UEFA Women’s Euro 2025: Preview
Teams, Groups, and Players to Watch
Welcome to the Women’s European Championship 2025! It’s only been three years since England defeated Germany 2-1 after extra-time at Wembley (the 2021 tournament was delayed a year due to COVID/clashing with the men’s EUROs), but the footballing world looks very different now, with World Champions Spain coming out of nowhere to become the dominant force in women’s football.
This is the classic ‘European Championship’ format too, where only the top two of each group will progress to the quarter-finals (unlike the men’s competition, which was expanded to 24 teams in 2016, and has several third-placed teams going through).
There are a couple of additional intriguing situations: the first being the obvious ‘group of death’, with one of England, France, and the Netherlands, going to be eliminated at the group stage. The second is that in both Group A and Group B, three of the teams were in the same Nations League group as each other, meaning that they’ve all played each other twice in the last 18 months. Whether this gives any team an advantage is yet to be seen, but it’s certainly an unusual situation.
Women’s EURO 2025 Groups
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| Finland | Belgium | Denmark | England |
| Iceland | Italy | Germany | France |
| Norway | Portugal | Poland | Netherlands |
| Switzerland | Spain | Sweden | Wales |
Group A
Finland
FIFA World Ranking: 26
Best EURO performance: SF in 2005, QF in 2007
EURO ’22 performance: Group Stage
Last match: Lost 2-1 vs the Netherlands
Key Players: Emma Koivisto (AC Milan), Eveliina Summanen (Spurs), Eva Nystrom (West Ham Utd)
Finland enter the tournament as one of the lowest-ranked teams, and the 4th-seeds in the group. Nevertheless, they enter the competition in decent form, (Winning 5, drawing 3, losing 2, of their last 10 matches), and finished 2nd in their Nations League ‘B League’ behind Serbia. If they are going to have any chance of progressing, they’ll be relying on a solid defence, having several players with experience playing in the WSL (England), as well as the Serie A Femminile (Italy).
Iceland
FIFA World Ranking: 14
Best EURO performance: QF in 2013
EURO ’22 performance: Group Stage
Last match: Won 3-1 vs Serbia
Key Players: Glodis Viggosdottir (Bayern Munich), Sveindis Jansdottir (Angel City)
Iceland have spent the last few years slowly moving up the world rankings, peaking at 13th in March 2024. This was largely due to having an incredibly solid defence, making it difficult for more dominant sides to break them down. Their recent form has nose-dived though, going winless in 9 matches (5 draws, 4 losses), before finally beating Serbia 3-1 in their final match before the tournament. Being drawn in the ‘easiest’ group may give them the breathing space they need to push for a place in the knock-outs.
Norway
FIFA World Ranking: 16
Best EURO performance: Winners in 1987, 1993
EURO ’22 performance: Group Stage
Last match: Lost 2-0 vs Sweden
Key Players: Ada Hegerberg (Lyon), Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona), Guro Reiten (Chelsea), Frida Maanum (Arsenal)
Norway are something of the ‘fallen giants’ of the European Championships, having won twice in its early iterations, as well as winning the Women’s World Cup in 1995. Though currently 16th in the world, don’t let that ranking fool you: on their day, Norway can hurt any team. On paper, their front 3 rank among the world’s best (2018 Ballon d’or Feminin winner Hegerberg, Hansen, Reiten), with the creativity of this year’s Champions League winner Magnum behind them. Their recent form is slightly inconsistent (won 4, drew 2, lost 4, of their last 10), but they did finish 2nd in their Nations League League A Group behind France.
Switzerland
FIFA World Ranking: 23
Best EURO performance: Group Stage 2017, 2022
EURO ’22 performance: Group Stage
Last match: Won 4-1 vs Czechia
Key Players: Lia Walti (Arsenal), Sydney Schertenleib (Barcelona)
Switzerland qualified for this tournament as hosts, which is just as well, because they probably wouldn’t have reached it otherwise, Their recent form has been pretty bad (drawing 5, losing 4, and winning just once, in their last 10), which led to them finishing bottom of their Nations League League A Group behind Iceland, and being relegated to League B. They do have quality in their midfield: Lia Walti (recent Champions League winner with Arsenal) offers strong, defensive qualities, and experience, while the talented teenager Schertenleib is something of an unknown quantity, and could surprise teams.
