Italy Join Spain in Euro 2025 Quarter-Finals

Group B at UEFA Euro 2025 was expected to be dominated by current World Champions, Spain. That expectation was backed up by La Roja winning all three group games. Despite defeat in their final game, Italy joined the tournament favourites in the knockout stages after taking four points from their opening two games.

Matchweek 1

Belgium 0 - 1 Italy

Italy get Euro 2022 revenge on Belgium

Belgium faced Italy in the group stages of Euro 2022 and came out on top, winning by the same 1-0 scoreline which favoured Italy this time around.

It wasn’t until the 44th minute when Bayern midfielder, Arianna Caruso curled her shot into the top corner to make it 1-0 to Italy. 

Le Azzurre should’ve doubled their lead in the 78th minute when substitute Michaela Cambiaghi squandered a 1v1. 

However it did finish 1-0 to Italy and it was a deserved one as they completely dominated in terms of shots and shots on target, Belgium only managing two compared to Italy’s seven. 

Spain 5 - 0 Portugal

Tournament favourites backup their credentials with five-star showing against Portugal

Spain and Portugal had met during the UEFA Nations League with the World Cup winners victorious in both matches, 4-2 away from home then 7-1 at home.

However, this fixture came at quite a tough moment for the Portuguese national team but also for the whole footballing world who were in mourning after the tragic and shocking news of Liverpool and Portugal forward, Diogo Jota, and his brother Andre Silva.

Spain were off and running in the second minute when a long ball from Olga Carmona was flicked home expertly by Esther Gonzalez.

It was 2-0 just five minutes later when Mariona Caldentey played a ball right across the face which Vicky Lopez could not miss; already Portugal seemed to be out of this tie.

Another special Spain move was on show for the third goal when Mariona pinged a pass into the path of Alexia Putellas who sent the defender and curled past the keeper. Spain had been excellent in this game and it was quite easy to see why many had backed them to go all the way.

Spain had a fourth goal just two minutes later; this one had less of the beauty we’d seen so far and a bit more luck as a cross from Pina hit the inside of the post and bounced in off Gonzalez who didn’t seem to know much about it.

Though they didn’t manage another four goals in the second half, the fifth goal in the 92nd-minute capped a five star performance from the current World Champions. A wonderful cross from sub Salma Paralleulo met by the head of another sub Cristina Martin-Prieto.

Matchweek 2

Spain 6 - 2 Belgium

La Roja ease into fourth straight Euros knockout stage

Like Portugal, Spain also played Belgium in the UEFA Nations League where they were once again victorious in both games, 5-1 at home and 3-2 away. The Red Devils were looking to pull off one of the shocks of the tournament, and did respond well to initially going behind.

Alexia Putellas finished into the Belgian net with the outside of her foot in the 22nd minute and from there it looked like it was going to be another thumping for the opposition against Spain. 

However, Belgium was level just a minute later when from a corner, Justine Vanhaevermaet snuck free at the front post to head past Adriana Nanclares in goal for Spain.

The hope for Belgium lasted until at least the 39th minute when Spanish captain Irene Paredes performed a bullet of a header to restore the advantage for the favourites. 

Once again though, Belgium hit back as in the 51st minute Hannah Eurlings finished a 1v1 which originally was judged to be offside although replays showed she was clearly onside, forcing VAR to overturn the original decision.

This crazy game had yet more drama as less than a minute later, Spain ran up the other end and made it 3-2 thanks to Esther Gonzalez’s third goal in the first two games of these European Championships.

Spain finally got a two goal cushion in the 61st minute when a failed Belgium clearance from a corner fell to Mariona who, after two assists in the 5-0 win over Portugal, scored her first of these Euros. 

The fifth goal from Claudia Pina was by far the best of the lot as she whipped her shot right into the top right hand corner, making it pretty much unsaveable. It was fitting that Claudia Pina, who had an incredible season for Barcelona, scored an incredible goal to open her account in Switzerland. 

Putellas' second goal and the one to make it a special six for Spain saw her instinctively flick her shot round the defender and into the corner.

