Sixteen of Europe's premier women's national teams are set to compete for continental supremacy. DW has you covered on the key facts as the tournament opens in Switzerland.
Euro 2025is being hosted by Switzerland from July 2 to July 27 and the matches will be played at eight stadiums: in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Thun and Sion. Iceland and Finland open the tournament in Thun on July 2, while hosts Switzerland kick off their campaign three hours later in Basel's St. Jakob-Park stadium — where the final is to be played on July 27.Germanyopen their campaign against Poland in St. Gallen on July 4.
By today's standards this is a relatively small tournament, with just 16 teams, divided into four groups. Each team plays the other three in their group once, with the top two from each advancing to the quarterfinals. Should matches in the knockout stage remain drawn after 90 minutes, two 15-minute periods of extra time are played. If necessary, matches will be decided in penalty shootouts.
World Cupchampions Spain disappointed by finishing out of the medals at last summer's ParisOlympics, still they top this list as the continent's highest FIFA-ranked women's team (No. 2). By now they should have put the controversy over the unwanted kiss by formerFA President Luis Rubialesafter the 2023 World Cup final behind them.
Normally one of the first teams you would name would be the defending champions, however England have had a list of absences and injuries to deal with in recent months. Key central defenderMillie Bright ruled herself our, saying she was at her "mental and physical limit"while fellow Euro 2022 winners Fran Kirby and goalkeeper Mary Earps retired on the eve of the squad announcement. Bayern Munich starGeorgia Stanwayas well as Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood of Manchester City, each missed the bulk of the season after undergoing knee surgery but all make the squad, as does the mercurial Chelsea forward Lauren James, who is nursing a hamstring injury.
Germany, finalists in 2022, are just behind Spain in the FIFA rankings but are a lesser-known quantity than they were three years ago. They've gone through a coaching change after the disappointing 2023 World Cup and captain Alexandra Popp retired. New coachChristian Wückis optimistic abouthis squad, which he hopes will play with a mixture of "joy, enthusiasm, will and conviction."
France have established themselves as regular quarterfinalists in recent Euros, making it to the semifinals in 2022 — and the Nations League Final in 2024. They had recently fallen off a bit but climbed back into the top 10 in FIFA's latest women's rankings.
Following the retirement of Alexandra Popp,Giulia Gwinnhas big boots to fill as Germany's new captain, but is a proven winner with Bayern Munich. She was also a member of theNationalmannschaftthat fell at the last hurdle in England three years ago.
Spain boast two recent Ballon d'Or winners in midfielders Aitana Bonmati (2023, 2024) and Alexia Putellas (2021, 2022) — two good reasons for making Spain one of the favorites. Both were members of Spain's World Cup-winning side in 2023 and semifinalists at the Paris Olympics.
A teammate of Putellas and Bonmati at Barcelona, Ewa Pajor is making her debut at a major tournament with her national team, as this is the first time that Poland have managed to qualify for either the World Cup or the Euros. They will need the striker to be at the top of her game if they are to come out of a group with Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
One of her opponents will be Pernille Harder, a veteran of more than 160 matches for Denmark at 32, she is still going strong for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.
For the defending champions, Alessia Russo has graduated from Euro 2022 supersub to England's first choice striker. The Arsenal forward was joint top scorer in the domestic Women's Super League (WSL) and won the Champions League with her club. She will be the focal point for a side who have plenty of attacking midfield threats.
UEFA announced late last year that it had earmarked a total of €41 million ($47 million) in prize money for the 2025 Women's Euros, representing a 156% increase on the figure from the previous tournament in 2022. In a statement, European football's governing body said the increase in funds reflected "UEFA's on-going commitment to growing women's football across Europe."
Still, the women continue to trail far behind the men in this department, with the total prize money for Euro 2024 coming in at €331 million — or about eight times what the women are playing for this summer.