Italy Spain Em

Spain beat Italy 1-0 to reach Euro 2024 knockout stages

Impressive victory

Spain put in a dominant performance to beat defending champions Italy 1-0 on Thursday and book their place in the knockout stages of Euro 2024.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente was delighted with his team's performance.

"We played very well tonight," he said. "We controlled the game from start to finish and created a lot of chances. We deserved to win."

Spain's victory was all the more impressive considering that they were without several key players, including Sergio Busquets, Pedri and Ansu Fati.

Italy, meanwhile, were left to rue their missed chances. They had a number of good opportunities to score, but they were unable to find the back of the net.

The defeat means that Italy are now in danger of being eliminated from the tournament. They must beat Slovakia in their final group game to have any chance of reaching the knockout stages.

Spain, meanwhile, will be confident of topping Group B when they face the Czech Republic in their final group game.