Salma Paralluelo celebrates after scoring a goal for Spain in its semifinal win over Sweden on Tuesday in Auckland, New Zealand. Andrew Cornaga/Associated Press
Salma Paralluelo could have been preparing for next year’s Olympics if she’d decided to stick with track and not make the switch to soccer.
But she did pick soccer and the 19-year-old winger has been a super-sub in Spain’s run to the Women’s World Cup final. Spain plays England on Sunday in the first all-European final since 2003.
“We’re over the moon to be through to the final,” said Paralluelo, who was treated for what appeared to be cramps in Friday’s training session.
“It’s incomparable. It’s so hard to get here and we managed to do so. And now we can dream big.”
Paralluelo has been one of the brightest young stars of the tournament and scored two crucial goals to help Spain inch closer to its first major trophy.
She scored the winning goal deep in extra time for a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, then added La Roja’s breakthrough goal in the 81st minute of the 2-1 semifinal victory over Sweden.
Both times she came off the bench and both times she earned Player of the Match honors. She also became the youngest player to score an extra-time goal in the World Cup.
“Salma is a player with an enormous potential. And she’s not reached her best yet,” Spain Coach Jorge Vilda said. “She’s a very young player who has been training one year in football specifically, and the best of Salma we’ll see it in the future. Now she’s excellent, but in the future, it’s going to be much more.”
Paralluelo is among several young players who have emerged at the World Cup, including 18-year-old Colombia forward Linda Caicedo, 20-year-old Australian forward Mary Fowler, and 21-year-old forward Lauren James of England.
Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa, 23, leads the Golden Boot race with five goals.
As a child growing up in Zaragoza, Spain, Paralluelo excelled at both soccer and track. She set under-20 records for Spain in the 400 meters and the 400 hurdles. She also competed in the 2019 European Indoor Championships.
At the same time, she was winning trophies for her country in soccer. She was on the Spanish squad that won the 2018 under-17 World Cup in Uruguay and 2022 under-20 World Cup in Costa Rica.
In her 2022 debut for the senior national team this past November, she scored a hat trick in a friendly against Argentina. She has eight goals in 14 total matches with the team.
Paralluelo went all-in on soccer in 2022 when she signed a contract with Spanish club Barcelona. In 29 total appearances with the team across all competitions in the 2022-23 season, she scored 15 goals.
THIRD-PLACE GAME: Australia already captivated a nation as co-hosts of the Women’s World Cup. Now there’s one more thing to play for, even if it’s not the fairytale ending the team had wanted for this tournament.
The Matildas play Sweden at 4 a.m. Saturday for third place in Brisbane. Australia lost 3-1 to England in the semifinals on Wednesday, dashing hopes of playing in the title match.
“I know we’ve got the support of everyone, I know that they’re still going to come out to the game against Sweden,” midfielder Katrina Gorry said. “I know they’re always going to have our backs, but yeah, it’s just disappointing. You never want to do that on home soil.”
Indeed, the fans came out for the Matildas during their World Cup journey.
Bars and restaurants were packed around Sydney and there were live watching parties across the country for the semifinal. The sold-out crowd at Stadium Sydney was announced at 75,784, with even more gathered outside.
Australia’s men’s basketball team, the Boomers, were slated to play a tune-up game against Brazil on Wednesday night in preparation for their World Cup but moved the game up two hours to watch the Matildas in the semifinals.
Despite star Sam Kerr’s stunning goal for the hosts, the team couldn’t get by England. Even after the disappointing loss, a sign in a shop window on Sydney’s George Street read “Thank you Matildas.”
“Hopefully this has been life-changing for women’s football in Australia,” Kerr said. “I don’t think this was once in a lifetime. If you bring the product to the show, we’ve proven people will come out and support it. Hopefully we’ll get a few new fans that will stick around. Now it is time for funding and all of that stuff to be invested in the game because we’ve shown we can play the game.”
Kerr, one of the best players in the world, struggled with a calf injury at the start of the tournament, but started against England. She was a second-half substitute in the Matildas’ shootout victory over France in the quarterfinals.
Sweden was similarly disappointed to once again be out of the running for the title. The Swedes fell 2-1 to Spain on Tuesday night in Auckland.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.