A year later than scheduled, Euro 2022 has finally arrived and it looks certain to be a keenly contested tournament with a number of strong teams in contention to win it.
Tournament hosts England will be hoping to take that extra step forward after reaching the semi-finals in their previous three competitions, while Spain are regarded as the favourites according to the bookies.
France, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden are all well-fancied to go far too, while Norway will be buoyed by the long-awaited return of Ada Hegerberg. Northern Ireland are the only other home nation at the tournament and will be looking to spring a surprise in Group A.
Here is i’s comprehensive group-by-group guide covering all 16 teams in the competition.
Group A
Teams: Austria, England, Northern Ireland, Norway
With a tournament on home turf played in front of capacity crowds, Sarina Wiegman will have the difficult task of trying to secure a first-ever major international tournament triumph for England.
It is one that she is well-positioned to accomplish, though, given her success with the Netherlands in 2017 and the squad has proven itself to be serious contenders since the Dutchwoman took the reins.
While there was a good run in the 2019 World Cup and a victory in the SheBelieves Cup in the same year under Phil Neville, there always seemed to be an innate sense of shakiness which beset England. On paper, the squad has always been strong, but the tournament experience and respective strength of others has seen them fall.
Yet during Wiegman’s tenure, the quality has undoubtedly improved. Lauren Hemp, the enigmatic Manchester City winger who is still only 21-years-old, has cemented herself as one of Europe’s best footballers. On the other flank, Beth Mead has been in spectacular form and new captain Leah Williamson has excelled at the base of the midfield.
There is still some shakiness in defence, but when England get going they’re a tough nut to crack. The 5-1 drubbing of the Netherlands in a pre-tournament friendly proved their might and now they’ll be looking to replicate that form at the Euros.
The group is, quite frankly, England’s to lose, but Norway will be the main riders hoping to either unseat England at the top or else finish as runners-up.
With 2018 Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg returning to the fold for her first major tournament since Euro 2017, Norway will have one of the world’s best forwards back at their disposal. Hegerberg ruled herself out of international contention for five years due to a dispute with the Norwegian FA over its treatment of the women’s game.
After spending 21 months on the sidelines due to injury, she returned to football in 2021 and has been firing on all cylinders ever since – scoring a goal and providing an assist for Lyon in the Champions League final.
They are far from a one-woman team; Hegerberg merely brings the killer edge. Chelsea’s Guro Reiten is one of the WSL’s brightest and provides for her nation and Barcelona’s Caroline Graham Hansen is another world-class footballer.
There’s quality throughout the side and they have the ability to hold their own against any nation if things go to plan.
Austria will be challengers, the dark horses hoping to forge a path through to the knockouts. In the Netherlands, they reached the semis as debutants, but that was a shock feat which will be difficult to repeat.
Hoffenheim’s Nicolle Billa continually impresses in the Frauen-Bundesliga and has the capacity to trouble defences while Arsenal’s Manuela Zinsberger is a top-class goalkeeper who secured the WSL’s golden glove this season, but they’re in a group alongside two greats of the game.
In World Cup qualifying they fell victim to a solitary Ellen White goal in November yet England were by far the better of the two teams.
Irene Fuhrmann, the only woman in Austria with a Uefa Pro Licence, will be hoping to cause upsets and her side have the feel of one that could come out of the blue to make an impact at the tournament.
Group A fixtures
Wednesday 6 July:
England vs Austria (Old Trafford, Manchester)
Thursday 7 July:
Norway vs Northern Ireland (St Mary’s, Southampton)
Monday 11 July:
Austria vs Northern Ireland (St Mary’s, Southampton)
England vs Norway (Brighton and Hove Community Stadium, Brighton)
Friday 15 July:
Northern Ireland vs England (St Mary’s, Southampton)
Austria vs Norway (Brighton and Hove Community Stadium, Brighton)
Northern Ireland, on the other hand, are a team for whom simply being at the tournament is enough of an achievement in itself.