Portugal 1 - 1 Italy

Italy denied qualification by late equaliser

Portugal could not qualify with a win in this game but needed to avoid defeat to keep chances alive, though they were slim. Italy would’ve made it to the last eight with a victory.

Emma Severini had an opening goal for Italy ruled out when she tapped home from a couple yards out but was clearly offside in the buildup. 

Italy had by far been the dominant team in this match and that was the same in the second half as they kept on creating dangerous opportunities. 

It wasn’t until the 70th minute when a magical moment came up for Italy, veteran forward Cristiana Girelli, the skipper of this side taking the game by the scruff of the neck and whipping one into the top corner. 

Jessical Silva thought she had equalised for Portugal in the 79th minute but there was judged to have been an offside in the buildup. 

However ten minutes later it was another Silva who was involved in the build up for the equaliser, Dolores Silva drilled a ball low across for an unlikely goal from defender Diana Gomes, just her seventh goal for the national team. 

Ana Borges was awarded a second yellow in the 96th minute for quite a controversial foul which seemed at first to just be shoulder to shoulder, but Portugal held out for the point they needed to keep their campaign alive. 

Matchweek 3

Portugal 1 - 2 Belgium

Belgium take first points of Euro 2025 as both sides crash out

A huge goal difference swing was always unlikely for Portugal to squeeze through to the knockout stages, but it was already-eliminated Belgium who made the fast start in Sion.

Tessa Wullaert got Belgium off to the perfect start in the third minute when she poked a cross home into the corner.

Wullaert thought that she had doubled the lead in the 65th minute but VAR ruled it out for a foul on Portugal midfielder Andreia Jacinto. 

Toloba then hit the bar with a header for Belgium in the 75th minute who with a bit more luck would’ve been 3-4 goals clear at this point. 

Despite all the Belgium chances, Portugal levelled in the 87th minute through Telma Encarnacao. However, the drama so often seen in Group B continued as Belgium thought they had won in the 92nd minute when Amber Tysiak scrambled the ball in from a corner but it was ruled out by VAR for offside.

Then in the 96th minute, Belgium did win it after a miss-hit clearance from Portugal which despite being brilliantly blocked by the defender, fell kindly to Janice Caymen and she struck a volley into the net.

Italy 1 - 3 Spain

Spain make it three from three as Italy progress alongside World Champions

Spain were already safely through to the quarter-finals heading into their final Group B game, needing just a point to ensure they finished above opponents Italy.

Italy gave themselves a chance of topping the group by taking the lead in the tenth minute after Elisabetta Oliviero finished from close range, the first time that the World Champions had fallen behind at this tournament. 

Of course though when you are playing this current Spain side, good things never last that long against them and by the 13th minute it was 1-1. Real Madrid winger, Athenea, combined beautifully with Alexia Putellas and whipped a vicious shot into the far corner.

Athenea was key to the second Spain goal in the 49th minute as she made another run through the defence before the tackle deflected back to Patri Guijarro who caught out the keeper at the near post. 

Esther Gonzalez got her fourth of the tournament tapping home in the 91st minute for 3-1, solidifying Spain's status as tournament favourites as they look to become the first men's or women's side to hold the World Cup, Euros and Nations League titles at the same time.

Knockout Path

With Group A and Group B both settled, half of the quarter-final draw is fixed. Norway will face Italy, producing a somewhat unlikely semi-finalist, while favourites Spain take on hosts Switzerland.

Spain are heavy favourites for their tie, not least because they hammered Switzerland 5 - 1 in the last Euros, but picking a winner between Norway and Italy is far more difficult. Heading into the tournament, it would've been pretty straightforward to select Norway as favourites for this tie, but Italy have impressed over the past two weeks.

The winner of such a tie would face a far more daunting test in the semi-finals, taking on one of the heavyweights from Group C or D. As it stands, that would be the winner of a tie between Sweden and England.

For Spain, there's likely no real preference in opponents given that they'd consider themselves favourites against any opposition, but a semi-final with France or Germany would be a mouth-watering concept.