What seemed like a dull affair heading into extra time was flipped on its head with nine minutes left of regular time, as Spain and Sweden played out an enthralling battle for the grand prize of a ticket to the World Cup Final.
Substitute Salma Paralluelo broke the deadlock in the 81st minute, latching onto a loose ball from Jennifer Hermoso's cross and guiding it into the bottom right beyond Zecira Musovic.
Sweden was resilient and found the leveller with only three minutes left on the clock; Lina Hurtig headed down into the path of VFL Wolfsburg's Rebecka Blomqvist who was there to steer the half-volley opportunity into the back of the net.
However, captain Olga Carmona restored the lead for Spain immediately after Sweden's celebrations, teeing up a shot from just outside the box which ricochetted off the crossbar into the goal for the winner.
Spain now advances to the final where they will be confronted with an even more difficult challenge in the form of England or the co-hosts Australia, depending on the result of the much-awaited semi-final on Wednesday.
Before we move on to Wednesday, here are four things we learned from the clash between Spain and Sweden.
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Spain no longer reliant on Putellas
Alexia Putellas has for a long time been considered 'La Reina' of both the Barcelona & Spanish national teams, but having come into this World Cup tournament not fully match fit from her long-term ACL injury, there were questions of whether Spain's confidence and playing style would be affected by her potential absence.
However, Putellas was taken off by Jorge Vilda after 58 minutes, prompting a rather angry and disappointed reaction from the 29-year-old.
Despite the substitution, Spain prevailed in a more attacking system, deploying the young winger Paralluelo in a similar left midfield role who went on to find the opening goal of the game.
It may be that the Spanish side no longer needs to rely on Putellas' capabilities, with a young midfield three including Aitana Bonmati and Teresa Abelleira who are already on the top of their game at an outstanding average age of 22.3 years.
Spain's semi-final win will now create a dilemma about how much to use Putellas if at all, having only registered one assist in limited minutes this tournament.
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Substitutes could've come earlier for Sweden
There is no doubt that Sweden is a talented side. Ranked #3 in the world by FIFA, Peter Gerhardsson was challenged with the difficult task of naming a strong XI that would outplay Spain.
In saying that, his choice of substitutes in Olivia Schough, Blomqvist and eventually Lina Hurtig were positive, but it only leaves people wondering if it could've occurred earlier and made more of an impact.
Gerhardsson first turned to the bench in the 77th minute with a double substitution with the game goalless, electing for an extra midfielder and forward. With 13 minutes left, Spain had already brought on Navarro and Paralluelo, which turned out to be crucial when the latter scored the first goal.
The Swedish substitutes were the ones that combined for the equaliser with Hurtig finding Blomqvist in the box, but with only two minutes remaining, they were playing chase rather than asserting control of the game.
All games are left to the 'ifs, buts and maybes' but some more bold decisions from Gerhardsson and Sweden may have been the team to be walking out at Sydney Olympic Stadium on Sunday.
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La Roja need to be more clinical
Spain took control of the game early possession-wise, keeping the ball and moving it around the midfield. However, their movement and distribution in the final third were poor, and Sweden failed to take advantage of putting La Roja under any real pressure throughout the first half.
Spain managed 13 shots in the game, almost doubling the amount that Sweden fired away at Catalina Coll. Through their shots, only two were on target and only two were on the scoresheet at full-time.
If Vilda's side were to maintain that in the final against England or Australia, they will be simply punished on the other side by the opposition.
It was evident that Spain was not at full force though, with Alba Redondo missing two big chances to put her country ahead. However, when they did create towards the end, they fought for the loose ball and were rewarded for their resilience, optimism and courage.
Sweden has fallen twice before at the last hurdle
Sweden has been in this position before.
It has been four years since the heartbreak at Stade de Lyon when Jackie Groenen's extra-time strike denied Sweden of a final appearance.
The semi-final curse was worsened in 2022 when a full Bramall Lane witnessed England demolish Sweden by four goals in the same round.
Now, Gerhardsson's side have fallen at the last hurdle again, losing late in Auckland and bowing out of the tournament agonisingly close for the third time.
Undoubtedly it's another learning experience for the Swedish national team, and with captain Kosovare Asllani most likely not to feature in the next World Cup, they will be extremely disappointed that they couldn't go one stage further.
