Switzerland Women vs Spain Women. Women's World Cup Round of 16.
Eden ParkAttendance43,217.
Match report as Aitana Bonmati's double, and goals from Alba Redondo, Laia Codina and Jenni Hermoso send Spain into Women's World Cup quarter-finals for first time with 5-1 victory over Switzerland; 43,217 watch match live in New Zealand stadium record for women's and men's game
Saturday 5 August 2023 13:59, UK
Aitana Bonmati netted two well-crafted goals as Spain thrashed Switzerland 5-1 at the Women's World Cup on Saturday to clinch a quarter-final berth for the first time in their history.
Switzerland kept three clean sheets to top Group A, but it took a mere five minutes for midfielder Bonmati to breach their defence for the first goal for La Roja.
Additional goals from her, Alba Redondo, Laia Codina and Jenni Hermoso completed the rout to the delight of the crowd of 43,217 - a record for a soccer game in New Zealand, women or men.
Bonmati, Redondo and Hermoso all now have three goals in the tournament.
Codina's 45th-minute effort was a moment of redemption for the defender, who had earlier scored a calamitous own goal with a pass back from 40 yards that sailed past shocked keeper Cata Coll.
Spain finished second in Group C, beating Costa Rica and Zambia by a combined 8-0 before being run ragged in a surprise 4-0 loss to Japan on Monday.
Coach Jorge Vilda made five changes to his team from that loss for Saturday, including dropping goalkeeper Maria Rodriguez in favour of Coll.
The Spaniards will now play the winner of Sunday's round of 16 game between the Netherlands and South Africa.
The 20th-ranked Swiss matched their best World Cup finish. They also bowed out in the round of 16 in their only other World Cup appearance in 2015.
Spain manager Jorge Vilda: "I think the Spanish national team has the best 23 players in the world. Aitana [Bonmati] did very well today with two goals and the player of the match. But, the rest of the team also did very well.
"In the end because of this type of individual awards or goals, behind that there are the assists and behind that there is the pressure and there are also players who are waiting to come in and play. We have 23 Ballon d'Or players.
"I don't see it as a weight on my shoulders, I see it as a joy and we are happy for everyone. We are happy with our win and with how we played.
"We had the confidence that we could advance... I knew that Switzerland was going to have to do very well in order for us not to advance today. But, we also know that we have to improve if we want to be in the semi-finals then we have to improve."
Switzerland manager Inka Grings: "We didn't have a good day and Spain were merciless in taking advantage of this.
"Every situation that was dangerous will be capitalised on by a top team... the fact that we were punished with them having such a good day is incredibly frustrating.
"But, I think within our capabilities we tried a lot and we just have to pay our respects that we faced a team today that has a lot of drive and brings a huge quality with them and are one of the favourites.
"They went for the duels and they wanted the ball more and it just wasn't enough for us today. I think generally speaking we played a great first round with a lot of passion, played towards a lot of great situations.
"Lots of our players have played in such a big tournament for the first time and they were able to get a lot of experience for the future and this is very valuable for us."
Spain head through to the quarter-finals to face the winners of Netherlands vs South Africa in Wellington on Friday, kick-off at 2am.
Switzerland's World Cup dreams are over after their first defeat of the tournament, despite topping their group to set up this last-16 meeting with Spain.
The round of 16 takes place from August 5 to August 8 with eight games being played across Australia and New Zealand.
The quarter-finals, which will be held in Wellington, Auckland, Brisbane and Sydney, are scheduled for August 11 and 12.
The first semi-final will then be played on August 15 in Auckland, with the other semi-final taking place on August 16 at the Accor Stadium in Sydney, which will then host the final on August 20.
A third-place play-off will be played the day before the final on August 19 in Brisbane.
