Match report: Spain 5-0 Portugal
Group B: On a traumatic day for football in Portugal and beyond, Spain deserve credit for resisting any temptation to go easy, starting at a rattling pace and completing a thoroughly professional job. Portugal’s players showed guts and no little honour to show up and keep running, scrapping, hunting for moments to take pride in. Nick Ames reports from Bern …
Portugal: On a traumatic, emotional and highly charged night for the coutnry’s women’s team, the players spent time after the final whistle gathered together on the pitch communing with Portugal’s fans behind a banner commemorating Diogo Jota.
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Barney Ronay: Diogo Jota’s loved ones’ lives are changed for ever and at one level this is not a sports story but his footballing talent, heart and will should be cherished, amid the grief.
Full-time: Spain 5-0 Portugal
It’s all over in Bern. Spain have got their Euro 2025 campaign off to a flier, putting on what at times resembled a masterclass of pass-and-move football against a Portugal side who did themselves few favours by making life as easy as possible for their exalted opponents in the first half. Portugal were better in the second half, despite Spain showing their strength in depth off the bench but the chasm in quality between these sides was enormous. It’s a statement win for Spain, who go top of the table ahead of Italy having scored four goals more.
GOAL! Spain 5-0 Portugal (Matin-Pietro 90+2)
Spain make it five! Salma Paralluelo sends in a cross from the left to the far post, where Cristina Matin-Pietro powers home a near-unstoppable, thumping downward header from five yards out.
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90+1 min: Despite all the second-half substitutionsd, there’s only going to be two minutes of added time. An act of mercy for Portugal, who deserve immense credit for shutting out Spain afte … ah, I spoke too soon.
88 min: Catarina Amado is fouled in the middle of the pitch and Portugal advance, courtesy of a quick free-kick, hoping to take the bare look off their side of the scoreboard. They win a corner, which Borges takes. Nanclares is unconvincing under the high ball and is forced to make a save as it bobbles around before Spain manage to scramble the ball clear.
85 min: Bonmati glides into the Portugal box and plays an inch-perfect pass into the path of Salma Paralluelo, who is unable to prod the ball home. Her weak effort is straight at Ines Pereira.
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83 min: Portugal substitution: Andreia Faria on for Diana Silva.
82 min: Much to everyone’s pleasant surprise, Aitana Bonmati has come on for a run-out for Spain, having recovered from the bout of viral meningitis which resulted in her recent short stay in hospital. She gets a huge ovation. Vicky Lopez has gone off.
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79 min: “Given the game is over due to Spain’s excellence, scrolling down the MBM I really have to take issue with the description of the first goal here,” writes N Trim. “Running full pelt, Gonzalez deliberately controlled that with her shoulder, spun and scored with the outside of her boot. Any of our favourite male players does that and we would hail them as a genius. That was a bonafide world class finish.”
It’s a fair kop – I didn’t appreciate quite how good that finish was until half-time, when I saw a few more replays. If she’d waited a couple of minutes until I’d got settled into the game, I might have been able to appreciate it in all it’s splendour. What I’m saying is – it’s her fault and if Sunderland’s Wilson Isiodor had done the same thing, he would have got similarly mugged off.
77 min: Spain substitution: Mariona Caldentey makes way for Cristina Matin-Prieto after putting in an excellent shift.
75 min: Portugal free-kick, wide on the right. Borges swings the ball into the mixer, Spain clear and it’s played back into the penalty area, where Capeta sends a highly presentable chance over the bar. She should have pulled a goal back for Portugal but was missing a little bit of composure.
73 min: Portugal substitution: Norton makes way for Dolores Silva, who takes the captain’s armband. She’s winning her 173rd cap for Portugal tonight.
71 min: Alexia Putellas takes on and beats Andreia Norton down by the byline and tries to pick out Vicky Lopez with a pull-back. Portugal scramble the ball clear.
67 min: Portugal continue their strict policy of only bringing on substitutes named Ana. On this occasion, Ana Capeta replaces Jessica Silva, joining her fellow subs Ana Seica and Ana Borges on the pitch.
65 min: Spain win a corner but make two substitutions before they take it: Fernandez and Paralluela on for Batlle and Gonzalez. Nothing comes of the set-piece.
64 min: Brillinat feet from Vicky Lopez, who somehow glides past three of four Portugal players en route to goal through the penalty area. She’s unable to get a shot away from the byline and her pull-back fails to pick out a teammate.
