Red Flames look to the future after bowing out of Euro 2025
Belgium’s women have ended their Euro 2025 campaign with victory over Portugal. Coach Elisabet Gunnarsdottir praised her team, particularly Janice Cayman and Tessa Wullaert, saying: “They are and will remain role models for the future of Belgian football.”
The Red Flames beat Portugal 2-1 on Friday night in the final round of Group B matches. It wasn’t enough to progress to the next round of the tournament in Switzerland: they were eliminated on Monday, having lost their other two group games to France and world champions Spain.
“We started the match excellently,” Gunnarsdottir said in her post-match press conference. “We lost our rhythm at times, but to win this match after all the setbacks in the second half [two goals were disallowed] is truly incredible.”
Gratifying to win
Player of the match Wullaert opened the scoring after just 3 minutes. An equaliser from Portugal came 5 minutes before the end of normal time, but Cayman scored the winning goal deep into added time.
“I’m very happy that we can end this tournament with a nice victory,” Cayman said after the match. “It’s gratifying that we can win this way … We can be very proud. The future of the Flames looks bright.”
Gunnarsdottir, who took over as coach in January, was pleased with the team's overall performance.
“A lot of progress has been made since I arrived,” she said. “We have to keep going in the same direction. There are obviously still areas for improvement, but the analysis is positive.”
This was Belgium’s third consecutive European Championship after years of missing out on qualification. The Red Flames finished third in their qualifying group, only taking four points from six matches, and had to win the play-offs to secure their place in this year's tournament.
Belgium celebrate after beating Portugal in their final game at Euro 2025 in Sion, Switzerland, 11 July 2025 © PHOTO SPORTPIX & ISOSPORT / DAVID CATRY
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