UEFA Women's EURO Group B recap: Spain gets it done

UEFA Women’s EURO 2025: Day 10

Italy 1 – 3 Spain

Oliviero (10’) del Castillo (14’)

Guijarro (49’)

Gonzalez (90+1’)

	Italy	Spain
Possession	25.8%	74.2%
Shots	13	20
Shots on target	2	8
Expected Goals	1.71	1.95

Spain finished Group B with a perfect record, after coming from a goal down to defeat Italy. The Italians knew that a loss put them at risk of missing out on qualifying for the knockouts, though Portugal would’ve needed to win by four goals (spoiler alert: they did not).

Italia Intro

Before the tournament, Italy head coach Andrea Soncin described his team as the “dark horses” of the competition, and they very much lived up to the hype, catching the world champions cold in the early stages of the match. In the ninth minute, Linari thundered a header onto the crossbar from a Giugliano corner, which Spain then scrambled clear. From the next passage play, Cantore laid the ball off for Piemonte in the penalty area, but her shot from 14 yards wasn’t dealt with by the covering Caldentey. The ball got away from her, Italian wing-back Oliviero anticipated the error, blasting in her first goal for Italy, from close range.

Good and Lucky

In response, Spain scored one of the goals of the tournament just four minutes later: del Castillo was played the ball down the right flank, she cut inside and ran at the defence, before slipping a pass into the area for Putellas. Instinctively, she returned the ball via a 1st-time backheel, and del Castillo was able to place a powerful finish into the top corner.

Despite having the vast majority of possession, Spain weren’t creating many openings, and were incredibly fortunate not to concede a penalty in the 40th minute. Italy broke quickly through Oliviero, who carried the ball into the Spain half, before laying it off to her right for Cantore. She crossed into the box, and Paredes completely missed her stooping header, with Spain then clearing the ball. VAR then called the referee to the monitor, after spotting a handball by Paredes. Then, after further delay, the referee was then informed that Cantore had been offside when she received the ball, so no penalty was awarded.

Lucky and Good

Spain took the lead for the first time four minutes after the restart, slightly fortuitously. Athenea del Castillo had the ball on the right, cut inside, and ran along the edge of the penalty area. The Italian defenders stood off initially, before Lenzini eventually prodded the ball away, straight into the path of Guijarro. She hit the ball first time from 20 yards, not making a clean connection, but the ball sliced in off the right-hand post anyway. Spain managed to control the rest of the match, and extended their lead in the 1st minute of stoppage time. Substitute Vicky Lopez was charging

down the right wing, before laying the ball off to Putellas, who curled a gorgeous left-footed cross right into the path of Esther Gonzalez, who finished first-time from 8 yards out.

Italy will not only be relieved that they still qualified despite the loss, but they will take a huge amount of confidence going into their quarter-final match against Norway; their game plan vs the world champions was effective, and though they conceded significant possession, both teams’ xG was very similar, which highlights the chances Italy managed to create against the best team in the world.

UEFA Women’s EURO Group A: Switzerland dramatics

Portugal 1 – 2 Belgium

Encarnação (87’) Wullaert (3’)

Cayman (90+6’)

	Portugal	Belgium
Possession	56.9%	43.1%
Shots	20	13
Shots on target	7	4
Expected Goals	2.35	1.98

Portugal missed the (difficult) opportunity to reach the quarter-finals of EURO ’25, after losing their final group match to an already-eliminated Belgium. Requiring a win by four goals, they showed real intent throughout the match, but were consistently left exposed in defense.

Route Won

Despite Portugal’s high-tempo tactics, it was Belgium who scored the early goal, and it started with a goal kick. Launched forward, Vanhaevermaet headed on in the centre circle, Teulings fed wing-back Janssens, who was charging down the right wing, and her low cross was stabbed in by Wullaert ‘on-the-stretch’ from seven yards.

Capeta’s Chances

Portugal were creating regular openings, often through forcing Belgium into errors when they played out from the back, through their energetic pressing. Their best chances came to Ana Capeta, either side of half-time: the first, a ball over the Belgium defence found her run, but her attempted lob over goalkeeper Lichtfus didn’t have the elevation required, and it was an easy save; the second came from Portugal winning the ball high, and Kika Nazareth slipping Capeta in on-goal, but her powerful effort was saved again.

Belgium vs VAR

In the 64th minute, Belgium thought they had extended their lead, after Toloba finished off a terrific counter-attack. Detruyer challenged Jacinto in the Belgium half, then played to Teulings, who spread play right for Wullaert. As she sprinted away from the retreating defence, she played an inch-perfect pass into the path of Toloba, who buried the ball from 12 yards. After a lengthy VAR check, the referee awarded Portugal a foul on Jacinto, and the goal was chalked off.

Then, in the 87th minute, déjà vu. Dhont attempted to start a Belgium counter-attack, but was bumped off the ball by Diana Gomes. The referee saw no foul, so play continued through Kika Nazareth, who threaded a ball into the left of the penalty area, where Encarnação fired in at the near post from 10 yards. Belgium complained to the referee, but VAR decided that this one, despite contact on Dhont, didn’t warrant overturning. Heading into stoppage time, both teams

were going for the winner, and Belgium thought they’d found it. A corner from the left was missed by goalkeeper Marais, Detruyer volleyed at the back post, with the ball cannoning-in off the chest of Tysiak from 2 yards out. Another lengthy VAR check followed, before the goal was disallowed for offside.

Final Word

The Belgium players, staff, and fans, were all clearly annoyed, but they had one last opportunity to end their tournament on a high, in the 6th minute of stoppage time. As Portugal tried to force a winner, the ball was intercepted in the Belgium half, and 5 Belgium players sprinted hard into the Portugal half, overwhelming their defence. Wullaert received the ball down the left, put in a low cross, which defender Carole Costa got a foot to, but the ball fell into the path of Cayman. She fired an effort at goal from 10 yards, which Costa blocked, but the ball then fell back to the feet of Cayman, who finally put the ball in the net.

Belgium end EURO ’25 on a high, registering their first win, and finishing 3rd in the group. With the attacking talents on hand, Portugal may feel like they could’ve done better, but they were too often exposed in defence.

Group B – Final Standings

	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Difference	Points
Spain (Q)	14	3	11	9
Italy (Q)	3	4	-1	4
Belgium	4	8	-4	3
Portugal	2	8	-6	1

Unlike Group A, Group B’s combined ‘expected goals’ and ‘expected goals against’ lines up as expected. Spain are massively over-performing their xG, scoring 14 times from an expected 9.14, while Italy underperformed (3 goals from 4.39), despite still making the knockouts.