Switzerland W vs Spain W prediction: WORLD: World Cup Women – Play Offs betting tips on match 2023-08-04 05:00.
Switzerland have now qualified for the knockout stages of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in each of their two appearances (2015 and 2023), and this time around can thank a defence that has not conceded a single goal (W1, D2). Despite that, their overall form remains questionable, as the 2-0 victory against the tournament debutants Philippines in their WWC opener remains La Nati’s only triumph across their last ten international matches (D7, L2).
Whilst the defence has been in order, head coach Inka Grings' most pressing task is to improve on poor attacking performances, after the Swiss failed to score in three of their previous four WWC finals outings, including their 1-0 loss against Canada at the same stage in 2015. Regardless of the result, this WWC campaign could be seen as an ideal preparation for the UEFA Women's Euro 2025, for which they are already qualified as the host country.
Despite a 4-0 humiliation against Japan on Monday, Spain will register consecutive appearances in the last 16 of this tournament after they finished second in Group C. Despite that loss, for which coach Jorge Vilda took responsibility, La Roja can stay confident, considering they were on an incredible streak of eight victories before that. Most notably, three of those wins came against nations ranked higher than Switzerland (#20) by FIFA – namely China, Denmark, and Norway.
To reach a historic quarter-final, managing the nerves that come with the occasion will be essential for the Spanish, who suffered a 2-1 defeat at the same stage of the 2019 WWC against four-time world champions USA. Given that all but one of Spain's previous 13 matches have seen the winner open the scoring inside 30 minutes (W11, L2), the early periods of this contest could be revealing, even more so given the previous three H2Hs (W2, L1) also replicated that pattern.
Players to watch: PSG’s Swiss striker Ramona Bachmann could contribute to a strong start, having scored her last seven goals for club and country within the first half. Jenni Hermoso, Spain’s sole goalscorer against the USA in 2019 and their leading all-time goalscorer (50 goals), could once again find herself in the spotlight after also recording the game’s opener in the previous H2H.
Hot stat: All but one of Spain’s last 11 international games have featured goals in both halves.