Sports writing (EFE).- The Spanish women’s basketball team lost to Belgium by 65-67 in the final of the Eurobasket 2025, in the re-edition of the previous edition, after wasting 12 points in a crazy last quarter and is left without the dream of lifting its fifth continental championship.

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A fateful 14-0 run in the last three minutes gave the two-time championship to the Belgians, who deepened the wound of an incredulous Spain, which already saw itself as champion with 65-63 on the scoreboard with 2:56 minutes left to play. With one point up with 17.5 seconds left, the selection had the ball to manage the advantage and get a basket that would force Belgium to, at least, seek a three-point shot. In an inexplicable way, the ball ended up in the hands of Antonia Delaere, who scored an unopposed layup. The subsequent rush caused Raquel Carrera’s steps and gave the champions the possibility of finishing the match from the free throw line.

Belgium, Spain’s bogey team

Thus, Belgium, two-time champion after winning the championship in 2023, where they also defeated Spain in the final. ‘La Familia’ could not lift their fifth European championship, after the titles of 1993, 2013, 2017 and 2019, and is left without revenge against their nemesis, who also eliminated them in the quarterfinals of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Miguel Méndez opted to start with Raquel Carrera and Awa Fam in the starting five in an attempt to control the defensive rebound, a pending task in previous matches, and to even the fight under the boards against the Belgians, leaders of the tournament in this aspect. In the offense, Spain opted to look for Awa Fam in high post situations, with more mobility than Kyara Linskens, the tower of Belgium, whom she subdued with seven points, including a three-pointer, during the first minutes. With Emma Meesseman well controlled by Raquel Carrera, the Belgians focused their game on outside shooting and took advantage of Julie Allemand’s inspiration.

First Quarter for Spain

Both teams seemed comfortable with a fast-paced game, sometimes even uncontrolled, which ended with a minimal advantage for Spain (19-18) at the end of the first quarter.

The Spanish bench better understood the course of the match at the beginning of the second quarter, with Aina Ayuso in command and Paula Ginzo scoring from different positions. With the second unit adding a total of 14 points and with the maximum difference recorded so far with six (28-22), the Belgian coach, Mike Thibault, was forced to stop the game for the first time.

The timeout once again favored Belgium, which placed its hopes on Allemand’s accurate wrist, the only threat to ‘La Familia’s’ great defense, very tight on the zone and making tireless assists to hinder any easy basket near the hoop. Méndez stopped the match with another timeout and, with the Fam-Carrera pair back on the court, went into halftime ahead (37-31) despite Linskens’ basket on the buzzer, which perfectly executed a sideline play designed by Thibault with 4.6 seconds left.

Belgium Bet on Inner Strength After the Break

After the locker room, Belgium tried to re-engage Meesseman, who was deactivated in the first half, who chained several good actions to lower the income to three points and force Spain to call a timeout prematurely. The Belgians put aside the outside shot, a result of their inaccuracy, and began to maximize their inside power with Linskens and Meesseman, who infected the rest of the team and rowed to get ahead for the first time since the start of the match (43-45). The six losses in this third set and the poor defensive balance did not undermine the morale of Spain, who, again, found in Ayuso and Ginzo the best antidote to the attempted comeback of the Belgians, and went ahead with ten minutes to go (52-49). A three-pointer by Ayuso and a steal and basket by Helena Pueyo gave wings to the selection, which managed to get eight points ahead (57-49) with 7:40 left in the match.

Spain controlled the rebound and fought hard in defense to prevent any easy basket from Belgium, who began to despair at the activity of Miguel Méndez’s team, who continued to force turnovers and increase the lead on the scoreboard, which reached 12 with only three minutes to go.

Spain’s Nerves

In the blink of an eye, the Belgians demonstrated their quality and delivered a spectacular 8-0 run in the last minute. ‘The Family’ lost focus in attack and accumulated fouls in defense, but found themselves with ball possession and a favorable 65-64 with 17.5 seconds left on the game clock. A misunderstanding between Alba Torrens and Mariona Ortiz precipitated a lost ball and a subsequent basket by Antonia Delaere, which turned the scoreboard to 65-66 in the cruellest way possible. Julie Vanloo from the free throw certified a fateful 14-0 partial and ended the dream of ‘La Familia’ of lifting their fifth Eurobasket.

Technical Sheet

65 – Spain (19+18+15+13): Ortiz (3), Torrens (3), Pueyo (11), Carrera (10), Fam (9) -starting five-, Ginzo (11), Araujo (-), Buenavida (4), Etxarri (-), Ayuso (11), Vilaró (3) and Martín (-). 67 – Belgium (18+13+18+18): Vanloo (4), Allemand (19), Delaere (9), Meesseman (16), Linskens (17), -starting five-, Ramette (2), Claessens (-), Mununga (-), Massey (-), Vervaet (-), Lisowa Mbaka (-) and Joris (-). Referees: Gatis Salinis (Latvia), Paulina Karolina Gajdosz (Poland) and Peter Praksch (Hungary). Incidents: match corresponding to the final of the Women’s Eurobasket, played in the Peace and Friendship Stadium of Piraeus (Greece).