Tokyo 2020 Preview: Spain v Great Britain (W)

The knockout stages of the Tokyo Olympics are here, with Great Britain’s women gearing up for their quarter-final match on Monday 2 August.

They’ll face a Spain side that has impressed at the Tokyo Games and finished second in their pool with several solid displays.

When is the match being played?

The sides meet on Monday 2 August at 13:00 BST.

How can I follow the game?

The game will be streamed live on Discovery+ and potentially shown on BBC iPlayer/Red Button as well – we will know more information closer to pushback. You can also keep up to date with live text updates on our dedicated Match Centre by clicking here. 

How have the teams fared at Tokyo 2020 so far?

Spain advanced to the quarter-finals after finishing second in their pool with three victories from five matches.

It was a tough start to the competition for Spain who suffered back-to-back defeats to Australia and Argentina. The team responded well with three consecutive victories to finish ahead of Las Leonas on goal difference.

Great Britain clinched third place in their group, similarly to Spain, earning nine points with three victories.

Despite finishing third in their group, GB were only narrowly defeated by one goal by both Germany and The Netherlands, and responded well to get the points they needed to progress.

How do the teams match up in their Olympic history?

Matches between these two sides have been few and far between. There have only been three meetings at the Olympics between GB and Spain, the first of which coming in 1996 when nothing could separate the teams as it finished 2-2.

Spain made their first Olympic appearance in 1992, it was to be a special debut Games for the side who took gold with a 2-1 win over Germany in the final, GB taking bronze in that competition. This remains Spain’s only medal in women’s Olympic hockey.

As well as the one draw, GB have taken victory in two of the three previous Olympic meetings with Spain yet to record a victory. The most recent of these meetings came in the quarter-finals at Rio 2016 where goals from Georgie Twigg, Helen Richardson-Walsh, and Lily Owsley secured GB at 3-1 victory on their way to gold.

Did you know that a huge forest fire broke out on the hills overlooking the hockey centre two hours before the start of the match at Rio 2016!

What does the recent history look like?

Great Britain and Spain haven’t met during this Olympic cycle, meaning that the most recent meeting between the sides was in the quarter-finals at Rio - Monday’s meeting coming at the same stage of the Tokyo Games.

Thank you to The Hockey Museum for their help in sourcing these stats.