Spain book quarter-final place as Portugal miss out

Spain produced a strong second-half performance to defeat Italy 3-1 and book their place in the Euro 2025 semi-finals.

The match was full of entertainment, with Italy capitalising on early pressure to take the lead in the 10th minute.

Elisabetta Oliviero finished from the centre of the box after an attacking spell that saw Elena Linari strike the crossbar moments earlier.

Spain responded though. Just four minutes later, Athenea del Castillo levelled the score with a low finish after a clever assist from Alexia Putellas.

The visitors began to take control as the half wore on, but were met by a string of excellent saves from Italy goalkeeper Laura Giuliani.

The second half saw Spain’s quality begin to shine through. Patri Guijarro gave them a deserved 2-1 lead in the 49th minute with a precise strike from distance that nestled into the bottom corner.

Spain continued to press, with Putellas orchestrating play and repeatedly testing Giuliani, who kept Italy in the match with several key saves.

Italy made a flurry of substitutions in an attempt to regain momentum, but struggled to break down their opponents.

Esther González, introduced midway through the half, added a third in stoppage time with a finish from Putellas’ cross to secure the win.

Portugal 1-2 Belgium

Elsewhere, Belgium beat Portugal to end their hopes of making it to the knockout stages.

Belgium opened the scoring early through Tessa Wullaert in the 3rd minute, finishing off a cross from Jill Janssens with a sweet strike into the bottom corner.

Portugal responded well, testing goalkeeper Lisa Lichtfus with efforts from Diana Silva, Ana Capeta, and Fatima Pinto, but were unable to find a breakthrough.

Belgium nearly doubled their lead just before half-time, but Mariam Toloba saw her effort ruled out for offside after a VAR review in the 64th minute. Jassina Blom was forced off injured and replaced by Marie Detruyer in the first half to add insult to injury.

Portugal made attacking changes at the break, bringing on Andreia Jacinto and Lucia Alves.

Despite Portugal’s growing pressure, Belgium had another goal disallowed via VAR, this time Amber Tysiak’s effort being chalked off.

Portugal finally equalised in the 87th minute when Telma Encarnacao latched onto a through ball from Kika Nazareth and fired home.

However, Belgium responded with a late winner in stoppage time. Janice Cayman found space in the middle and scored with seconds to go after a blocked initial effort.