Spain's 6-2 win over Belgium secures place in Euro 2025 quarterfinals
THUN, Switzerland (AP) — World Cup champion Spain booked a spot in the quarterfinals of the Women's European Championship after another statement victory, 6-2 over Belgium on Monday.
It was, surprisingly, the first time Spain won back-to-back matches at the Euros, after beating Portugal 5-0 in its opener.
With 11 goals in two matches, Spain and its star-packed squad is living up to its billing as the tournament favorite and two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas had a stark warning for the other teams.
'The team is having an excellent performance. But almost all of us have room for improvement,' Putellas said in translated comments.
She scored two against Belgium and was named player of the match in a second straight game.
'I'm feeling very well mentally and I'm being quick," Putellas said. 'I see things in advance and for me that's the trigger that I feel good. And that means I can help others.'
The result combined with Italy's 1-1 draw against Portugal in the late match advanced Spain to the last eight.
Spain tops Group B with six points. Italy is second with four, three more than Portugal. The top two progress to the quarterfinals. On Friday, Italy faces Spain in their final group match and Portugal plays the eliminated Belgium.
But Belgium can take positives. The Red Flames went toe to toe with Spain before a flurry of late goals had them more concerned about goal difference — which could be a deciding factor.
'I'm really proud of my team because I know 100% that they had the belief that I was looking for,' Belgium coach Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir said.
'But, to be honest, I walked into the locker room and I really wanted to cry. Emotionally it was difficult because I really believed in what we were doing and I loved seeing my players give everything. We gave them a really good game for at least 60 minutes.'
Spain laid siege to the Belgium goal from the start. Mariona Caldentey played in a lovely pass from the edge of the area to Vicky López, who cushioned it on for Putellas to sweep into the far corner.
However, Spain's 22nd-minute lead lasted barely two minutes before Justine Vanhaevermaet headed in Tessa Wullaert's corner at the near post.
Spain captain Irene Paredes was playing her first match of the tournament after being suspended from the opener, and she made it 2-1 before the break when she headed in a corner.
Two-time Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí was brought on at halftime. She was hospitalized for viral meningitis before the tournament and played only eight minutes against Portugal.
Belgium leveled again through Hannah Eurlings shortly after the restart. It was initially ruled out for offside but awarded by the VAR.
Less than a minute later, Spain led for a third time when Putellas played in Esther González for the veteran forward to score her third goal of the tournament.
When a González effort was blocked, the ball was not cleared and Mariona Caldentey fired in Spain's fourth.
Claudia Pina curled a sumptuous 20-yard effort into the top right corner — the best goal of the night — and there was still time for Putellas to net her second.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
recommended
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox Sports
26 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Xander Schauffele is trying to flush what feels like his worst season
Associated Press NORTH BERWICK, Scotland (AP) — The best thing Xander Schauffele has going for him in the worst season of his career is a good attitude. That much was evident Tuesday when he walked into the media center at the Scottish Open and saw his picture. It was on a wall beneath a sign that said, 'TOILETS.' 'That was heartwarming,' Schauffele said with a grin that never seems too far away. 'Summed up how I feel about what's going on right now. I actually chuckled when I saw that one.' He is the only American to win the Scottish Open over the last 10 years. He defends his title next week in the British Open, a victory that made him a double major winner in 2024, which allowed him to take his place among the elite in golf. That can feel like much longer than a year ago. Schauffele had reason to have big expectations this year. What he didn't see coming was a twinge in his ribs to start the season in Hawaii that turned out to be much worse — an intercostal strain and a cartilage tear. He missed two months with the first significant injury of his career. He has not been the same since then, with only one top-10 finish, a tie for eighth in the Masters. His greatest achievement was extending his cut streak on the PGA Tour to 67 consecutive tournaments, the longest such streak in 20 years. 'I probably downplayed it in my own mind — 'Yeah, you'll be fine, you've been playing great golf, you just came off the best year of your career' — and I've backed it up currently with the worst year of my career. It's been a hot one.' This is not where he expected to be coming into the final stretch of the year. 'The belief is good,' he said. "I don't think I've given myself a lot of reasons to believe that I'm playing OK. It's been a pretty bad year to be completely honest. ... I think the best part of my game has probably been my mental just fortitude, whatever you want to call it, just to try to stay positive and behave as if I am playing really well. "But coming off a year like last year, getting hurt, coming back, my expectations and playing ability have not cued up very nicely.' The injury is no longer an issue. The game has looked good at times. What he lacks is a spark, which comes from results, to get him going. Schauffele has great discipline that gets lost behind that San Diego vibe of his. He chose to not add tournaments to his schedule to make up for lost time, even though he finds himself chasing this late in the year. He won twice as a rookie, including the Tour Championship. Chasing is not something he does. The Ryder Cup is not an issue. Winning the PGA Championship and the British Open has allowed him to stay at No. 2 in the U.S. standings. But he is at No. 57 in the FedEx Cup — only the top 70 make the postseason — and these two weeks on links golf could go a long way toward making sure he gets there. 'It's been a weird year for me just from coming off the year I had last year into sort of what I did, just kind of disappearing and then playing bad coming out of it,' he said. 'So any expectation I had of whatever I thought I was capable of doing from a feel standpoint has been sort of reset, and I am in full chase mode, like a kid.' He hopes links golf will be part of the tonic. Part of Schauffele wishes he could have come earlier across the Atlantic, where he could play golf that consists of seeing the target and hitting the ball, nothing more complicated than that. 'Something about being here, you start taking your hands off the wheel, and that's how I played my best,' he said. Schauffele was in peak form a year ago. He broke through with his first major at the PGA Championship that asked a lot of him on a soft course at Valhalla, particularly the last hole. He had to stand in a bunker to play a shot from the rough with a 4-iron, the ball well above his feet, water down the right side. From there, he pitched to 6 feet and swirled in the birdie putt for a one-shot victory over Bryson DeChambeau. Two months later, he withstood rain and wind at Royal Troon with a 65 in the final round to give him a second major. He was No. 2 in the world. Scottie Scheffler was still miles ahead, but Schauffele was at a point where he felt he could win wherever he played. Those were happy times. This only feels like the worst of times. There is also something about the chase that takes him back to being a kid, when he wasn't the highly recruited star and was virtually an unknown before he earned his recognition. This feels like starting over. 'I've been spoiled to play at a pretty high level for quite some time,' he said. 'This has been a fun experience to try to get back on the horse.' ___ On The Fringe analyzes the biggest topics in golf during the season. AP golf:
