Spain seek to erase pain of World Cup final fallout with Euro 2025 glory | Jonathan Liew

For England, the last World Cup final remains a kind of open wound. The mistake by Lucy Bronze that allowed Olga Carmona to score the only goal of the game; Lauren Hemp hitting the crossbar; the opportunities not taken; the surges of momentum not rewarded; the sense of a golden inheritance slipping inexorably through their fingers. For the players who remain, and for coach Sarina Wiegman, Sunday’s European Championship final offers a chance for redemption, a shot at rewriting the most painful chapter in their recent history. If all this is normal and regular enough, a familiar cycle of sporting triumph and despair, then what is perhaps more unusual is that much of the above, albeit with a profound difference in emphasis, is also true for their victorious opponents.

Spain, the reigning world champions, arrive at the Euro 2025 final not as serene conquerors, but as a team still grappling with the ghosts of their own recent past. Their World Cup triumph in Sydney should have been a moment of unadulterated ecstasy, the culmination of years of development and a testament to their unique, possession-based style. Instead, it became a flashpoint, instantly overshadowed by the non-consensual kiss by then-president Luis Rubiales on Jenni Hermoso, triggering a seismic crisis that ripped through the heart of Spanish football. The subsequent player protests, the mass resignations, the dismissal of coach Jorge Vilda, and the tumultuous appointment of Montse Tomé – all this has ensured that the gold medals around their necks have felt less like celebratory adornments and more like heavy chains, symbols of a battle far larger than any on-field contest.

This is why, for Montse Tomé’s team, Sunday’s final is about far more than just another trophy. It is about validation; not just of their technical superiority, but of their courage, their resilience, and their unwavering fight for a more respectful, equitable environment within the sport. The players who bravely stood up, risking their careers and their immediate futures, did so because they believed in something greater than individual glory. They fought for fundamental change, for agency, for a voice. Every pass, every tackle, every goal in this tournament has been imbued with that profound significance, a defiant statement against the very structures that sought to diminish their achievement and silence their dissent.