With the UEFA European Women's Championship having concluded, with a victory going to reigning champions England, changes for the European national teams were bound to happen.

No one was safe from the chopping block, except Sarina Wiegman who coached the English National Team, and pressure was on to showcase why head coach changes should or should not happen with the women’s World Cup on the horizon for 2027. 

The pressure sat heavily on the coach of the Spanish women’s National team, Montse Tomé. Tomé is a former footballer who played in the midfield. She transitioned to a manager and was part of the coaching staff that led the Spanish national team to World Cup victory in 2023. On 5 September 2023, following the announcement of the departure of Jorge Vilda, Tomé, who served as assistant coach under Vilda at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealnd, was announced as the new head coach of the senior Spanish women's team.

Since the win at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, the pressure was higher to see if Tomé was truly the right choice to take over the national team. She faced an uphill battle in terms of competitions. 2024 would have Spain play in the 2024 Paris Olympics with teams looking to dethrone the World Cup winners as well as the 2025 UEFA European Women's Championship. Tomé was the first female to coach the senior Spanish team. For example, the US Women’s national team (USWNT) had just hired Emma Hayes who had an amazing run as the head coach for Chelsea Women’s soccer team. 

Post their World Cup win, and the ensuing problems with Vilda, Spain was looking to make a change and to continue winning. This is where Tomé came to play, leading the Spanish team through their next set of tournaments with the world shouting that Spain was the team to beat. 

Fast forward to the summer Olympics in Paris, France.

The USWNT is taking games by storm with triple espresso, but Spain was taking penalty shoot outs against Colombia. The Colombian women’s national team had been able to keep Spain tied at 2-2 through their knock out game and was not intending to back down against the reigning World Cup champions. Time and the Spanish team would fight through to face against Brazil. 

It was the Brazil versus Spain knockout match that might have been the most public nail in the coffin as Brazil went on to win this match 4-2, knocking out Spain from the gold medal match. Brazil would hold Spain off 3-0 for until the 85th minute which surely shocked viewers who expect Spain to be the biggest team to tackle for the tournament. 

Fast forward to summer of 2025 and the 2025 UEFA European Women's Championship where Spain would be highly favored to take down England. Spain is again looking to secure a championship under Tomé. This tournament is critical in her leadership as it is one of the highest competitions before the 2027 Women’s World Cup and the 2028 LA Summer Olympics. 

This competition would go much more according to plan, with Spain scoring multiple goals a game. This includes a 5-0 win over Portugal, a 6-2 win over Belgium, and a 3-1 win over Italy. However, the final match versus the reigning Euros winners England would be the true test. The game ended in penalties, with England taking the win for the second consecutive Euros championship. 

This runner-up finish would certainly be another nail in the coffin for Tomé. Former player Sonia Bermúdez is taking over for Tomé, who will not have her contract renewed by the Spanish federation.

"The board of directors would like to express its gratitude for Montse Tomé’s work, professionalism and dedication in her various roles during her time as a member of the national teams at the Spanish soccer federation, particularly during her time as national team coach," the federation said in a statement.

Sonia Bermúdez started coaching in 2020. She has been coaching youth squads for Spain. This will be her first head coach job for the senior team. During Bermúdez's playing career, she won nine league titles across several teams including Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Rayo Vallecano. Bermúdez also played on the senior Spanish national team, with 61 caps. Prior to her promotion, she was coaching the U23 team for the Spanish Federation. 

"As a coach, she began her career with the Real Madrid U19 youth team, winning the league title. From there, she moved on to the U-19 and U-20 women's national teams, winning two consecutive European Championships. With the U-20 national team, she competed in the World Cup in Colombia. Last season, she coached the U-23 national team."

Many are excited about the change, especially since Tomé was working so closely with Vilda and Luis Rubiales. Some believe that she played a part in the poor culture of the federation, with similar questions arising with the appointment of Bermúdez. Bermúdez was working for the federation under Rubiales and Vilda, though for the youth programs. 

Bermúdez will begin after August 31st, 2025 when Tomé's contract expires. Iraia Iturregi will also be joining Bermúdez. 

"Iraia Iturregi has competed for 15 seasons in the top flight of Spanish football, making a total of 402 appearances. She has won four league titles, all with Athletic Club. She was also a member of the U-19 National Team, where she won a European Championship, and was also a key player in the Senior National Team. As a coach, she spent eight seasons at Lezama, managing the U-19, U-16, U-17, and U-18 (women's) first team. She won the 2nd Division League title during the 2019-2020 season with Athletic Club B. Later, in the 2022-2023 season, she received the Ramón Cobo Award for best coach in the Women's First Division."

Will this be the coaching change that leads them to a back-to-back World Cup Victory? Or is this another falter in the Spanish Federation's leadership? It will certainly be interesting to watch.