Belgium 0-1 Italy: Caruso corker hands Azzurre crucial win in tough Euros group | OneFootball

An impressive Arianna Caruso strike handed Italy three points in their UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 opener against Belgium, putting the Azzurre in pole position in Group B.

Spain are widely expected to secure pole position in the group so claiming the runners-up spot is key, and Andrea Soncin’s side have become the early favourites to do so.

As it happened

Prior to kick-off, both teams showed their respect with a moment’s silence following the tragic passing of Diego Jota and his brother, André Silva, in a car crash this morning.

The game started off slowly, though Belgian goalkeeper, Lisa Lichtfus, was forced into producing a crucial save in the 5th minute. Two more shots came from Italy in the 22nd minute, though both were easily caught by Lichtfus – but the Italians managed to find the breakthrough in the 44th minute, with a thunderous strike from Arianna Caruso outside the box flying past the goalkeeper and rippling the back of the net.

Wasting no time searching for the equaliser, Belgium’s captain Tessa Wullaert had a close encounter with goal at the start of the second half, though the Red Devils’ attacking momentum was halted by a beautiful display of defensive technique shown by Lucia Di Guglielmo.

It would be one of Italian wing-back’s last contributions of the match, as she was withdrawn shortly after, having already picked up a yellow card before the break. Italy’s discipline left a lot to be desired – they had been shown their third yellow card by the 51st minute, compared to Belgium’s zero at this point.

An incredibly close shot from the edge of the box in the 79th minute by Michela Cambiaghi was a moment of great skill amidst a scrappy period in which play was seemingly constantly stopped with players requiring medical attention.

Italy’s hunt for a second goal looked promising and Cambiaghi thought she’d found it in the 89th minute with another effort from the edge of the box, though an astounding save was made by Lichtfus as she stretched to reach the far corner of her goal to block another powerful shot.

Soncin’s Italy were able to defend their lead throughout nine minutes of stoppage time and move to the top of Group B ahead of Spain’s meeting with Portugal at 20:00 BST [21:00 CEST]. Belgium and Italy return to action on Monday, with Italy facing Portugal and Belgium preparing for a tough test against the reigning World Champions, Spain.

The lineups

BEL: Lichtfus; Janssens; Tysiak; Kees; Cayman; Deloose; Toloba; Vanhaevermaet; Teulings; Eurlings; Wullaert