Spain’s Women’s Nations League victory marks an end to the team’s darkest era

From one second to the next, Sonia Bermudez went from quietly looking up to the stands with a reflective smile on her face to suddenly being thrown in the air by her jubilant Spain players.

“Germany is still a bete noire,” a beaming Alexia Putellas told Spanish broadcasters RTVE minutes later. “The coaching staff did a great analysis and gave us tools to improve.”

These may seem like two typical images of any title win, nothing special to highlight. But Spain’s celebrations after their UEFA Women’s Nations League victory over Germany on Tuesday were notable for their absolute contrast with what we have become used to.

New manager Bermudez being lofted up and lauded emphasised that this was the end of the team’s darkest era. Defending the title they also won last year builds on the foundations of a new beginning in which football is finally taking centre stage. It is proof of peace following the open war that raged between the World Cup champions and their supposed leaders at the Spanish FA in recent years.

Bermudez was appointed following defeat by England in the European Championship final in July, with previous head coach Montse Tome’s contract not renewed. At her pre-match press conference on Monday, Bermudez said, “I would love for us to win the title for the players because they deserve it. This is a generation that has fought hard to reach the finals and turn Spanish football around.”

Now, the harmony between Spain’s players and their coach is unprecedented. It is a very different mood from the years under Ignacio Quereda (1988-2015) or Jorge Vilda (2015-2023). With Tome, things improved slightly, but there was never a full sense of understanding, probably because she had been assistant to Vilda, the choice of former Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales.

The 3-0 victory over Germany in Madrid, following last week’s 0-0 draw in the first leg in Kaiserslautern, was attended by a record attendance for a Spain women’s game on home turf: 55,843 watched at the Estadio Metropolitano.

This year of 2025 has been significant. It has been a year of a final lost and a final won. Of welcoming back players who had removed themselves from selection, and of losing others to injury. It has been a year of changes on the bench. Of making history, albeit bittersweet, in the Euros. And above all, of healing.

The year began with Rubiales’ trial in February. The 48-year-old was fined more than €10,000 after being found guilty of sexual assault for kissing Jenni Hermoso after Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

In June, they played in the Euros. They were the favourites and made it to the final, but lost on penalties to England. They went home with the silver medal, still something historic for them.

During that tournament, they had the best conditions they had ever had to focus solely on winning. The Spanish FA worked hard to reverse the poor image it had given in recent years and focused on giving them the platform they needed: the best training facilities in the entire tournament, one of the best hotels fully adapted to become their home for a month, and an expanded team of staff that included six physiotherapists and two doctors.

Players who had opted to stay away from the national team have now decided to return, including Patri Guijarro and Mapi Leon. What was the key to it all? The players’ fight for better conditions to be able to do their job.

On Friday, the first leg of the Nations League final was dominated by Germany. Bermudez’s team just about escaped with their skins in a 0-0 draw.

For Tuesday’s return match, Spain were without the heroine of their Euro 2025 semi-final victory over the same opponents back in July. Aitana Bonmati, 27, was recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery for a fracture to her left fibula, suffered in training on the weekend.

The team’s emerging generation responded. Barcelona’s 24-year-old attacking midfielder Claudia Pina scored twice, around a wonderful goal from her club team-mate Vicky Lopez, 19.

This is a group that feels they finally have, in Bermudez, a manager who understands the dynamics of the dressing room, and that she knows how to manage problems well. It might sound remarkable, but Putellas’ words of praise really stood out. Previously, the players had complained that there was no proper analysis provided, and that they had no solutions to reverse poor results.

Bermudez also called Hermoso back into the squad, having not featured since October 2024. Now 35 and playing with Tigres in Mexico, she was one of the most important players in the 2023 World Cup success.

Hermoso was one of the most excited players during the celebrations. She was back at home, waving a red flag with seven white stars, the flag of the Community of Madrid. She started her career with Atletico Madrid.

“It’s one of the best nights of my life,” she told RTVE after the match.

A short time later, while Putellas was talking to the media in the mixed zone, Hermoso came over and interrupted her, shouting: “We’re champions!”

Putellas laughed and responded: “Jenni, I was talking about serious matters!”

But the scene that really stood out was there for all to see: the players carrying Bermudez on their shoulders and Hermoso smiling, cheered on by a record crowd.

This year, one of the most listened-to songs in the Spain dressing room has been El principio de algo (The Beginning of Something) by La La Love You and Samurai.

It is clear that the days when the Spanish FA seemed uninterested in its women’s team, and when coaches punished players who rebelled and fought for decent conditions, are over.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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