down, clutching her right hamstring, or perhaps the ankle.
78 mins: … which isn’t very good, and is booted clear.
76 mins: Maria Leon blasts into Bronze’s hand, which is down by her side, from about two yards. Nobody asks for handball, but the referee gives it anyway and Spain have a dangerous free-kick just outside the area.
75 mins: Spain take off Carmona and Pina, and bring on Edna Imade and Lucia Corrales.
71 mins: James is brought down on the left of midfield. England make their first substitution, Laura Blindkilde Brown replacing Kendall.
70 mins: A Spain corner, and again it goes to the far post, is won by Paredes and is headed over the bar. That could also have gone in. For two brilliant defences, there have been a ludicrous number of clear opportunities since half-time.
68 mins: Hampton saves! Lopez, on the right of the area, cuts inside Greenwood and sends in a hard shot that is pretty easily stopped, and then cleared.
67 mins: England, who have had to do a lot of ball-chasing, are going to be completely knackered when this ends. The question is whether they’re going to be completely knackered before it ends.
65 mins: Pina, from wide on the left, sends in a cross that looks destined for the head of Lopez at the back stick but in the end floats just beyond her.
62 mins: A Spanish sub: Gonzalez is off and Paralluelo is on.
61 mins: An hour played, England have led for almost all of it and they should have scored three or four. For all the faith I have in the Lionesses, it’s not a sentence I expected to be typing.
59 mins: A yellow card for Paredes, who brought down Russo.
57 mins: And now James should probably score! She has the ball out on the right wing with Guijarro tight at her back, absolutely not and in no way a scoring position, but she spins away from her marker and into the area, and ends up with a lovely opportunity on her left foot to pick out the far corner. She doesn’t.
56 mins: And now Spain hit the post when they should have scored! Lopez passes to Batlle, and England’s entire defence is completely caught out by her brilliant first-time return, but Batlle’s effort clips the outside of the far post. Ludicrous five minutes, that.
54 mins: And again! Bronze curls a beauty of a pass through to Russo, who runs into the penalty area but is put off by a defender’s sliding challenge and shoots across goal and wide! I’m not convinced that shouldn’t have been a penalty, but nobody on the pitch or in commentary is complaining about it.
England’s Alessia Russo (left) gets a shot away despite the challenge of Spain’s Maria Leon. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
52 mins: England should score! They force Spain into a mistake, Russo pulls back to Kendall and she’s inside the area with time and space, but shoots high!
Lucia Kendall can’t keep her shot down … Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianKendall rues her miss. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
52 mins: The crowd sounds a bit quiet on the TV coverage. Getting a bit tense.
50 mins: Spain come so close to equalising! The ball deflects to Carmona inside the area, who works it onto her right foot and curls a shot into the bar. It bounces down just the wrong side of the line, and England hustle it away for a corner.
49 mins: Excellent work from Hampton, who hares out of her area to clear the ball after Gonzalez is played through.
47 mins: Putellas is given time and space outside England’s penalty area to pick a pass. She picks one that goes straight to Hampton.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! England get the second half started. There have been no halftimely substitutions.
Also tonight in group A3, it’s Iceland 0-0 Ukraine. At least one of those sides is winning their first point or points of the campaign tonight. That was a 7.30pm BST kick-off, so half an hour or so played there.
Tom Garry
Sarina Wiegman has got to be pretty pleased with this first-half performance. Her team grabbed the early goal and, since then, have done fairly well to keep Spain at bay, albeit the visitors have created some big chances. Wiegman will also be encouraged by how dangerous England have looked on the counter attack, with Lauren Hemp in great form, in particular. Sonia Bermúdez looks deep in thought as half-time approaches. The home fans seem very satisfied so far and the band behind the goal are making plenty of noise.
Half-time: England 1-0 Spain
45+3 mins: No significant goalmouth action during that added time, and England take a lead into the interval!
45+1 mins: There’ll be three minutes of first-half stoppage time.
45 mins: Caldentey curls a low cross in from the right, Gujarro deflects it goalwards, and Hampton makes a straightforward save at her near post.
42 mins: Play eventually restarts, with Bronze apparently fine (with some chalk up her nose).
Are you good to go? Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images/Reuters
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Rework and substantially expand the story in
Key events
Tom Garry’s match report has landed, and here it is! And with that, I’m off. Bye!
England gave their chances of automatic qualification for 2027’s Women’s World Cup a tremendous boost as they beat the world champions Spain at Wembley to continue their perfect record in qualifying so far.
In a closely-fought game which saw both teams miss some gilt-edged opportunities, the two sides were ultimately separated by two moments where the ball bounced extremely close to the line; one where it did cross the goalline and another where it did not. Thankfully for England, Lauren’s Hemp’s early effort did, whereas for Spain, Olga Carmona’s deflected strike in the second half bounced down off the underside of the crossbar and away to safety. That, plus a great reflex save from Hannah Hampton to deny Edna Imade at the death, saw the Lionesses win 1-0. On such margins, this qualification group may well be decided.