62 min: Portugal surge forward with Catarina Amado finding herself on the ball on the left side of the Spain penalty area. An extremely promising attack breaks down when she eschews a shooting opportunity and proceeds to run into traffic.
61 min: Ana Borges dives into two tackles in her own penalty area as Spain try to walk the ball into the Portugal goal. She’s lucky not to give away a penalty with either of her rash lunges but does concede a corner. Nothing comes of it.
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59 min: Another Spain attack ends with Olga trying a shot from distance. She fires high over the bar.
57 min: Caldentey wins a corner for Spain. Vicky Lopez curls the ball towards the far post but her delivery is overhit. Del Castillo is unable to keep it in play at the byline and Portugal have a goal-kick.
52 min: Spain defender Laia Aleixandri gets the first booking of the game for a blatant foul on Jessica Silva. Borges launches the ball into the Spain penalty area from deep and Nanclares sprints off her line to punch it clear. There’s a suggestion she might have caught the head of a Portuguese player and our referee seems to be in conversation with her VAR official Jarred Gillett. It looks like no further action will be taken despite the goalkeeper clattering Fatima Pinta as she made contact with the ball. If she’d missed the ball she’d be in big trouble.
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49 min: Jessica Silva gets the ball out wide about 45 yards out from the Spain goal and spots Adriana Nanclares off her line. She attempts – or at least I think she attempts – to lob the Spain goalkeepr but doesn’t even come close to getting her effort on target. Her namesake Diana Silva berates her for not playing the ball her way and making more of a promising situation.
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47 min: Portugal substitutions: Ana Borges and Ana Seica on for Fonseca and Jacinto. Spain substitution: Athenea del Castillo on for Claudia Pina.
Second half: Spain 4-0 Portugal
46 min: The game restarts and we have news of a few substitutions to bring you after telling you that Alexia Putellas has fired narrowly wide of the upright after another dizzying Spanish passing move.
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Group B: Arianna Caruso’s spectacular first-half goal for Italy proved the difference in a close encounter against a well-organised Belgium. Words: Sophie Downey.
Half-time: Spain 4-0 Portugal
Peep! Iuliana Demetrescu blows for half-time and the players walk off for their break with Spain in total charge of this game. Esther Gonzalez has scored two, with Alexia Putellas and Vicky Lopez chipping in with one each. Spain’s inexperienced goalkeeper Adriana Nanclares has been a spectator.
45 min: Portugal keep losing the ball on the edge of their own penalty area, their determination to play it out from the back now reaching Russell Martin-era Southampton levels of stubborness and insanity. There is no shame whatsoever in losing heavily to Spain but they are making life far too easy for the world champions.
GOAL! Spain 4-0 Portugal (Gonzalez 43)
And it’s four! Claudio Pino crosses the ball from the byline and somehow manages to hit the inside of the far upright. The ball ricochets to Esther Gonzalez, who scores her second goal of the game from about a yard out.
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GOAL! Spain 3-0 Portugal (Putellas 41)
Spain score again! Mariona Caldentey plays a wonderful crossfield diagonal in the direction of Putellas, who chests down the ball, cuts inside and sends Diana Gomes sliding into the car-park. With a clear sight on goal, she buries the ball past Pereira.
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40 min: There’s a short break in play as Portugal defender Diana Gomes pauses to catch her breath after shipping a blow to the chest.
38 min: The final ball lets Spain down again as Patricia Guijarro overhits a weighted low pass into the Portugal penalty area trying to pick out the run of Esther Gonzalez.
35 min: Portugal goalkeeper Ines Pereira rides to the rescue to save from Pina after a wonderful passing move featuring Alexia Putellas and Vicky Lopez. Spain are running rings around their Iberian rivals and with better final balls and finishing could be four or five goals to the good.
33 min: Spain free-kick, wide on the left. Claudia Pina whips the ball into the penalty area, where it’s headed clear. Moments later, Pina a sends another cross towards the far post, this time from open play but it’s headed clear by Fatima Pinto, who beats Caldentey to the ball. Spain are rampant.
32 min: Vicky Lopez latches on to a Caldentey ball sprayed out towards the right touchline and cuts inside but her cross to the far post sails wide.
30 min: Olga picks out a Alexia Putellas run down the inside left but the Spain No11’s cross is put for a corner by Diana Gomes before Esther Gonzalez can pounce. Nothing comes of the set-piece.
