The 2024 Paris Olympics are around the corner. The competition will take place from the 26th of July to the 11th of August and the women’s Spanish national team could soon earn their ticket for it. The month of February will be critical for the Spanish side, as they are only one game away from continuing to achieve historical feats.
Spain are living a great moment when it comes to football and they want to keep their good streak going. Montse Tomé‘s pupils will play the Final Four of the UEFA Nations League from the 23rd to the 28th of February. This new competition gives out spots for the Olympics to two of the four semifinalists. The four qualified teams are Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and France.
The Spanish national team could earn a ticket to Paris in one of two ways: if they beat the Netherlands in the Nations League semifinal or if France gets to the final and Spain wins the match for third place. Spain managed to defeat the Netherlands back in the quarterfinals of the World Cup that took place in Australia and New Zealand thanks to a goal scored by Salma Paralluelo in extra time.
‘La Roja’ will play the semifinal of the tournament against the Netherlands on Friday, February 23rd at 21:00 at Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla in Cádiz. Whether the national team wins or loses the semifinal match, it would play the final or the match for third and fourth place of the UEFA Women’s Nations League at Estadio La Cartuja in Sevilla on Wednesday, February 28th, starting at 19:00.
To get to the Final Four, the Spanish national team has completed a nearly flawless group stage, in which they only lost against Italy. The Spanish side have scored 23 goals and conceded nine in six matches. In their last fixture against Sweden at La Rosaleda, the team managed a spectacular comeback. The statistics prove the great state of form the Spaniards currently find themselves in.
A total of 12 absolute national teams take part in the women’s football tournament held at the Olympics. The teams are divided by a geographical criteria in the following way: a host country (France), two African countries, two CONCACAF countries (North America, Central America and the Caribean), two South American countries, two European countries and an Oceana country. Each federation is allowed to pick the criteria to distribute their spots for Paris 2024. In Europe, the selected system has been the Final Four of the UWNL.
After winning the World Cup, Spain is the favorite to earn one of the tickets. It would be strange for the world champions to not make it into the Olympics. The Final Four is a massive opportunity for the Spanish side to keep on achieving historical feats and, potentially, winning a medal.
Spain has recently clinched the number one spot in the FIFA Rankings for the first time ever. The level of the Spanish players does not stop growing and it will be really hard for Montse Tomé to configure the call up list for the Final Four. It seems like it will follow a continuist policy and there will not be many changes, although there are many players like Sheila Guijarro knocking in the doors of ‘La Roja’. We will see if critical players like Alexia Putellas make it on time to this historical date.
The young talent in Spain guarantees a good future for its national team. The Spaniards began a historical run at the World Cup and they want to keep it alive.
Next stop: the Paris Olympics?
Translated by Nuño Alonso.
Main image: @SEFutbolFem.
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