It is the first time they will have ever played at a major championship and their home-based players – who are mostly part-time – have participated in a seven-month training camp to prepare for the Euros.
Their opening game against Norway at St Mary’s will be a history-making moment for the whole country, a historic achievement for the tournament’s lowest-ranked side.
There is little in the way of expectation for the only other home nation at the tournament and finding a way out of the group would require a herculean effort. Merely getting to this stage is a great positive.
Group B
This was branded the group of death from the moment the draw was made and for very good reason. Spain and Germany are both among the favourites to win the competition and Denmark will be hoping to go far, but only two can make it to the next stage.
Spain seem near-certainties to make the knockouts, though, and will be well backed to go the whole way. Jorge Vilda has tapped into Barcelona’s success on the club stage to call up a number of their world-class players.
He has some of Europe’s best talents at his disposal, including playmaker Alexia Putellas who won the Ballon d’Or and Fifa’s The Best Player awards last year.
The midfielder guided Barca to the 2021 Champions League and runners-up status this season, finishing as the top scorer this campaign. She’s an enigmatic presence in the middle of the park who can tear apart even the most competent sides.
The loss of key forward Jenni Hermoso through injury will be a blow, yet there’s ample quality throughout the squad to compensate for that.
Keep an eye out for Manchester United’s Ona Batlle at right-back who has impressed in the WSL and is now attracting attention from other major clubs across Europe.
Spain’s draw with Italy in their final warmup match showed they aren’t infallible, yet they’ll still be favourites to win the group.
Then there’s Germany, an unpredictable side who will be hoping to claim the top spot for themselves.
In the 2017 Euros and 2019 World Cup, they were knocked out in the quarters. They’re no longer the behemoth of the game that dominated in the 2000s and early 2010s, but they still provide some serious mettle.
Youngster Lena Oberdorf was only 17 when she announced herself to the world in France as Germany’s youngest-ever player at a World Cup and with three more years of football under her belt the defender has become an important presence.
Up top, there’s Lea Schüller, the 24-year-old Bayern striker who received the Frauen Bundesliga’s golden boot this season after a stellar campaign and she will be looking to carry that form into the Euros.
Midfielder Sara Däbritz, who has been in the side since 2013 and dazzled with PSG in recent years (she has since joined Lyon), will be tasked with stepping up in the absence of Dzsenifer Marozsán (injury) and Melanie Leupolz (pregnancy).
Denmark will be Germany’s main challengers, a team hoping to unseat the one-time greats and produce a run akin to that of the men’s team in last year’s tournament (and their own which saw them finish second in 2017).
Similarly to that men’s team, this is a side filled with talent which often flies under the radar for many. Pernille Harder, the striker who joined Chelsea in 2020 for a figure in excess of £250,000, is always a difficult beast to handle.
Across the side, though, there are others to keep an eye on. The experienced Nadia Nadim, Signe Bruun, Stine Larsen, Rikke Sevecke are all major players in what is a seriously talented team. Rival teams should ignore them at their own peril.
Group B fixtures
Friday 8 July:
Spain vs Finland (Stadium MK, Milton Keynes)
Germany vs Denmark (Brentford Community Stadium, Brentford)
Tuesday 12 July:
Denmark vs Finland (Stadium MK, Milton Keynes)
Germany vs Spain (Brentford Community Stadium, Brentford)
Saturday 16 July:
Finland vs Germany (Stadium MK, Milton Keynes)
Denmark vs Spain (Brentford Community Stadium, Brentford)
Then there are Finland, a side that topped their qualifying group but have fallen foul to the draw. Ordinarily, this is a team that could spring a surprise, but given the strength of their competition, they face an almighty challenge to reach the last eight.
Spurs’ Eveliina Summanen is a strong presence in midfield, a classy box-to-box player who has all-round quality in her game.
