Spain sweep aside Belgium to boost hopes of reaching quarter-finals

Spain closed in on a place in the quarter-finals of Women’s Euro 2025 by hammering Belgium 6-2 to continue their perfect start in Switzerland.

A brace from Alexia Putellas and further goals from Irene Paredes, Esther Gonzalez, Mariona Caldentey and Claudia Pina gave Group B leaders Spain a second thumping win.

Montse Tome’s team will be guaranteed a spot in the last eight if Portugal do not beat Italy in Geneva, but their passage is almost guaranteed after hitting 11 goals over their two matches.

Belgium, who twice levelled through Justine Vanhaevermaet and Hannah Eurlings, are close to going home after being blown away by relentless waves of attacking football.

When Putellas finished off a beautiful spell of quick passing in the 22nd minute it looked like the beginning of a thumping win similar to the 5-0 destruction of Portugal in the opening round.

Yet seconds later Vanhaevermaet levelled with the simplest of goals, nodding home Tessa Wullaert’s corner.

Paredes put Spain back in the lead six minutes before the break with a bullet header from Pina’s deep corner. Again Belgium hit back, this time through Eurlings who sprung the offside trap before rifling home in the 50th minute.

Gonzalez netted her third goal of the tournament two minutes later after collecting Putellas’ neat through ball. The game was up when Caldentey bundled home from a corner just after the hour.

Pina smashed in her first goal of the tournament with 10 minutes remaining, and appropriately it was Putellas’ deft flick which completed the rout shortly afterwards.

On this form Spain look a class above the rest of the tournament and heavy favourites to win the country’s first ever women’s European crown.

Earlier, Geraldine Reuteler got the opening goal and Alayah Pilgrim scored a late second as hosts Switzerland beat Iceland 2-0 on Sunday to keep alive their hopes of a place in the knockout stage by registering their first win in Group A at the Women’s Euros.

The result means Norway, who beat Finland 2-1, will go through as group winners, while the Swiss will play Finland in their final group game in Geneva on Wednesday with second place and a spot in the last eight up for grabs.

Iceland became the first team to be eliminated from the competition.

“We wanted to win that game and we got carried by our fans. In the end we created the chances needed to win... I am so happy,” Swiss captain Lia Walti said. The tropical heat of the last week gave way to a cool evening and a light but persistent rain that made the pitch slick and slippery, raising the stakes for the two sides, neither of whom had much margin for error after losing their opening group games.

There were ominous signs for the hosts in the first minute when Ingibjorg Sigurdarsdottir sent a thunderous shot off the crossbar, shocking the majority of the 29,658 fans in attendance.

The Swiss had the ball in the net on the half-hour mark after Svenja Foelmli’s header was helped into her own goal by Glodis Viggosdottir, but the strike was ruled out after a VAR review found that Foelmli had committed a foul in the build-up.

It took until the 76th minute for Reuteler to break the deadlock in a tough, tense encounter as Iceland lost the ball in midfield and Sydney Schertenlieb slid it into her path to fire home confidently, capping off another superb individual display.

Substitute Pilgrim then wrapped up the three points with a deflected shot that flew into the net to send the crowd into a frenzy, with the promise of another big night of football for the hosts on the immediate horizon.

“When we scored the first goal, the 1-0, it was a fantastic feeling -- now there are 30,000 in the stands who are celebrating for us. It’s a good feeling, it was overwhelming in a way. It just exploded in here,” Swiss midfielder Smilla Valotto told reporters.

Agencies