World champions Spain made an impressive start to their Euro 2025 campaign with an emphatic victory over Portugal.
Before the match there was a minute’s silence following the death of Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash early on Thursday, along with his brother Andre Silva.
Some fans held up pictures of Jota or shirts bearing his name, while a picture of him in a Portugal kit was also displayed on the big screens at the stadium.
Spain beat Portugal 4-2 and 7-1 in the Nations League in April so were firm favourites for this game in Bern, Switzerland, and needed only 87 seconds to open the scoring.
Olga Carmona’s fine pass from deep on the left was controlled on her shoulder by Esther Gonzalez before the striker flicked a volley into the net.
The second goal followed six minutes later when Arsenal winger Mariona Caldentey’s low cross was slid into the net by 18-year-old Vicky Lopez.
Caldentey then registered a superb assist as her cross-field pass was superbly taken by Alexia Putellas who skipped inside a challenge and calmly added a third.
In a one-sided encounter, Gonzalez made it 4-0 before half-time, tapping in the rebound after Claudia Pina’s cross bounced off a post.
Substitute Cristina Martin-Prieto added a fifth in the third minute of second-half stoppage time with a powerful header following Salma Paralluelo’s cross.
What was the main talking point?
Spain are aiming to become the third team to win both the World Cup and Women’s European Championship, after Germany (two World Cups and eight European Championships) and Norway (one World Cup and two European Championships).
This was a hugely impressive start for Spain, who have never won the Women’s European Championship, with their best performance coming in 1997 when they lost in the semi-finals.
Their squad strength was shown by the fact that they could start with Barcelona’s Paralluelo, third in the Ballon d’Or voting in each of the past two seasons, among the substitutes.
Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati was also on the bench as she continues to recover from a bout of viral meningitis that required hospital treatment just days ago. She came on in the 80th minute, having been eager to be involved.
Spain are considered the favourite by many to win this tournament. On the evidence of this performance, they will take some stopping.
Which players stood out?
Teenager Lopez was a constant threat to the Portugal defence. She scored after eight minutes, had an effort saved midway through the first half and linked up superbly with Barcelona team-mates Putellas and Pina, with Portugal goalkeeper Ines Pereira doing well to block Pina’s powerful effort.
Lopez had nine touches in the opposition’s penalty area, more than any other player, and also had two shots, created three chances, had a pass success rate of 88.5% and completed five successful dribbles.
The standout stats
Portugal have never won their opening fixture at a Women’s World Cup or European Championship. They lost 2-0 to Spain at Euro 2017, drew 2-2 with Switzerland at Euro 2022 and were beaten 1-0 by the Netherlands at the 2023 World Cup.
Spain became just the fourth side to score four or more goals in the first half of a Uefa Women’s Euro game after Norway (four v Italy in 2005), France (five v Italy in 2022) and England (six v Norway in 2022).
Spain’s previous biggest win in the finals stages of a European Championship was their 4-1 victory over Finland at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes on 8 July 2022.
What is next for these teams?
Spain play their second Group B match on Monday, 7 July when they face Belgium in Thun (17:00 BST), before Portugal take on Italy later on the same day (20:00 BST) in Geneva.
In the other Group B game on Thursday, Italy began their campaign with a 1-0 win over Belgium, thanks to a goal from Arianna Caruso.
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