This article was originally published in August 2023, a week after the Women’s World Cup final. It has been updated before the Luis Rubiales trial to reflect what has happened in the 18 months since that tournament.
Ask anyone today who Jenni Hermoso is and their answer would probably sound something like this: she’s the Spanish player Luis Rubiales kissed without consent after Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup; the icon of ‘Se acabo’ — ‘It’s over’, the Spanish ‘Me too’ movement.
If the same question had been asked before Spain’s victory in that Women’s World Cup final against England, the answers would likely have been very different.
Now, sadly, she is intrinsically linked with that moment, and what happened after, and it has dominated the near 18 months of her life since. Today, Rubiales, the former president of Spain’s football federation (RFEF) will stand trial for alleged sexual assault and coercion, both of which he denies.
GO DEEPER
The Luis Rubiales trial explained: The kiss, the fallout, the accused and the key witnesses
Hermoso, nobody should forget, is the top goalscorer in the history of the Spain women’s team with 57 goals, and her 123 appearances for the side are second, behind only Alexia Putellas.
Over the years, when asking…
