Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Spain players celebrate after their win over Switzerland.Alamy Stock Photo Freeadvance Spain battle past Switzerland to reach Euro 2025 semi-finals Athenea del Castillo and Claudia Pina scored the goals to secure their passage to the final four. 10.44pm, 18 Jul 2025 Share options SPAIN REACHED THE semi-finals of Women’s Euro 2025 on Friday after battling past Switzerland 2-0 as the world champions continued their bid for a first-ever European crown. Athenea del Castillo and Claudia Pina scored the goals in the second half in Bern to give La Roja deserved passage to the last four where they will face either France or Germany on Wednesday. But Montse Tome’s team didn’t have it all their own way as hosts Switzerland put up a brave fight in front of a passionate crowd at the Wankdorf Stadium. The Swiss survived an early scare when Mariona Caldentey shot wide a ninth-minute penalty and from there did a great job in gumming up Spain’s usually free-flowing football. Advertisement Pia Sundhage’s players acquitted themselves brilliantly in their home tournament and were given a loud round of applause from the majority of the nearly 30,000 supporters. The Swiss, who finished the match with 10 women after Noelle Maritz was sent off in the final minute, had never progressed past the group stage of a Euros before and in the end Spain proved to be too much for the team ranked 23rd in the world. Spain meanwhile overcame a serious test of patience before their superior quality eventually prevailed, with Alexia Putellas’ wasted penalty late on changing nothing. An already raucous home crowd roared with delight when Caldentey scuffed wide her spot-kick after the Arsenal forward was brought down by Nadine Riesen. But that didn’t discourage Spain who dealt well with the fervent atmosphere and some fierce tackling but struggled to find a way through the home team’s packed defence. The efforts that Spain did have on goal were wayward with a series of potshots and blocked efforts before Irene Paredes headed Pina’s corner onto the post two minutes before half-time. The same pattern continued after the break with Spain probing and bumping against both a Swiss wall and the woodwork. Patri Guijarro headed another corner onto the post and in the ensuing scramble Esther Gonzalez somehow contrived to strike the other post in front of an open goal. It didn’t look like it was going to be Spain’s night but del Castillo finally made the breakthrough in the 66th minutes — four minute after replacing Caldentey — collecting Aitana Bonmati’s through ball and rolling home the goal which ended Switzerland’s spirited resistance. Pina whipped home a wonderful second goal five minutes later and that was that for the Swiss, who at least had one more thing to cheer for when Livia Peng pushed out Putellas’ weak spot-kick with two minutes remaining. – © AFP 2025 Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “Spain battle past Switzerland to reach Euro 2025 semi-finals”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “Spain battle past Switzerland to reach Euro 2025 semi-finals”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. 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