In the 1st minute, with Son Moix turned into a roar, Cata Coll received a routine ball and opened her arms. She lowered the heart rate of her island with a single gesture. She wasn’t wearing the armband, but she captained the first minute — and that calm was the first news of the night: Spain had not come to do math. They had come to command.
We had spent a whole week listening to the arithmetic of fear — about two goals, about the goal difference, about the play-offs. We wrote about it in the afternoon: the calculation was a half-truth that hid the good half of the story. Spain responded with the full version: 4-0 against the European champions, group leadership, and the ticket to Brazil 2027 just one victory away. Math was unnecessary. Even at halftime, with 2-0 on the scoreboard, the news was still repeating that “more than two goals” were needed. Football, meanwhile, was already heading for the third.
From less to more, to completely running over them
England warned early — verticality into space in the 4th minute, a gap between full-back and centre-back — and for a few minutes Spain seemed to feel the weight of the night. Until they decided to solve it with the usual method: the ball. High pressing that choked England’s build-up, width, and a storm of chances: Alexia’s header in the 7th, Edna Imade’s point-blank shot in the 11th saved by Hampton, Mariona’s attempt in the 13th.
The opening goal was a manifesto. Minute 18: a Spanish foot bites in midfield, the ball runs loose, and Patri Guijarro claims it with a nutmeg, drives forward, and releases a diagonal shot that deflated off a defender before going in. The Palma native, scoring in Palma. Theft, cheek, and distance: the whole game in one play.
The second came in the 36th with a trademark stamp: an exquisite assist from Mariona Caldentey —the Felanitx native, serving on her island— and a right-footed strike from Alexia Putellas that Hampton managed to touch but couldn’t keep out. Spain went into the break with 8 shots to England’s 1, and a penalty on Edna —a clash with Stanway in the 43rd— that Croatian referee Ivana Martincic chose not to see, leaving Sonia Bermúdez distraught on the sideline.
The one who persists
The second half had a name of its own. In the 54th minute, Ona Batlle drove forward, cut the ball back, and Alexia shot; Bronze cleared it off the line. Anyone else would have complained. Alexia stayed in the play — she was the only one who believed — and tapped in the rebound. A brace, 3-0, and a definition of who she is: the one who persists.
The party was rounded off by Claudia Pina in the 77th, just after coming on, with a trademark goal: cutting inside from the wing and sidefooting it into the back of the net. Earlier, in the 75th, Aitana Bonmatí had returned to an official match with the national team: entering with the hunger of a returning champion, she calmed down with her first touch, delivered a spectacular through ball, and in the 85th danced past the English centre-back for a close-range shot that ended in a corner — Hampton, with nine saves, prevented a fifth. Quality does not rust.
The only shadow of the night wore the number 11 jersey: Alexia asked to be subbed off in the 72nd due to physical discomfort. We will have to wait for the medical report to know if she can play on Tuesday in Reykjavik.
The island that brewed the storm
Four Mallorcan players on an island of a hundred kilometers: Patri Guijarro from Palma, Cata Coll raised in Pòrtol, Lucía Corrales from Inca, Mariona from Felanitx. One scored, another captained the calm, the third played a stellar game at full-back with a saving tackle inside the box, and the fourth assisted the second goal. In the 82nd minute, Bermúdez sent Corrales and Mariona to the bench together so Son Moix could give them a standing ovation. There is squad management that is also memory management.
The numbers of the recital: 61.9% possession, 18 shots to England’s 2, and a European champion that barely troubled Cata Coll in ninety minutes. Nothing like Wembley: the precision in the final pass that was missing in April was more than abundant this time.
The final whistle, as shared by the national team:
🏁 ¡𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗖𝗔𝗕𝗔 𝗘𝗟 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗗𝗢!
— Selección Española Femenina de Fútbol (@SEFutbolFem) June 5, 2026
¡ESPAÑA ASALTA EL LIDERATO DEL GRUPO!
🇪🇸 4-0 🏴 | Final.
📺 @La1_tve#FIFAWWC | #JugarLucharYGanar pic.twitter.com/7a0IRUDU5r
What lies ahead
The standings now state what no preview dared to say: Spain first with 12 points and +13, England second with 12 and +5, and the head-to-head tiebreaker in the Spanish pocket. Tuesday’s task is simple: win in Reykjavik (21:00) and Spain will be in Brazil through the front door, without looking at any other pitch. The full road, just as we have been telling it.
Iceland, who already knows what it’s like to concede three goals to this Spanish side, is warned. In the afternoon we wrote that this national team was capable of melting glaciers. After Son Moix, it doesn’t sound like a metaphor.
