Italy knocked out Belgium 2-1 in the quarterfinal and reached the semifinals on Friday. It was Italy's 15th consecutive win in the Euro Cup by combining qualifiers and the main event. Now, the team will face 3-time champion Spain in the semi-finals.
Spain won the title in 1964, 2008 and 2012. At the same time, Italy has been the champion in 1968. Both the teams faced each other in 2012 final. Lorenzo Insigne and Nicolo Barella put Italy in front scoring two goals in the first half. At the same time, Romelu Lukaku scored on penalty for Belgium.
Italy has won all 15 matches in the Euro Cup (including the qualifiers) since 23 March 2019. Earlier this, the record was in the name of Germany with 14 consecutive matches win in the Euro Cup from 3 September 2010 to 22 June 2012. At the same time, Belgium won 14 consecutive matches in the Euro Cup from 21 March 2019 to 27 June 2021. Italy also won 5 consecutive matches this year in the main event of the Euro Cup. The team equaled the records of France (1984), Netherlands (1988–92) and Czech Republic (2000–04).
The Italian team dominated the Belgium team for the first 20 minutes. In the 31st minute, Barella showed excellent dribbling skills to overshadow two Belgian defenders and scored a fine goal. This was Barella's sixth international goal. He has scored in 6 matches so far and all these matches have been won by Italy.
In the second half, both the teams counter-attacked, but could not score any goal. Belgium made several counterattacks. But Italy's goalkeeper Donnarumma foiled all attempts. Insigne was adjudged Star of the Match for his brilliant goal.