Yet it’s going to be very difficult for Anna Signeul, who took charge in 2017 following a 12-year spell with Scotland, to forge a path against three real heavyweights in the tournament.
Group C
Anything but Sweden and the Netherlands finding a way out of Group C would be a surprise. Pitting the second and fourth-best teams in the world (according to Fifa’s rankings) against sides ranked 20th and 30th respectively should reasonably lead to one outcome.
The Orange Lionesses will be looking to successfully defend the title they secured on home soil in 2017. Sarina Wiegman has moved to England, but they have an English coach in Mark Parsons at the helm.
This is Parsons’ first major tournament in charge, having taken over after last summer’s Olympics. Euros victors in 2017, World Cup runners-up in 2019: he’s got a difficult act to follow and will be attempting to show that this Dutch side can still be successful.
Coupled with a growth in the domestic league – twelve of the squad ply their trade in the Eredivisie – there have been changes to the squad under Parsons and an introduction of a new generation.
PSV’s Esmee Brugts is one of the rising stars for whom this tournament could be her chance to shine. The 18-year-old only debuted this year but since then has become a mainstay in the team and has impressed Parsons in warm-up fixtures.
That’s not to say that the old guard aren’t still here; they will be the side’s best asset. Vivianne Miedema is a frontrunner for the golden boot with her stature as the Netherlands and the WSL’s top scorer.
Lieke Martens, now at PSG, is an incredibly exciting presence in the frontline too and will be a key element of the title defence.
The Dutch were on the receiving end of a 5-1 drubbing by England in the run-up to the Euros, though, which demonstrated their defensive vulnerabilities.
Sweden are part of the European old guard. They’ve always been a strong presence on the continent and there’s little doubt that they’ll be doing the same across July.
They suffered heartbreak in the Olympic final last year after suffering a penalty shootout loss to Canada and will be wanting to finally bring some silverware back home from their travels.
After achieving a bronze medal in France and silver in Tokyo, now could be the time for them to finally taste gold. Stina Blackstenius, Miedema’s strike partner at Arsenal, will be leading the attack and provides a quality presence in the box.
The spine of this squad which has bound it for so long still remains. Goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl, centre-back and i columnist Magda Eriksson, captain Caroline Seger and forward Kosovare Aslanni have significant tournament experience and over 650 caps between them.
Everton’s Hanna Bennison has had a difficult season amid the Toffees’ calamitous campaign, but the Euros could be the perfect chance for the 19-year-old to show why the Merseyside club signed her for a “substantial six-figure sum” last summer.
Outside of the big two, Switzerland face a difficult predicament: they’ve got a strong side, but they’re up against two of the continent’s great heavyweights.
There’s been sizable support for the side on home soil with a record attendance of 10,022 turning up to their final warmup fixture against England in Zurich, but it’s hard to see a way through the group for them.
The Swiss will look to captain Lia Walti for guidance, the versatile Arsenal midfielder who has led her country since 2018. She could be influential in the midfield three and help to calm down games, but it may not be enough.
Group C fixtures
Saturday 9 July:
Portugal vs Switzerland (Leigh Sports Village, Greater Manchester)
Netherlands vs Sweden (Bramall Lane, Sheffield)
Wednesday 13 July:
Sweden vs Switzerland (Bramall Lane, Sheffield)
Netherlands vs Portugal (Leigh Sports Village, Greater Manchester)
Sunday 17 July
Switzerland vs Netherlands (Bramall Lane, Sheffield)
Sweden vs Portugal (Leigh Sports Village, Greater Manchester)
If Switzerland’s task is difficult, then Portugal‘s seems insurmountable. They were parachuted into the tournament after Russia were sanctioned and thrown out having suffered defeat against them in the play-offs.
More than anything, this will be a learning experience for many of the players given it is only the second time that Portugal has qualified for the finals, following on from 2017.
Look to Jessica Silva, who missed the last tournament through injury, for Portugal’s main threat. The 27-year-old now finally has the opportunity to shine on a big stage.
