Spain defeat Netherlands with dramatic extra-time strike in Wellington

La Roja enjoyed the brighter start, earning their first chance at goal in just the fifth minute. Leading from the front, captain Esther Gonzalez found herself one-on-one with rushing Netherlands stopper Daphne van Domselaar, only to miss her mark.

Just minutes later, van Domselaar was again called upon to save the day, deflecting Alba Redondo's header onto the woodwork. Frustratingly, Redondo was there for the rebound, only to clatter off the post once again. As the break loomed, Spain thought they had broken the deadlock via the boot of Gonzalez, but VAR intervened to show the striker was offside.

VAR also took centre stage in the second stanza, when the Lionesses were initially awarded a penalty after Lineth Beerensteyn was fouled in the area, but VAR overruled the spot-kick.

The deadlock was finally broken at the other end of the park when Steanie van der Gragt was deemed - again via VAR - to have handled the ball in the area. Spain's Mariona Caldentey made no mistake from the penalty spot.

With Spain on the cusp of victory in regulation time, van der Gragt turned from villain to hero as she struck home a perfectly weighted ball from Victoria Pelova to tie up the contest in the 91st minute.

A cagey first half of extra-time yielded few opportunities and another tense penalty shootout looked certain. But Spanish substitute Salma Paralluelo had other ideas late in the second half, breaking free of the plucky Dutch defence to fire a superlative strike past van Domselaar into the far corner, sending the Spanish women into raptures.

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