England vs Spain Women's EURO quarter-final preview: Where to watch, kick-off time, predicted line-ups

England meet Spain at Brighton Community Stadium in the UEFA Women's EURO 2022 quarter-finals on Wednesday 20 July.

Where to watch England vs Spain on TV

Fans can find their local UEFA Women's EURO 2022 broadcast partner(s) here.

What do you need to know?

England rewrote the record books as they sauntered through the group stage, but nobody is under any illusions: this is the biggest test yet. Spain were among the pre-tournament favourites and have lost just one of their last 26 outings. While they have struggled for end product, Jorge Vilda is confident the dam will burst at some point – whether they can resist the free-scoring Lionesses at the other end is another matter. This could be a classic.

Starting line-ups

England: Earps; Bronze, Bright, Williamson, Daly; Stanway, Walsh; Kirby; Mead, White, Hemp .

Spain: Paños; Batlle, Paredes, Mapi León, Carmona; Bonmatí, Guijarro, Abelleira; Cardona, González, Caldentey.
Misses next match if booked: Irene Paredes, Leila Ouahabi

Reporters' views

Lynsey Hooper, England reporter

England and Spain are both teams that like to dominate possession, but I struggle to see Sarina Wiegman deviating from the approach that reaped so many rewards in the group stage.

Whereas Spain have at times struggled to find a cutting edge, England have exuded a ruthlessness that many teams will fear. I expect their defence to work harder and be more stretched than it has so far, but England are too good going forward and should have too much for Spain.

Simon Hart, Spain reporter

Spain sound like they are relishing the prospect of taking on the hosts – and are driven rather than daunted by the fact England will have a full stadium behind them. Jorge Vilda has suggested the pressure is all on England though, as he looks to lead Spain to their first semi-final, he has some big selection decisions to make. Does he go bold by keeping Mariona Caldentey in a deeper role or bring more muscle into midfield by recalling Laia Aleixandri? Does Olga Carmona get her chance at left-back after her impressive showing against the Danes?

Then there is the question of whether he tweaks again his attack in the ongoing search for a greater cutting edge. Amid the questions, one reassuring thing is the excellent form of their centre-back Irene Paredes. If Spain are to progress, they will need another captain’s performance from her.

View from the camps

Sarina Wiegman, England coach: "I do think Spain will have the ball a lot; that's just how they play with their possession and tightness on the ball, which is OK. But I do expect we will have more of the ball than 20% [the last time the teams met] because I think we're pretty tight on the ball too. If necessary we know we have players that can really impact the game or give an extra boost. We've showed that in all the other games before. It's a strength of our team."

Leah Williamson, England defender: "Ideally you'd have everybody available but we're lucky that we're such a well-prepared team. Despite the frustration it doesn't derail us at all. Sarina has stayed really well connected with us [while away from the players due to Covid] – her influence on the game has been as usual as possible."

Jorge Vilda, Spain coach: "We have 23 warriors who will put their heart into every ball, every challenge, every attack or defence, every dead ball, every moment of the match. There are 11 players who are going to give everything, who'll play with their heart and soul. People will see a match they'll remember for the rest of their lives. If I imagine Spain playing a quarter-final against England, in a home EURO they had organised, a Spain team playing in a big Spanish stadium, I imagine this would weigh on us. I think this could take away more than it gives."

Patri Guijarro, Spain midfielder: "The stadium will be full – it will be a great game that any player would want to play in. I don't think we have to adapt our game. The best we can do is play our game, keeping the ball. It will be our best form of defence."

Form guide

England

Group A winners
England 1-0 Austria (Old Trafford)
England 8-0 Norway (Brighton & Hove)
Northern Ireland 0-5 England (Southampton)

Story so far: A record 14 goals without reply in the group stage is quite a statement from this England side. You imagine Sarina Wiegman won't have any complaints but you also sense she will be demanding even more. Tougher tests are to come, though with chants of "It's Coming Home" ringing out around St Mary's at full time against Northern Ireland, the nation is expectant, and this group have shown to date they can handle the pressure.

It is not a get-over-the-line style of football we've witnessed, it's been dominant and full of style and vigour. Let's hope the knockout stages follow suit.

Women's EURO best: Runners-up (1984, 2009)

Previous Women's EURO quarter-finals
03/09/2009: Finland 2-3 England (Turku)
30/07/2017: England 1-0 France (Deventer)

Spain

Group B runners-up
Spain 4-1 Finland (Milton Keynes)
Germany 2-0 Spain (London)
Denmark 0-1 Spain (London)

Story so far: Spain's road to the quarter-finals has not been bump-free; a goal conceded in EURO-record time against Finland was one, for example. Though they responded with four – three from set plays – there was no comeback after conceding early against Germany in their second game.

Their first setback had actually come before a ball was even kicked, with Alexia Putellas joining Jenni Hermoso on the injured list. Without those two, their cutting edge is inevitably diminished. While coach Vilda has kept shuffling his pack in search of a solution, Spain have carried on playing their game – and got their reward in the decisive fixture against Denmark with substitute Cardona's goal at the last.

Women's EURO best: Semi-finals (1997)

Previous Women's EURO quarter-finals
22/07/2013: Norway 3-1 Spain (Kalmar)
30/07/2017: Austria 0-0 Spain (aet, Austria won 5-3 on pens, Tilburg)