Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson said his side needed to stay "humble" after a late fightback from Spain took the gloss off their 3-2 Cup of Nations win.

Australia raced to a 3-0 halftime lead at CommBank Stadium with goals from livewire winger Cortnee Vine, veteran defender Clare Polkinghorne and striker Caitlin Foord.

But just as they were about to state their World Cup credentials with a clean sheet, Spain hit them with two goals in the last 20 minutes.

Up to that point, the Matildas had played some of the best football of Gustavsson's two-year reign but the Swede suggested Spain's late flurry was a reality check for his side.

"We need to be humble and not get carried away here," Gustavsson said after securing a sixth straight win.

"I think there's moments of brilliance in that first half, especially how we defended against a Spain team that is brilliant on the ball.

"It's an important reminder that we need to play all the way through to the last second.

"When you concede in extra-time it puts a little bit of extra emotion ... but we can't let the last goal cloud our sight of the performance."

Since being appointed in 2021, Gustavsson has made a point of exposing the Matildas to the world's top-ranked nations.

They have often come up short and were last year thumped 7-0 by Spain - albeit a drastically different side to Sunday's.

But in the first half against the world No. 7 La Roja, the Matildas played at an unrelenting pace which the Spanish were unable to match.

Sydney FC winger Vine opened the scoring from the edge of the box with a perfectly-weighted first-time strike in the 11th minute, before Polkinghorne poked in the second five minutes later.

Sam Kerr had a goal ruled out for offside but the Matildas continued to hunt for a third, with Foord heading in a Steph Catley free-kick just before halftime.

Foord also had a goal chalked off before the Spanish launched a comeback as Gustavsson rotated his formation and brought fresh bodies on.

Spain grabbed one back in the 73rd minute through a long-range Olga Carmona effort before Alba Redondo notched a second for the visitors in added time.

"When you play against a team like Spain, it's freaking difficult to keep them away from the goal because they're so good on the ball," said Gustavsson, whose side play their final Cup of Nations fixture against Jamaica in Newcastle on Wednesday.

"What I'm most proud of today is the team effort. It was a team out there tonight."