The scintillating round of 16 clash between Switzerland and Spain delivered a couple of goals. The game ended 5-1 in favor of Spain who by the halftime whistle had already secured their place in the quarterfinals.
A total of five goals were scored in the first 45 minutes of the match, with four of those registered for Spain and the other goal registered for Switzerland, despite the fact that the ball was turned in by a Spanish player. Laia Codina scored an own goal for Switzerland in the 11th minute, shortly after Aitana Bonmati had opened the scoring for Spain.
The match was Codina’s first appearance in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, as the defender did not participate in any of Spain’s group stage games. Codina, along with Cata Coll, made the starting lineup following changes made by the head coach of the Spanish national team, Jorge Vilda, after his team’s defeat to Japan in their last group stage match. However, the joy of having received their first start turned into a moment of horror when a lack of communication between the pair saw Codina’s backpass end up in the back of her own net. The own goal came as a Switzerland equalizer, which was against the run play, as Spain were running circles around the Swiss.
But that awful moment was not going to last, in the 45th minute, Codina latched on to the ball in the opposition’s box from a corner kick. The Barcelona defender showed her hunger for redemption as she wrestled for the ball amongst a mob of red Switzerland jerseys, before finally poking the ball into the back of the net. The look of relief and joy on Codina’s face is unforgettable as she reeled off to celebrate her goal and was quickly surrounded by her teammates.
Codina’s goal was Spain’s fourth goal of the game and it destroyed any hopes of a comeback that the Switzerland players might be harboring. The defender played the full 90 minutes and basked in the triumph of her team’s progress to the quarterfinals at the end of the match.