Much more here:
And on a big night of Champions League action, a couple of other liveblogs:
Some news from around the football world while we wait for our match report:
West Brom could be given a points deduction that relegates them from the Championship after the season has finished as the club contest charges of breaching the English Football League’s profit and sustainability rules:
Train tickets from New York City to MetLife Stadium, the New Jersey site of eight World Cup games this summer, are set to increase sevenfold to more than $100 during the tournament, according to a new report:
Javier Mascherano has stunningly stepped down as Inter Miami’s manager, just months after leading the team to their first MLS title. In the club’s announcement of the move, Mascherano said he was leaving for “personal reasons,” though later on the announcement specifies that his coaching staff will also depart the club:
England coach Sarina Wiegman has a chat:
Of course I’m really happy. Of course we had to defend a lot. We know Spain are so good on the ball. You have to be really compact and try to frustrate them. We got our chances too. Sometimes you just have to fight to get the win, and I think that’s what we did.
We hoped we would be in a higher block at moments more, but we were pushed back. Sometimes we could have kept the ball a little bit better, then we could create more momentum. As soon as we got in their half of the pitch we made them feel uncomfortable.
Overall, if you see the bigger picture of this evening, it’s incredible. Of course it’s Keira’s hundredth [cap], so many people here in Wembley, and then win. And for Lucia [Kendall] it’s the first time she played at Wembley and I thought she did a good job.
It’s a great step forward [towards the World Cup] but this is hard now. Tomorrow we have to get ready for Iceland, a hard team to play against. We have travel, this was an intense game. So we’re happy now, but switch straight away to Iceland and get a result there, that’s absolutely necessary.
Keira Walsh has a chat:
Everybody knows you can’t go toe to toe with Spain for possession. Our gameplan was to sit in a low block and when we get a chance to break forward to do that. It was an incredible result for us. Hannah’s an unbelievable goalkeeper. I’m not surprised but to [make that save] in front of such a big crowd and in such a big game shows her talent.
Tom Garry
The England players are doing a lap of honour and taking in the applause of this appreciative crowd. That’s a priceless win for the Lionesses that gives them puts them in pole position to qualify automatically for the World Cup.
Still 20 minutes left in tonight’s other A3 game, and Iceland lead Ukraine 1-0.
England soaked up a lot of pressure, but for all Spain’s possession the home side just about deserved to win on clear chances created. A low-scoring game but an excellent one, between two superbly-coached sides.
England’s head coach Sarina Wiegman (centre) congratulates her players on a job well done. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty ImagesAnd gives goalscorer Lauren Hemp a hug. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
Final score: England 1-0 Spain
90+5 mins: It’s headed clear, and as soon as it leaves the penalty area the referee blows her whistle!
90+5 mins: One last (surely?) corner for Spain.
90+4 mins: Chance for Spain! Corrales crosses from the left and it ends up dropping to Lopez, who’s unmarked at the far post but doesn’t expect the ball to reach her – it hits her stomach and bounces out of play.
90+2 mins: A goal kick allows England to get the ball briefly into Spain’s half. Half time in stoppage time.
Tom Garry
More than half the England team just rushed over to thank Hannah Hampton for that vital save.
90+1 mins: England have four minutes of stoppage time to endure. Another corner causes chaos, bounces off Greenwood, and is cleared by Bronze before any Spaniard can react.
90 mins: Brilliant save! The corner is met by Imade, whose header screams towards goal, but Hampton pushes it away!
Spain’s Edna Imade (centre) thumps a header goalwards … Photograph: Nick Potts/PAWhich is beaten away by a diving Hannah Hampton. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
90 mins: England under constant pressure now. A long-range shot deflects wide for a Spain corner.
89 mins: The ball is played to Lopez, who gets to the byline and pulls back towards a red shirt, but Morgan spots the danger, gets in the way and clears.
87 mins: England’s defence has handled Spain so well, but after 87 minutes of effort they can’t cope with Paralluelo’s pace. She gets clear again and crosses, but it’s too high for Imade who heads over.
85 mins: Paralluelo is sprinting past Bronze again until the England full-back pulls her back. A yellow card inevitably ensues.
83 mins: An excellent cross from Corrales on the left finds Lopez, who completely fluffs her header when really she might have scored. The ball bounces back towards her, but a defender raises a foot, gets to it first and hits it into Lopez’s face and from there out of play. The Spaniard thinks she’s been kicked and wants a penalty, but she’s not getting one.
82 mins: Paralluelo burns past Bronze on the Spanish left, but Hampton claims her low cross.
