Iberdrola España and the Women’s World Cup
Boosted by Iberdrola since 2016, the Spanish women's national football team becomes world champion and embroiders the first star on its jersey in Australia and New Zealand
The Spanish women's national football team has won the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The Spaniards beat England in a historic final thanks to a goal by Olga Carmona in the 29th minute and thus managed to embroider their first World Cup star on their jersey.
The Spaniards arrived at the World Cup after a brilliant knockout stage and were drawn in Group C, along with Japan, Costa Rica and Zambia. In the group stage they achieved comfortable victories against the Central American team (3-0) and the African team (5-0) but not against the Japanese, against whom they lost 4-0, the only defeat of the Spanish team in this World Cup. They then went on to reach the quarter-finals, where they comfortably eliminated Switzerland (5-1) and then faced the Netherlands in a semi-final that was decided in the final minutes, so much so that extra time was needed to close the score at 2-1 and a place in the final.
The final was held on 20 August at Stadium Australia in Sydney, where the Spanish women's national football team made history by achieving for the first time that the women's national team of the same country reached the world titles in the U-17, U-20 and senior categories at the same time.
Iberdrola, constant support of the Spanish national team
Ignacio Galán, Executive Chairman of the Iberdrola Group, of which Iberdrola España forms part, congratulated the champions after their success at the World Cup: "We are proud to have this team representing our country. We were sure they would bring the World Cup to Spain". The company has sponsored the Spanish women's football team since 2016. Likewise, Mario Ruiz-Tagle, CEO of Iberdrola España, wanted to be with the players and congratulate them personally at the celebration that took place in Madrid Rio, in the Spanish capital.
However, support for the 23 Spanish players selected for the matches in Australia and New Zealand began even before the first game. On 3 July, even before the national team left for the World Cup, the CEO of Iberdrola Spain, Mario Ruiz-Tagle, together with Iberdrola ambassadors Lydia Valentín and Desirée Vila, visited the national team at the Sustainable Football City in Las Rozas, where they were training. Ruiz-Tagle took advantage of the meeting to highlight the effort and dedication of the players, emphasising the values shared by the national team and the Spanish multinational: "teamwork, perseverance and self-improvement".
A few days later, Iberdrola launched its new campaign to support women's sport with the spot 'Campos ampliados' (Expanded fields) as the protagonist. It shows the support of all Spanish women's sport - with figures such as footballer Alexia Putellas, swimmer Ona Carbonell, karateka Sandra Sánchez, athlete Desirée Vila, taekwondist Adriana Cerezo and weightlifting champion Lydia Valentín - for the women's national football team.
So important has this support been that some of these sportswomen, who belong to the Iberdrola Ambassadors programme, travelled to New Zealand to convey their encouragement to the Spanish players. This was the case of karateka Sandra Sánchez, snowboarder Queralt Castellet and surfer Lucía Martiño, who took the opportunity to highlight the importance of Iberdrola's support for women's sport which, in the words of Queralt Castellet, "is enormous, crucial for the careers of sportswomen", something that was also expressed by the captain of the national team, Ivana Andrés, when she thanked the company, "a pioneer in supporting women's sport", for "believing in the players".
In addition, during the World Cup final, the Iberdrola Campus was illuminated with a video mapping that remained active until Sunday (27 August) to congratulate the winners and show the company's support for sport played by women.
Fan zone in SEVERAL SPANISH CITIES
In its efforts to bring the excitement of the World Cup to all fans, Iberdrola opened several fan zones in different cities in Spain: Madrid, Valencia, Malaga, Valladolid, Gijon and Cadiz. These zones, in which more than 7,000 T-shirts were distributed, have allowed football fans to share a breakfast, participate in activities, win prizes and, of course, send all their energy to the Spanish team by watching the matches on a giant screen. In addition, after the victory, they became celebration points for all the fans to enjoy the historic achievement of the Spanish women's football team.
IBERDROLA ESPAÑA AND ITS HISTORIC COMMITMENT TO WOMEN'S SPORT
Iberdrola, through its subholding Iberdrola España, was the first company to promote women's football, naming the competition Iberdrola RFEF Women’s First Division since 2016, a nomenclature that changed in 2018 to Iberdrola First, until the 2021/22 season. Now, it continues to exercise its commitment to the professionalisation of women's football by promoting women's football competitions such as the Iberdrola Queen's Cup and the Iberdrola Spanish Super Cup, as well as the Iberdrola First Federation. It is also the main sponsor partner of the Women's National 11-a-side, futsal and beach football teams.
In addition, it currently supports 35 national sports federations, a support that benefits 800,000 women athletes or, in other words, two out of every three federated women in Spain. It also gives its name to 32 leagues, all of them of the highest category, and to more than 100 competitions with naming right.
