Putellas stars as Spain smashes Belgium at Euros
Alexia Putellas scored a brace and assisted two more goals as Spain thrashed Belgium 6-2 to book its spot in the Euros quarter-finals.
Putellas scored the opener, before assisting Esther Gonzalez and Claudia Pina, and rounded off the scoring late on to keep Spain at the top of Group B.
Her first goal was cancelled out after just 128 seconds when Justine Vanhaevermaet equalised for Belgium, but Irene Paredes restored Spain's lead before the break with a fine header.
Belgium responded five minutes after half-time through Hannah Eurlings, although Gonzalez put Spain back in the lead two minutes later, while Mariona Caldentey doubled its advantage just after the hour-mark.
Pina and Putellas scored in the 81st and 86th minute respectively to complete another dominant display in Switzerland, putting them in a strong position in Group B.
Belgium will need Portugal to beat Italy later tonight to keep their Euros campaign alive.
This was the joint-highest scoring UEFA Women's Euro game of all time, but it was Spain which continued to break records.
It had 79.6 percent possession in the match, the highest total on record (since 2013) in a full UEFA Women's Euro game, beating its own record against Portugal in 2017.
Spain is just the second side to score five or more goals in back-to-back UEFA Women's Euro games after England, which did so at the 2022 edition against Norway (8-0) and Northern Ireland (5-0)
Putellas is the first player on record (since 2013) to score two goals and provide two assists in a UEFA Women's Euro game.
