Spain booked their place in the Nations League semi-finals with a 5-4 penalty shootout win over the Netherlands at home on Sunday, after the second leg of their thrilling encounter ended 3-3, leaving the tie tied at 5-5 on aggregate.

Both sides missed their fourth penalties, but the decisive blow came in the sixth round when Netherlands' Donyell Malen saw his effort saved by Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon and Pedri stepped up to convert.

The hosts took an early lead when Jan Paul van Hecke brought down Mikel Oyarzabal, who calmly slotted home the eighth-minute penalty.

The situation was reversed early in the second half when Spain's Robin Le Normand fouled Memphis Depay, who scored easily from the spot to level the scores.

Spain regained the lead in the 67th minute through Oyarzabal's header after a counter-attack, but the Netherlands equalised in the 79th minute through Ian Maatsen's powerful strike to send the match into extra time.

Spain regained the lead 13 minutes into extra time through a stunning left-footed strike from Lamine Yamal, but Xavi Simons equalised for the Netherlands from the penalty spot four minutes into the second period after Simon had been fouled.

Both teams scored in the first three rounds of the penalty shootout, but in the fourth round both teams made mistakes. Noah Lang's penalty hit the crossbar as he was too focused on the angle, and Yamal's penalty was saved by Verbrugge. Neither team missed again in the fifth round, and it was in the sixth round that it all came down to: Pedri scored the winner, while Malen's penalty for the Dutch was saved with one hand by Simon.