Spain 6-2 Belgium highlights: Alexia Putellas strikes twice as world champions win again to reach Women's EURO 2025 quarter-finals

Belgium equalised twice but there was no stopping an Alexia Putellas-inspired Spain as the world champions ran up a big score for the second time in UEFA Women's EURO 2025 Group B, triumphing 6-2 in Thun in the joint highest-scoring game in final tournament history to seal a place in the last eight.

Having beaten Portugal 5-0 on Thursday, Span were in an even more prolific mood today, goals from Alexia topping and tailing a result that moves them on to six points and leaves them within sight of England's record of 14 goals in a single group. The draw later between Portugal and Italy confirmed Spain's progress to the quarter-finals but ended Belgium's hopes after a second defeat.

What happened?

Adriana Nanclares remained in goal for Spain as Cata Coll continues her injury recovery but Irene Paredes did return to the defence after suspension for the victory against Portugal, though Aitana Bonmatí again was on the bench after her recent illness. Belgium were unchanged from the loss to Italy with Sari Kees passed fit in the centre of defence, and straight away the world champions looked to put the Red Flames back-line under pressure in a rainy Thun.

Vicky López was proving particularly lively and she played a key part in giving Spain the lead as Patri Guijarro played into the box to the 18-year-old, who promptly fed their Barcelona colleague Alexia to control and shoot in. Two minutes later, though, Belgium had a corner and Justine Vanhaevermaet rose to nod in Tessa Wullaert's kick ahead of Nanclares.

Spain were soon back on the attack looking to restore their advantage, and it came six minutes before half-time, also from a corner. Clàudia Pina's delivery found Paredes in the middle of the box and her header powered past Lisa Lichtfus.

Bonmatí took over from Vicky on the right in the second half, and within a few minutes she had shot just wide. However, almost immediately Wullaert's through ball found the perfectly-timed run of Hannah Eurlings, who kept her nerve and beat Nanclares.

This time Belgium were only level for two minutes, Alexia's clever ball was anticipated by Esther González, who scored her third goal of these finals. Just past the hour Spain made a corner count as Pina's kick was flicked on by Paredes; Laura Deloose blocked Esther's effort but Mariona Caldentey poked in the rebound.

Mariona Caldentey (No8) celebrates putting Spain 4-2 up against BelgiumAFP via Getty Images

Spain won 5-1 in Belgium in May and were keen to reach that tally again, Alexia and Aitana having shots blocked in quick order, before Mariona crossed to Alexia, whose header glanced off the post. Alexia then teed up Patri to go close, but the fifth goal did arrive with the finish of the day as Pina curled in from outside the box.

Alexia got her second of the game and third of the final tournament soon after, pouncing when Patri improvised a pass after a mis-hit shot. With Spain's 34th attempt of the game, Alexia shot just past the post in added time as she sought a hat-trick to top a vintage display.

Player of the Match: Alexia Putellas (Spain)

"Two goals, two assists and a constant threat in possession for Spain. Her line-breaking passes and key passes in the final third were a thorn in Belgium's side. She also moved well between the lines and her awareness of spaces to exploit was exceptional."
UEFA Technical Observer panel

Reaction

Montse Tomé, Spain coach: "It was a good game for us and the players did their job well. We managed to keep high possession and scoring six goals in a match is never easy, especially at a European Championship.

"I believe we have very good support in attack, with players capable of joining in. That's very positive and says a lot about our ability to create chances to finish."

Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir, Belgium coach: "It's heartbreaking ... but at the same time, I'm very proud of my team because I know the belief was there and they gave everything. We took some chances and played with good courage during the first half and big parts of the second half. We came back from Spain leading twice, which is not easy against this team. For the future, those are good signs.

"You're playing against a really, really good team who have extremely good confidence in this moment and have been crushing almost everybody they play. We made it 2-2 and maybe we relaxed a little bit – I have no idea. At the same time, you have [opponents] who don't relax and have a really good focus on what they can and want to do. Maybe if we had managed to push through ten or 15 minutes after scoring that second goal ... this is football."

Alexia Putellas, Player of the Match: "I’m feeling really good – not because of the goals or assists, but because of how I feel out there, the sharpness. I said it before the tournament started: I’ve been feeling great. In some games things come off, in others they don’t, but the work is always there, and that’s what matters – putting it to the service of the team.

"We had been told that they would start very strong and intensely, but that as the game went on, they would drop off. We knew we’d be able to find each other and move them from side to side, and that’s what we saw in the second half – there was more space, they weren’t pressing as much. To be fair, they competed really well, but in the end we managed to link up, finish our chances and the goals came."

Clàudia Pina, Spain forward: "We understand each other really well, whether it’s on one side or the other. With Alexia, Patri, Aitana or Mariona when she moves inside ... we have so many players who like to play to feet and play the kind of football we enjoy.

"We know every match is going to be different. For now, we’re scoring a lot of goals – and that’s always our intention, especially by playing good football, which we’re managing to do. Not every game will be like this, so we have to make the most of matches like these and score as many goals as possible, because they could end up being important."

Janice Cayman, Belgium defender: "It’s a harsh scoreline, certainly if you look at how we defended and how many shots we stopped. We also came back and scored twice at important moments.

"Unfortunately, those goals don’t get us anything. We're glad we stopped players like Bonmatí, who is the best player in the world, from scoring. That means something. But we're disappointed because the score can’t leave you with a satisfied feeling."

Key stats

• The game equalled the most goals in a Women's EURO finals game of eight, previously achieved three times.
• Seven different scorers in a Women's EURO finals game is a new record. Spain equalled the single-team record of five different scorers.
• Spain are the first team to score at least five in their first two games at a Women's EURO or get to double figures in goals by Matchday 2 (England have the record for group stage goals with 14 in 2022).
• Spain led the attack count 84-10.
• Esther and Alexia are the first players to score three goals in this Women's EURO.
• Before this edition Alexia had only scored one Women's EURO finals goal, on her competition debut in 2013 against England; she now has three in two games in Switzerland.
• Vanhaevermaet is only the second Belgium player to score in more than one Women's EURO final tournament, after Janice Cayman.

UEFA

Reporters' views

Andrea De Ferrater, Spain reporter
Spain showed great resilience today, leading at half-time against a tough Belgium side before displaying composure and character to take control and dominate the second half, scoring four goals. The downside – the goals conceded.

Alyssa Saliou, Belgium reporter
Belgium chose their moments and responded to Spain’s first two goals by attacking, while they were solid defensively for parts of the game, helped by goalkeeper Lisa Lichtfus' performance. But a Spain masterclass felt unavoidable, resulting in a heavy defeat.

Fantasy star performers

Alexia Putellas (Spain) – 22 points
Clàudia Pina (Spain) – 10
Irene Paredes (Spain) – 9

Line-ups

Belgium's Hannah Eurlings briefly made it 2-2 against SpainGetty Images

Spain: Nanclares; Batlle, Paredes, Aleixandri, Olga (Ouahabi 86); Vicky López (Aitana Bonmatí 46), Patri Guijarro, Alexia Putellas; Mariona Caldentey (Athenea 73), Esther González (Martin-Prieto 73), Pina (Paralluelo 81)

Belgium: Lichtfus; Janssens, Tysiak, Kees, Cayman, Deloose; Toloba (Missipo 79), Vanhaevermaet, Teulings (Blom 79); Wullaert, Eurlings (Dhont 64)