Group B
Belgium
FIFA World Ranking: 20
Best EURO performance: QF in 2022
EURO ’22 performance: QF
Last match: Won 2-0 vs Greece
Key Players: Justine Vanhaevermaet (Everton), Marie Detmyer & Tessa Wullaert (Inter)
Despite only having an outside chance of reaching the knock-out rounds, Belgium do have the ability to surprise. Only 2 months ago, they defeated England 3-2, though their form remained inconsistent throughout this time (won 5, lost 5, of their last 10 matches in all competitions), finishing 3rd in Group 3 of the Nations League League A. They have several players who play in the top tier of England, Italy, and Germany, but without any star players to speak of, their strength comes from their tactical planning and team cohesion.
Italy
FIFA World Ranking: 13
Best EURO performance: Runners-up in 1993 & 1997
EURO ’22 performance: Group Stage
Last match: Won 4-1 vs Wales
Key Players: Arianna Caruso (Bayern Munich)
Italy are becoming a force in women’s football again, having not reached a semi-final since 1997. With a squad (unsurprisingly) mostly made up of players from the Serie A Femminile, and with several of those teams now playing regular Champions League matches, the general standard has been getting increasingly better. The highlight has to be Arianna Caruso, who is probably Italy’s only world class player, and can dominate a midfield as good as anyone. Italy enter the tournament in good form (winning 5, drawing 2, losing 3, of their last 10), after they finished 2nd in the Nations League League A Group 4, behind Sweden.
Portugal
FIFA World Ranking: 22
Best EURO performance: Group Stage 2017, 2022
EURO ’22 performance: Group Stage
Last match: Drew 0-0 vs Nigeria
Key Players: Jessica Silva (Gotham), Francisca Nazareth (Barcelona)
In the last 12 months, Portugal have managed to have some impressive results: beating Belgium, drawing vs England, but they seem to come up short in the upper-tier of the Nations League, where they finished bottom of Group 3 behind Belgium, and are relegated. There are exciting elements to Portugal though, with Jessica Silva offering pace and clinical finishing up front, but there are also high hopes for teenager Nazareth, who offers creativity and technique, and as she plays more minutes for Barcelona, the hype around her will definitely rise.
Spain
FIFA World Ranking: 2
Best EURO performance: SF in 1997
EURO ’22 performance: QF
Last match: Won 3-1 vs Japan
Key Players: …all of them?
It seems strange to say this, but the current world champions have actually underperformed at the EUROs for some time: they haven’t reached a semi-final since 1997, and have been eliminated at the quarter-final stage in 2013, 2017, and 2022. Regardless, they are huge favourites for this tournament, and understandably so: 11 of their squad have won at least 1 champions league (several have won, well, several), they have 2 players that have won the last 4 ballon d’or feminine between them (2x Alexia Putellas, 2x Aitana Bonmatí); they are just disgustingly talented throughout the squad. If you’re looking for a weakness, there’s…complacency, maybe? They did win their Nations League Group ahead of England, and have been in excellent form (winning 8, drawing 1, losing 1, in their last 10 matches), so perhaps not. Aitana Bonmatí has been in hospital
recovering from viral meningitis recently, and will miss at least the opening match of the tournament, but competitions like this deserve the best players, and she is quite literally the best, so hopefully she makes a full (and swift) recovery.
Group C
Denmark
FIFA World Ranking: 12
Best EURO performance: Runners-up in 2017
EURO ’22 performance: Group Stage
Last match: Lost 6-1 vs Sweden
Key Players: Signe Bruun (Lyon), Pernille Harder (Chelsea), Katherine Kuhl (Arsenal)
Going into the tournament, Denmark would’ve felt they had a chance of reaching the knock-out round, but the 6-1 defeat in their last match vs Group C rivals Sweden highlighted the gulf in quality between the 2 sides. Their recent form has been hit-and-miss (winning 5, drawing 1, losing 4, in their last 10 matches), which led to them finishing 3rd in their Nations League group, behind Italy. They do have real attacking quality, with players such as Bruun and Harder offering powerful running, as well as the quality to score goals at any level.
Germany
FIFA World Ranking: 3
Best EURO performance: Winners in 1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, EURO ’22 performance: Runners-up
Last match: Won 6-0 vs Austria
Key Players: Sara Dabritz (Lyon), Sjouke Nusken (Chelsea)
The dominant force in Women’s European football for so long, Germany look back to their best, having won their Nations League Group (ahead of the Netherlands), as well as coming into the tournament in excellent form (winning 7, drawing 2, losing 2), with their only recent losses coming in friendlies vs Australia and Italy. Their squad is littered with quality from Bayern Munich (7 players) and Wolfsburg (4 players), but the midfield duo of Dabritz and Nusken have the ability to control and game.