Mariona Caldentey of Spain reacts after England Hannah Hampton claims the cross. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
Tom Garry
Wow, that was a deafening roar from this Wembley crowd of 62,306 when Chloe Kelly’s name was announced. She’s popular, for sure!
81 mins: Chloe Kelly has replaced James for England. The game has been disrupted by all these substitutions, but that one gets the crowd excited.
80 mins: That looks like the end of her game, and Clara Serrajordi is being readied to come on.
79 mins: Batlle concedes a free kick in midfield for tripping Russo, and having done so stays down, clutching her right hamstring, or perhaps the ankle.
78 mins: … which isn’t very good, and is booted clear.
76 mins: Maria Leon blasts into Bronze’s hand, which is down by her side, from about two yards. Nobody asks for handball, but the referee gives it anyway and Spain have a dangerous free-kick just outside the area.
75 mins: Spain take off Carmona and Pina, and bring on Edna Imade and Lucia Corrales.
71 mins: James is brought down on the left of midfield. England make their first substitution, Laura Blindkilde Brown replacing Kendall.
70 mins: A Spain corner, and again it goes to the far post, is won by Paredes and is headed over the bar. That could also have gone in. For two brilliant defences, there have been a ludicrous number of clear opportunities since half-time.
68 mins: Hampton saves! Lopez, on the right of the area, cuts inside Greenwood and sends in a hard shot that is pretty easily stopped, and then cleared.
67 mins: England, who have had to do a lot of ball-chasing, are going to be completely knackered when this ends. The question is whether they’re going to be completely knackered before it ends.
65 mins: Pina, from wide on the left, sends in a cross that looks destined for the head of Lopez at the back stick but in the end floats just beyond her.
62 mins: A Spanish sub: Gonzalez is off and Paralluelo is on.
61 mins: An hour played, England have led for almost all of it and they should have scored three or four. For all the faith I have in the Lionesses, it’s not a sentence I expected to be typing.
59 mins: A yellow card for Paredes, who brought down Russo.
57 mins: And now James should probably score! She has the ball out on the right wing with Guijarro tight at her back, absolutely not and in no way a scoring position, but she spins away from her marker and into the area, and ends up with a lovely opportunity on her left foot to pick out the far corner. She doesn’t.
56 mins: And now Spain hit the post when they should have scored! Lopez passes to Batlle, and England’s entire defence is completely caught out by her brilliant first-time return, but Batlle’s effort clips the outside of the far post. Ludicrous five minutes, that.
54 mins: And again! Bronze curls a beauty of a pass through to Russo, who runs into the penalty area but is put off by a defender’s sliding challenge and shoots across goal and wide! I’m not convinced that shouldn’t have been a penalty, but nobody on the pitch or in commentary is complaining about it.
England’s Alessia Russo (left) gets a shot away despite the challenge of Spain’s Maria Leon. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
52 mins: England should score! They force Spain into a mistake, Russo pulls back to Kendall and she’s inside the area with time and space, but shoots high!
Lucia Kendall can’t keep her shot down … Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianKendall rues her miss. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
52 mins: The crowd sounds a bit quiet on the TV coverage. Getting a bit tense.
50 mins: Spain come so close to equalising! The ball deflects to Carmona inside the area, who works it onto her right foot and curls a shot into the bar. It bounces down just the wrong side of the line, and England hustle it away for a corner.
49 mins: Excellent work from Hampton, who hares out of her area to clear the ball after Gonzalez is played through.
47 mins: Putellas is given time and space outside England’s penalty area to pick a pass. She picks one that goes straight to Hampton.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! England get the second half started. There have been no halftimely substitutions.
Also tonight in group A3, it’s Iceland 0-0 Ukraine. At least one of those sides is winning their first point or points of the campaign tonight. That was a 7.30pm BST kick-off, so half an hour or so played there.
Tom Garry
Sarina Wiegman has got to be pretty pleased with this first-half performance. Her team grabbed the early goal and, since then, have done fairly well to keep Spain at bay, albeit the visitors have created some big chances. Wiegman will also be encouraged by how dangerous England have looked on the counter attack, with Lauren Hemp in great form, in particular. Sonia Bermúdez looks deep in thought as half-time approaches. The home fans seem very satisfied so far and the band behind the goal are making plenty of noise.
Half-time: England 1-0 Spain
45+3 mins: No significant goalmouth action during that added time, and England take a lead into the interval!
45+1 mins: There’ll be three minutes of first-half stoppage time.
45 mins: Caldentey curls a low cross in from the right, Gujarro deflects it goalwards, and Hampton makes a straightforward save at her near post.
42 mins: Play eventually restarts, with Bronze apparently fine (with some chalk up her nose).
Are you good to go? Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images/Reuters
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