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Padraig Whelan·11 juillet 2025
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Padraig Whelan·11 juillet 2025
Group B of Euro 2025 concludes on Friday night, with the world champions in action and two other sides bidding to join them in the knockout stage.
Hosts Switzerland sent their fans home happy as a 92nd minute strike earned them a 1-1 draw against Finland and a place in the quarter-finals with it at the expense of their opponents.
Norway continued their perfect start to the tournament and advanced as group winners as a brace apiece from Signe Gaupset and Frida Maanum saw them defeat Iceland 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller.
Spain are already assured of their place in the knockout round ahead of their meeting with Italy, who are in prime position to join them.
The Azzurre will join Friday's opponents in the last eight if they avoid defeat or if Portugal don't beat Belgium and can even pip the tournament favourites to top spot by springing a surprise win.
In the other fixture, Portugal take on Belgium and the only scenario for them to qualify is with a win and hoping neighbours Spain do them a favour against Italy, with Belgium already eliminated prior to kick-off.
If Italy are to cause a surprise, something that coach Andrea Soncin believes is well within their capabilities, then much of their hopes will rest on the performance of Cristiana Girelli.
She has been in fine form so far in Switzerland and opened her account last time out in the 1-1 draw against Portugal.
Their tournament potentially teeters on the brink but the Juventus veteran possesses all of the tools to unsettle a defence even as strong as the Spanish rearguard.
It is all about who advances alongside Spain from Group B.
Italy are, of course, in pole position ahead of kick-off given their three point lead over Portugal but the fact that they face Spain means they may add no more points to their tally, while Tatiano Pinto's side will fancy their chances of picking up a win against Belgium, who have lost both fixtures so far.
Should they do so and their Iberian cousins help them out against Italy, things will go down to the wire for qualification in second place.
If the nations end level on points, they will then be separated by goal difference, goals scored if required, then lowest disciplinary points and finally, if there is still no separating them, the highest overall position in the European Qualifiers phase rankings.
That would be Italy.
French television channel TF1 have caused something of a stir in the country with the confirmation that France's final group game against the Netherlands will not be shown on their main channel due to a clash with PSG's Club World Cup final against Chelsea.
And the squad have issued a response.
📸 Alexander Hassenstein - 2025 Getty Images