“Spain is Spain,” Switzerland’s talismanic captain, Lia Wälti, had warned and, in the quarter-final between the host nation and the world champions, Spain Spained, crushing the resolve of a team that had played in an inspired fashion.
The hosts had more than clung on, they fought, roared on by a crowd that maybe believed, maybe did not, but that did not really matter. It took until the 66th minute for the tournament favourites to find a way through, Athenea del Castillo and Clàudia Pina each striking in a five-minute, second-half spell to crush gentle rumblings of a possible upset.
“We managed to secure a spot in the semi finals, the team made history, these players made history,” said their manager, Montse Tomé.
It had been a game of hope, Mariona Caldentey’s missed penalty and Livia Peng’s save from an Alèxia Putellas’s spot-kick sandwiching the goals that contributed to the feeling that something special might be on the cards.
Special did not come, but so much more has in these two weeks. There is the embracing of a team and a tournament and then there is the embracing of women’s football as a whole, a collective opening up to the historic injustice of underfunding and a lack of support. Both have taken place in Switzerland. This is a country that has opened its eyes, and its hearts, to the battling “Nati” who have taken them on an emotional journey. The last-gasp equaliser against Finland to set up a quarter-final with the world champions was a moment of euphoric celebration that could be heard echoing from homes and bars up and down the country and inspired a huge fan walk of 25,000 to the Stadion Wankdorf.
But this is also a country that wants more, that wants to back these women whose faces adorn all sorts of adverts and are emblazoned across the backs of shirts in greater and greater numbers every day. “Here to stay,” read one small banner in the red block behind the Swiss goal. “This is just the beginning,” read another.
“We lost the game but we’ve won a positive attitude for women’s football,” said their manager, Pia Sundhage. “I’m very, very proud of Switzerland, if you look at the people coming to the games it’s been phenomenal, very very emotional, and they didn’t leave, they stayed.”
It is the type of reaction and level of support Spain long for, their World Cup success celebrated back home in the immediate aftermath but failing to trigger a step-change in the cultural fabric of the country and its impact on attitudes towards women’s football. There was a nod to their struggles above the small section of Spanish fans, a banner reading: “Estamos con Jenni H” (“We are with Jenni Hermoso”) next to another which said: “Abuchea el sexismo! #seacabo” (“Down with sexism #itsover”), the legacy of the kiss forced on forward Hermoso by the then Spanish football federation president, Luis Rubiales, during the World Cup trophy presentation.
Mariona Caldentey can’t bear to look after missing a penalty inside the first 10 minutes for Spain. Photograph: Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images
The task in Berne was a big one for the hosts, the biggest perhaps. Spain had earned three large wins over the Swiss in 2023, scoring 17 and conceding twice, in the World Cup and then two Nations League games. Pia Sundhage’s side set up in a back five, with the Arsenal defensive midfielder Wälti between the centre-backs as an extra protection.
Few had given Switzerland any chance of being able to compete with Tomé’s passing dynamos and they should have been behind in the eighth minute, Nadine Riesen’s late challenge on Mariona Caldentey conceding a penalty, but the Arsenal forward placed her spot-kick wide of the upright. It was the stroke of luck that the Swiss needed, the cow bells and drums drowned out by the thunder roll from the crowd as the ball thumped the hoarding.
Wälti was magnificent for the Swiss, tirelessly shifting between the midfield and defence as they chased and harried and frustrated their opponents. That they reached half-time with the game goalless was a remarkable achievement. Irene Paredes’s header off the outside of the post shortly before the break was the closest the favourites would go.
Athenea del Castillo profile
The crowd acting as the 12th man is a cliche, but in the cauldron of red, as every clearance, tackle, turnover, foul, even pass, received a deafening roar, it was hard not to feel that it was fuelling the players in white and adding to the frustrations of the Spanish. Spain were patient though, poking away at the wall of white, which they breached twice in the space of five minutes. “I was calm, I was confident, sometimes you have to fight,” said Aitana Bonmatí. It required a moment of magic from the two-time Ballon d’Or winner to set up Del Castillo. The second was a stunner too. Pina clipped the ball from the feet of Wälti, who was convinced she was fouled and paused to protest, and then fired into the top corner from 20 yards.
There was drama late on, as Peng saved from Putellas after Beney conceded a penalty for a challenge on Del Castillo and Noelle Maritz was shown a red card in injury time, but it mattered little.
Spain march into the semi-finals, ready to face the winner of Saturday’s quarter-final between Germany and France.
“We accomplished our goal and now we have to keep improving,” said Tomé. Switzerland, though, march into an exciting future. “Football is important for society and women’s football is important for society,” said Sundhage. “Women’s football has changed Switzerland a little bit.”