25 min: Portugal finally string a few passes together but Andreia Jacinto eschews a shooting opportunity against Adriana Nanclares, the Spanish goalkeeper who is only making her third appearance for her country. The midfielder runs into traffic and Spain are back in control of the ball.
23 min: Claudia Pina’s delivery is poor and Portugal get a brief moment of respite. Their insistence on playing the ball out from the back is not paying off, as they keep giving it away in dangerous positions. On the odd occasions they try to go long, they also lose the ball but at least on those occasions it’s a long way from their goal.
21 min: Vicky Lopez picks out Mariona Caldentey with a pull-back to the edge of the Portugal penalty area but her shot is deflected out for a corner. Nothing comes of it but now Spain have a free-kick wide on the right.
19 min: Spain attack again. Claudia Pina runs on to a through ball from Caldentey but shoots straight at Pereira. Moments later, Esther Gonzalez fires over the bar from a promising position. Portugal are emphatically under the Spanish cosh.
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18 min: Spain centre-back Maria Mendez tries to pick outt a runner with a ball over the top but succeeds only in sending the ball out of play for a goal-kick.
15 min: Portugal centre-back Fatima Pinto gives the ball away on the edge of her own box, with Esther Gonzalez the beneficiary. The Spanish No9 has a clear run on goal but shoots into the side-netting from a tight angle. Pinto breathes a deep sigh of relief.
14 min: Portugal embark on a rare sortie into the Spain half but their attack comes to nothing as the offside flage goes up.
13 min: Spain are relentless. Patricio Guijarro tries to unlock the portugal defence with a through ball for Claudia Pina to chase but her pass is intercepted and cleared by Carole Costa.
11 min: It was the aforementioned Batlle who picked out Caldentey’s run down the right channel in the build-up to Spain’s second goal after seizing on a porr headed clearance from one of Portugal’s centre-backs.
10 min: Spain gallop forward again with left-back Olga trying to pick out right-back Ona Batlle with a cross to the far post. She massively overhits her delivery and the ball sails wide.
GOAL! Spain 2-0 Portugal (Lopez 7)
Spain double their lead: Vicky Lopez stretches every sinew to poke home from five yards after getting on the end of a deliciously curled Mariona Caldentey cross along the deck from the right.
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6 min: Pereira is forced to punch the ball clear as Vicky Lopez crosses the ball from the left byline.
4 min: It’s an awful start from Portugal, who find themselves a goal down inside 90 seconds. Olga Carmona played a diagonal over the top from the left and Gonzalez took the ball down with either her head, her shoulder or a combination of both before scrambling it past Ines Pereira in the Portugal goal. It wasn’t the most elegant goal you’ll ever see but they all count.
GOAL! Spain 1-0 Portugal (Gonzalez 2)
Spain are ahead already! Esther Gonzalez gets in behind Portugal’s high defensive line to take down an Olga ball from deep and bundle it over the line from a few yards out.
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Spain v Portugal is go ...
1 min: Their players wearing a sort of spearmint green kit, Portugal get the ball rolling. Spain’s players are in red shirts, blue shorts and red socks.
A moment of silence: With both sets of players gatherd around the centre-circle, there is a perfectly observed tribute for Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva followed by a warm round of applause. Both sets of players are wearing black armbands.
Not long now: The teams march out of the tunnel for the last of the pre-match formalities, which are likely to be more sombre than usual. They line up either side of referee Iuliana Demetrescu and her team of match officials ready for the national anthems. First up it’s Portugal, then Spain.
Portugal: There is a very sizeable contingent of Portugal fans in Bern this evening and most of those present staged a pre-match walk to the stadium in which they paid tribute to Diogo Jota and Andre Silva. They held homemade signs, carried flags and shed no end of tears on what is going to be a very emotional evening for those in red and green.
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Tonight’s match officials
Referee: Iuliana Demetrescu
Assistant referees: Mihaela Tepusa and Amina Gutschi
Fourth Official: Shona Shukrula
VAR: Jarred Gillett
Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis
Diogo Jota and Andre Silva: England defender Lucy Bronze expressed her shock at the death of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva and said the Lionesses would be “thinking of them” along with the rest of the footballing and non-footballing world, writes Suzanne Wrack from Switzerland.
“It definitely shocked all the squad when we woke up this morning and the news started to spread, said Bronze. “Obviously we have a lot of Liverpool fans in our team, and football fans, but for people in general, everyone is just thinking of them – him and his brother. They were so young as well. We have seen all the messages on social media and stuff so you can tell what a great guy he has been. It’s just really sad and we were shocked by the news, really.”
