Alexia Putellas and Claudia Pina netted two goals apiece as Spain cruised to an easy 4-0 victory over Sweden in the first leg of their Women's Nations League semi-final on Friday, taking a commanding lead ahead of the return in Gothenburg next week.
Spain forward Athenea del Castillo came off the bench to open the scoring and Claudia Pina added a superb second as they beat hosts Switzerland 2-0 on Friday to reach the women's Euro semi-finals, where they will face France or Germany.
A summary of Monday's action at the Women's Euros between Spain-Belgium and Portugal-Italy.
Images from Thursday's Women's Euro 2025 Group B matches between Spain-Portugal and Italy Belgium.
Spain cruised to a 3-1 win over Italy on Friday that sees both sides through to the knock-out stages at the Women's Euros, with the Spaniards topping Group B to set up a showdown with hosts Switzerland, while the second-placed Italians will meet Group A winners Norway.
Nine players from treble-winning Paris St Germain have been nominated for the men's Ballon d'Or this year along with the club's coach Luis Enrique as France Football announced the list of nominees on Thursday.
Rubiales has said it was consensual and scoffed at critics in the aftermath, but Hermoso said she felt a victim of aggression and had pressure put on her to sign a statement exonerating him, which she said she refused to do.
Ronaldo had won his first Ballon d'Or in 2008 while he was playing for Manchester United and still holds the record of the last Premier League player to claim the top prize. Messi won his first in 2009 and was nominated for 16 years.
Jude Bellingham topped the men's overall voting, with the Real Madrid and England midfielder receiving 11,176 selections from his peers.
Vinicius Jr's remarkable performances at Real Madrid have put the 24-year-old forward as the odds-on favourite to claim his first Ballon d'Or when the award for the best player in the world is announced in Paris on Monday.
Messi named FIFA player of 2022, England women rewarded for Euro campaign
Voting for the eighth annual awards opened on Thursday on FIFA.com and closes in mid-October. National team coaches, captains, journalists and fans make up the list of voters.
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the award five times, did not receive a nomination for the first time in 20 years.
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema was in red-hot form, scoring 15 times in the competition and lifting the trophy for a fifth time in his career after the Spanish side beat Liverpool in the final.
Bayern Munich's Polish striker Robert Lewandowski won the FIFA Best Men's Player award for 2021 with Barcelona's Spanish midfielder Alexia Putellas winning the FIFA Best Women's Player prize at Monday's ceremony.
Spain began their Women's World Cup campaign in scintillating fashion by beating Costa Rica
Real Madrid's France forward Karim Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d'Or award for the best men's player in the world on Monday, while Barcelona's Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas won the women's award for a second time.
Seven times reigning winner Lionel Messi was not nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or for the first time since 2005 and nor was his Paris Saint-Germain team mate Neymar.
Chelsea's Thomas Tuechel was voted men's coach of the year and Barcelona's Lluis Cortes took the trophy for women's coach.
Carmona fires Spain into World Cup final with 2-1 win over Sweden
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, who won the 2022 Ballon d'Or award, is also in the shortlist.
The winner will be named on August 26, along with UEFA's women's player of the year and Champions League positional award winners, at the Champions League group stage draw in Istanbul.
All 23 of the World cup-winning squad including Jenni Hermoso, as well as 32 other squad members, said they would not play internationals while Luis Rubiales remains head of the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
Argentina's Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world for a record-stretching seventh time on Monday, beating Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho to lift soccer's most prestigious trophy yet again.
Jenni Hermoso scored a late hat-trick as Barcelona hammered CD Tacon 9-1
Chelsea struggled to deal with Barca's punishing press and they went 2-0 behind in the 14th minute
Spain and Japan have six points and will play each other on Monday for top spot in the group
Germany's bid to win a record ninth European Championship got off to an emphatic start as they beat Denmark 4-0 in their Group B opener on Friday.
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