Poland
FIFA World Ranking: 27
Best EURO performance: N/A
EURO ’22 performance: N/A
Last match: Won 4-0 vs Ukraine
Key Players: Paulina Dudek (PSG), Ewa Pajor (Barcelona)
This is the first ever tournament Poland have qualified for, so they are unlikely to get out of the group stage, especially considering the quality of the group they are in. Having said that, they do have one of the world’s best strikers in Pajor among their numbers (which is an eerily accurate comparison to the men’s team), who can hurt any team that underestimates her. Poland come into the tournament in excellent form (winning 8, drawing 1, losing 1 of their last 10), and won their Nations League ‘League B’ Group, finishing ahead of Northern Ireland, and are promoted to League A.
Sweden
FIFA World Ranking: 6th
Best EURO performance: Winners in 1984
EURO ’22 performance: Semi-final
Last match: Won 2-0 vs Norway
Key Players: Fridolina Rolfo (Barcelona), Stina Blackstenius (Arsenal)
Say it quietly, but Sweden might be the dark horses for winning the competition. They come into the tournament in phenomenal form (unbeaten in 9, winning 6 and drawing 3), and won their Nations League Group ahead of Italy. As well as that, they contain some solid defensive players (Champions League-winning Amanda Illestedt, Chelsea’s Nathalie Bjorn), as well as phenomenal attacking threats. Blackstenius is as big a ‘big game’ player as any, having scored the only goal in the Champions League final this year, where Arsenal defeated Barcelona 1-0.
Group D
England
FIFA World Ranking: 5
Best EURO performance: Winners in 2022
EURO ’22 performance: Winners
Last match: Won 7-0 vs Jamaica
Key Players: Leah Williamson & Alessia Russo (Arsenal), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich)
Looking at each nation’s squad, this might be the best in this year’s EUROs (with possible and obvious exception of Spain). The majority of positions have world class starters, as well as excellent rotation options. There are some concerns about both full-back positions, but the possibilities going forward are frightening. England finished 2nd in their Nations League Group behind Spain, and come into the tournament in good form (winning 6, drawing 2, losing 2, of the last 10). One thing not to overlook is the manager, Sabrina Wiegman; she has managed a team in 4 international tournaments, and has reached the final in every one (winning 2 finals, losing 2). That kind of experience and success is currently unmatched at this level, and it may well be the difference in future fixtures.
France
FIFA World Ranking: 10
Best EURO performance: Semi-final 2022
EURO ’22 performance: Semi-final
Last match: Won 3-2 vs Brazil
Key Players: Selma Bacha & Marie-Antoinette Katoto (Lyon), Sandy Baltimore (Chelsea)
There’s real momentum behind France’s build-up to EURO 25. They’ve won 8 matches in a row, and finished top of their Nations League Group, ahead of Norway, and consistently offer an attacking threat throughout the matches they’re involved with, scoring 28 goals in in the last 10 matches. Whether their defence can hold against one of the competition’s biggest sides is debatable, but no matter the opposition, France will score goals, and that’s a dangerous proposition.
Netherlands
FIFA World Ranking: 11
Best EURO performance: Winners in 2017
EURO ’22 performance: Quarter-final
Last match: Won 2-1 vs Finland
Key Players: Esmee Brugts (Barcelona), Vivienne Miedema (Manchester City)
It felt like the Netherlands underperformed at the last EUROs, losing in the quarter-final, as they failed to defend their title. Of course, that was their first tournament after losing manager Sabrina Wiegman to the England job, so there was bound to be an effect. Now, the Dutch have had a period of stability again, and finished 2nd in their Nations League group behind Germany. They have an all-round side, that offers considerable strength in every department, without having individual world-class talent. Though, any team that is led by Miedema has a chance of winning the match, or the tournament for that matter.
Wales
FIFA World Ranking: 30th
Best EURO performance: N/A
EURO ’22 performance: N/A
Last match: Lost 4-1 vs Italy
Key Players: Ceri Holland & Gemma Evans (Liverpool), Hayley Ladd (Everton)
As the competition’s lowest-ranked side, Wales have done wonderfully to qualify for their first ever international tournament. Having said that, you do worry about them in this ‘group of death’, as it is the hardest possible draw for them. Perhaps I’m being slightly pessimistic, as Wales have managed impressive draws vs Germany and Sweden (twice) in the last 12 months, but their last victory came back in February 2024 vs Republic of Ireland. They’ll be relying heavily on the WSL experienced players to inject moments of quality into the game, but there’s going to be a great deal of defending for them to do in the coming weeks.