Speaking on the day that Portugal play Spain in their opening game of Euro 2025, Bronze, who is half Portuguese, said: “We’ll be watching the games tonight, Portugal play their first game against Spain and I know there will be a minute’s silence held before that game.
“I think everyone in an England shirt and everyone in the tournament will be supporting the Portuguese team because they will be a lot closer to this than we are. It is just a really sad moment for everyone involved in football, knowing what a great guy he is and what an amazing year he’s had – not just in football, but he got married a few weeks ago and he’s got little kids. It’s just so sad.”
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Euro 2025: Portugal The Navigators are hopeful of reaching the knockout stage for the first time but recent form has tempered expectations. Words: Nuno Travossos.
Euro 2025 team guide: Spain The world champions’ squad contains two double Ballon d’Or winners and a place in the final is the minimum requirement, writes Amalia Fra.
Spain v Portugal line-ups
Spain: Nanclares, Batlle, Mendez, Aleixandri, Carmona, Lopez, Guijarro, Putellas, Caldentey, Gonzalez, Pina.
Subs: Sullastres, Coll, Fernandez, Bonmati, del Castillo, Ouahabi, Martin-Prieto, Garcia, Paralluelo, Redondo, Zubieta.
Portugal: Pereira, Gomes, Costa, Fatima Pinto, Fonseca, Jacinto, Norton, Tatiana Pinto, Amado, Diana Silva, Jessica Silva.
Subs: Morais, Cota-Yarde, Alves, Seica, Marchao, Nazareth, Borges, Dolores Silva, Faria, Correira, Capeta, Encarnacao.
Elsewhere in Group B: Arianna Caruso scored the only goal of the game as Italy beat Belgium at the Stade de Tourbillon in Sion in today’s early kick-off. The Bayern Munich midfielder’s curled effort from distance in the first half was enough to send Italy top of the group after one game and leave Belgium in trouble already in what is expected to be a three-way battle for second place behind Spain.
Early team news: Spain’s two-time Ballon D’Or winner Aitana Bonmati rejoined her teammates after being released from hospital after receiving treatment for viral meningitis and while she is harbouring hopes of playing in this tournament, her health must come first and while she is among the substitutes tonight, she is not expected to play until the later stages.
“With Aitana back, the entire group is now at their base camp in Lausanne, ready to take on the European dream,” said the Spanish Football Federation following her release from hospital. In her absence this evening, Vicky Lopez is expected to start in midfield alongside Alexia Putellas and Patri Guijarro. Spain are without Real Madrid midfielder Tere Abelleira and Arsenal defender Laia Codina, who are absent from this tournament through injury, while veterans Jenni Hermoso and Ivana Andrés were not picked for the squad.
Carolina Mendes will be a conspicuous abentee for Portugal, having been ruled out of the tournament through injury. Barcelona midfielder Kika Nazareth has been included in Portugal’s squad despite only returning to training last month after being sidelined with an ankle injury since March. There are also concerns over the fitness of Benfica left-back Lúcia Alves and Gotham winger Jéssica Silva. Everton goalkeeper Ines Pereira is the sole WSL representative in the Portugal squad.
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Group B: Spain v Portugal
On a truly devastating day for Portuguese football, it is difficult to imagine what must be going through the minds of the players representing the nation’s women’s team as they prepare to face Spain in Bern this evening. The car accident in which Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva, also a footballer, lost their lives is one of those tragedies that has hit everyone hard, which means an already difficult assignment for Francisco Neto and his Portuguese players has been rendered immeasurably tougher. We wish each and every one of them well.
A universally popular and admired player who was renowned for his skill, tenacity, humility and cheerful disposition, Jota’s death has prompted an understandable outpouring of shock and grief throughout and beyond the football family. The players of Spain will also be struggling to process the sadness many of us are feeling at the awful news that a son, a father of three, a brother, a new husband and a very fine footballer has been lost. The weather forecast in Switzerland’s capital city tonight is for bright sunshine but this morning’s news about Diogo and André means this match will be played under a very dark cloud.
There will, of course, be a tribute to both brothers ahead of tonight’s match between these Iberian neighbours and Portugal’s players will wear black armbands as a mark of respect for their fallen comrades. “Uefa announces that a moment of silence will be observed at all of today’s and tomorrow’s Women’s Euro 2025 matches in memory of Portugal international and Liverpool FC forward Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva who tragically passed away today,” said European football’s governing body earlier today. May they rest in peace.
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