Hamilton Spectator
30 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Euro 2025: Wales team bus involved in road traffic crash en route to practice
ST. GALLEN, Switzerland (AP) — The Wales team bus was involved in a road traffic crash on Tuesday and its training session was canceled at the stadium where it plays France at the Women's European Championship. The Welsh Football Association said in a statement all the people involved — players and staff on the bus and in the other vehicle — were unharmed in the incident en route to the stadium in St. Gallen. Wales coach Rhian Wilkinson travelled separately from the team to the stadium for a news conference one day ahead of Wednesday's game. 'Football is secondary and I think, yes, we are shaken because we are away from the team right now knowing that they've had to experience that,' Wilkinson said in comments reported by the BBC. FAW said its priority 'has been to remove the players from the scene and return to the Cymru training base to complete their preparations for tomorrow's match.' Wales plays France in the second Group D game for both at Euro 2025. Wales lost to the Netherlands 3-0 on Saturday and France beat defending champion England 2-1. ___ AP soccer:
New York Times
30 minutes ago
- New York Times
Why Real Madrid want to postpone their first La Liga game of the new season
Real Madrid have submitted a request to postpone their first game of the 2025-26 La Liga season over concerns their players will not have enough rest following their Club World Cup campaign. Madrid are slated to face Osasuna in their opening La Liga match on August 19. They face Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals of the tournament in the United States on Wednesday, with a possible final next Sunday. Advertisement Sources involved in the matter — who, like all cited in this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to discuss proceedings, say that Madrid and the AFE (Spanish professional footballers' association) have sent letters to La Liga, requesting the postponement. La Liga will consider that request before making a decision. Sources told The Athletic that in May — the two Spanish sides competing at the Club World Cup, Madrid and Atletico Madrid, and their respective captains, Dani Carvajal and Koke, reached an agreement with La Liga, the RFEF (the Spanish FA) and the AFE to postpone those clubs' first league fixtures if they reached the quarter-finals of the competition. This was to ensure that the teams would have at least three weeks of pre-season before the first La Liga fixtures of 2025-26. Additionally, a previously agreed collective agreement with the AFE, which was last updated in 2023, states that players are entitled to three weeks of continuous holiday per year (in addition to another nine days), which is only possible to take between the end of one season and the beginning of the next pre-season — meaning six weeks minimum would be needed between the end of their participation at the Club World Cup and the first La Liga game of the new campaign. FIFPro, the global players' union, has called for a minimum four-week off-season break for players after publishing a study on the subject in June, ahead of the start of the Club World Cup. That means that Madrid's planned game against Osasuna — which is already scheduled on the Tuesday, the final day possible of the opening La Liga matchweek — breaches the agreements due to their progress in the Club World Cup. Even if Madrid are knocked out by PSG in the semi-finals, they will have only 40 days between the day after the game (which would be the first day of holiday) and the Osasuna match. If they reach the final on July 13, they would then have just 36 days between the start of their holiday and the Osasuna game. That would leave an 18- or 14-day window in which to have a pre-season, if Madrid adhered to the three-week break following their Club World Cup exploits. If La Liga agrees to postpone the Osasuna game, Madrid's first La Liga fixture would instead be against newly-promoted Real Oviedo on August 24, and they would have just enough time in the event they reach the final of the Club World Cup. Madrid have yet to schedule any pre-season fixtures. Atletico, meanwhile, were knocked out in the group stage of the Club World Cup, with their last fixture coming on June 23. That meant they had no such issues with the six-week period between that game and the start of the La Liga season. All other teams in the Spanish top-flight have been out of action since the final match of the 2024-25 domestic season, the weekend of May 24-25. Advertisement In October, Pep Guardiola said the Premier League 'did not allow' its Club World Cup participants Manchester City and Chelsea to postpone their opening games of the 2025-26 campaign in order to allow more time for players to recover. City were knocked out of the summer tournament by Al Hilal on July 1, while Chelsea have also reached the semi-finals, where they face Fluminense. When approached for comment at the time, the Premier League said this was an example of the challenges that domestic leagues would face as a result of the alterations to the football calendar made by FIFA. Chelsea and Manchester City have been given opening Premier League fixtures on August 17 and 16 respectively. Last summer, many members of Madrid's squad were involved in the European Championship and Copa America, with the tournaments staging their finals on July 14. The team flew to the U.S. for a pre-season tour two weeks later, with some squad members, including Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, absent due to France and England's involvement in the latter stages of Euro 2024. In May 2024, FIFPro and the World Leagues Association, which represents global professional football leagues, threatened FIFA with legal action over the scheduling of the tournament. World football's governing body responded by saying it had ensured player welfare is safeguarded and the Club World Cup schedule had been aligned with the international match calendar to allow sufficient time before the start of the new season.