This is a young squad and the experience of playing at a Euros will stand them in good stead for the future.
Group D
France are a peculiar side to analyse. They are a team flowing with talent and always appear as though they could go the distance in major tournaments.
Yet they’ve never been able to. The camp is fraught with infighting and disagreements between some players and coach Corrine Dacre.
Amandine Henry, the Lyon midfielder who scored an excellent goal in the final as her side went on to win the Champions League, was left out.
Eugenie le Sommer, France’s all-time top goalscorer, didn’t make the squad. Sarah Bouhaddi, who made nearly 150 appearances in goal for France, also missed out on selection.
The squad is crippled by its absentees, though that’s not to say that they aren’t still capable of impressing and causing problems at the Euros.
PSG’s all-time top scorer Marie-Antoinette Katoto is the leading presence in the front line, a goal-getter who has the capabilities to propel France through the stages of the tournament. Club team-mate Sandy Baltimore, too, will cause problems for defences.
At the back, the physicality of Wendie Renard makes for an excellent centre-back. The 6ft 2in defender has quite the knack for popping up in the box to score headers from set-pieces.
Should France be able to overcome their internal problems, then with the added firepower of 23-year-old Katoto maybe this could be the year in which they excel.
The rest of Group D seems to be wide-open. The teams ranked 14th, 17th and 19th comprise the remaining three and all will be looking for their spot in the knockouts.
Italy are, in many peoples’ eyes, the favourites to clinch second place. Before the turn of the millennium, they were a powerhouse of the women’s game but that status has been lost and they are yet to regain it.
Or at least not yet, anyway. This could be the chance for a new era of Italian women’s football to announce itself back on the global stage. In 2019 they surprisingly reached the quarter-finals; now they’ll want to replicate that or do even better.
With Serie A becoming fully professional and some more young players coming through the ranks to supplement the core of the past, now seems as good a time as ever for Italy to succeed.
Juventus forward Cristiana Girelli has proved her class with an impressive string of club form over the past few years and could be an imposing force for defences to contend with.
In the midfield, Everton’s Aurora Galli is a talented player who has done relatively well on Merseyside since becoming the first Italian to join the WSL last summer.
Should this Italian side click, then they seem the perfect contender for ‘dark horse’ status.
Belgium will be hoping to shake off Italy’s attempts and claim a first-ever spot in the knockout stages of a major tournament.
Euro 2017 was their inaugural outing and they didn’t make it to the knockouts, though this is a squad who seem to have been drawn in the perfect group for their quest.
Captain and leading forward Tessa Wullaert described this as “a tournament where everything is possible” after their defeat to England in the warmups, saying: “The first game will show a lot about how we are going into the tournament.”
Belgium head coach Ives Serneels will look to Wullaert to provide the goals at the Euros as they attempt to set aside the other challenges and succeed in the tournament.
Group D fixtures
Sunday 10 July
Belgium vs Iceland (Manchester City Academy Stadium, Manchester)
France vs Italy (New York Stadium, Rotherham)
Thursday 14 July
Italy vs Iceland (Manchester City Academy Stadium, Manchester)
France vs Belgium (New York Stadium, Rotherham)
Monday 18 July
Iceland vs France (New York Stadium, Rotherham)
Italy vs Belgium (Manchester City Academy Stadium)
Sara Bjork Gunnarsottir, Iceland‘s most-experienced player, turned heads when she criticised the venue selection for the tournament earlier this year.
Away from the headline-grabbing though, the captain will attempt to lead her side onto a first knockout stage since 2013 with her midfield prowess which she has exhibited with Lyon and Wolfsburg in her club career.
She returned to football in April after giving birth to her son in November and will now spearhead the squad into the tournament.
Young forward Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir won the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg this season and is a player definitely worth keeping an eye on.
This is a squad filled with talented players which is yet to succeed on the big stage, but this could be their moment.
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