Reviewing It’s All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football

The Spanish women’s soccer team made history by winning the World Cup in August last year, yet their victory was swiftly overshadowed by an incident that laid bare deep-seated issues within Spanish sports culture. 

During the medal ceremony, in a moment that later ignited national outrage, Luis Rubiales, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), congratulated player Jenni Hermoso by taking her head in his hands and kissing her on the lips. While Rubiales insisted the kiss was consensual, Hermoso disputed the account, marking the beginning of a polarizing dispute that extended well beyond the football field.

The Netflix documentary It’s All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football details this seismic event, capturing the fallout from the kiss and the shifting dynamics of Spanish football. Directed by Joanna Pardos, the documentary weaves player testimonies, archival footage, and societal reactions, providing insight into the struggles of the Spanish women’s team in a system where power and authority have long stifled dissent.

The incident was a breaking point. Shortly after the win, Rubiales’s behaviour — including grabbing his crotch in celebration while standing beside the Spanish royal family — became a lightning rod for public criticism. But two words posted by midfielder Alexia Putellas on social media captured the nation’s discontent, “Se acabó,” or “It’s all over.” This simple phrase rapidly evolved into a rallying cry, as more players, fans, and public figures joined the chorus of voices demanding change.

The roots of this clash, however, lay deeper than one scandal. Months before the tournament, 15 national team members, later known as Las 15, declared they would step down unless significant changes were made. The concerns arose over emotional well-being and health under head coach Jorge Vilda, an ally of Rubiales, who saw these demands as threats rather than calls for reform. Consequently, the federation backed him, painting the players’ concerns as self-serving rather than systemic. 

The documentary reveals how Rubiales’s leadership only intensified the rift. Hermoso’s reaction in the immediate aftermath of the kiss captures this tension — conflicted between celebrating a once-in-a-lifetime victory and grappling with what she describes as manipulation. 

In the days following, the RFEF allegedly pressured Hermoso to downplay the incident. This mounting tension came to a head when, five days later, Rubiales gave a combative speech, refusing to resign and branding criticism as “false feminism.” 

Ultimately, the players took a stand. In a historic move, all 23 World Cup players, along with 81 others, announced a boycott of the national team unless Rubiales stepped down. For many, this was about more than the kiss, it was a demand for a cultural overhaul, recognition and respect in a federation that had long overlooked them. 

In It’s All Over, other players like Irene Paredes and Laia Codina convey the gradual realization of the weight of their actions. These testimonies reveal the difficulty of being caught between loyalty to their team and their own convictions about right and wrong.

The documentary also traces the complicated legacy of Vilda’s tenure. He had long kept a firm grip on the team, reluctant to cede control, fearing that player power would undermine his authority. For him and Rubiales, the World Cup win was an emblem of their triumph, as if they had personally engineered Spain’s success. 

Yet, It’s All Over makes it clear that the win belonged to the players, who fought and sacrificed despite the obstacles. 

While Rubiales did eventually resign and Vilda was later removed, the documentary portrays these as incremental victories in a larger battle for accountability and respect in women’s soccer.

The documentary powerfully conveys this precedent came at a cost. The triumph over Rubiales was not only a victory against one man but also against a longstanding culture of silence and submission in women’s sports.