DAY 1- UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 Kicks Off! All Eyes on Hosts Switzerland and a Nordic Clash in Thun

Published on 1 July 2025 at 19:59

The first day will see group A in action with the first match being Iceland v Finland at 5pm. The official first match will always be the home nation which will be Switzerland v Norway at 8pm which will be the open ceremony.

 

Iceland v Finland

 

This is these sides' first competitive encounter since 1983, with past encounters favouring the Finns. The last time they played in a 2023 friendly, the Finns won 2-1 in Reykjavik.

 

Iceland had a decent qualifying campaign, including a 3-0 win against Germany, but they bowed out of the Women's Euros 2022 as they exited the group stages.

 

England in 2022 lost all three matches at the finals.

 

Iceland qualified automatically for this tournament and were only two points behind group winners Germany.

 

They are currently ranked 14th in the world, while in the last three of their four euros appearances they have failed to make it to the knock round.

 

Iceland have won just one of their 12 matches in European Championship history. 

 

They will enter the 2025 tournament on the back of a 3-1 friendly victory over Serbia, which ended a 10-game winless run that included a disappointing Nations League campaign, where they had to settle for a relegation playoff spot.

 

For Finland this is their fifth appearance at the Euros where they went through the qualification process.

 

Finland have progressed to the knockout rounds in 2005 and 2009 but have failed to record a single victory in their last two euros in 2013 and 2022 when the left in the group-stage

 

Finland had a more successful Nations league than Iceland where they qualify for the promotion playoffs. Although they did lose their five-game unbeaten run in their recently friendly defeat to the Dutch.

 

Iceland: Rúnarsdóttir; Árnadóttir, Viggósdóttir, Sigurdardóttir, Arnardóttir; Jóhannsdóttir, Vilhjálmsdóttir, Antonsdóttir; Eiríksdóttir, Jessen, Jónsdóttir

Finland: Korpela; Kosola, Kuikka, Nyström, Lehtola; Ahtinen, Öling, Summanen, Siren; Sällström, Franssi

 

 

When: Wednesday 2 July (5pm BST kick-off)

Where: Arena Thun, Thun

 

 

Switzerland v Norway

 

 

This game will be the official start of the tournament with the opening ceremony.

 

The Swiss will hope the home crowd in Basel can help them seek a positive result as they seek a first-ever Women’s EURO win against Norway.

 

Switzerland had to wait till 2017 to make their tournament debut. They have only mustered minimal points from those last two Euros.

 

The Swiss did end their eight-game winless run with a 4-1 win in a friendly over Czech Republic, but also lost to an under-15 boys team 7-1 behind closed doors recently.

 

These two sides have not met in the competition since 2000.

 

Norway have won five previous winners competing at the tournament after lifting the European Championship trophy in 1987 and 1993.

 

They have had a disappointing run in the last two euros in the 2017 edition they lost all three matches before they left at the group stage in 2022.

 

Switzerland announced that Tottenham Hotspur defender Luana Buhler has been ruled out of the competition due to injury.

 

As for Norway, defender Marthine Ostenstad was recently called into the squad as a replacement for the injured Guro Bergsvand.

 

Their first four meetings have all been won by Norway by a daunting 21-0 aggregate score. 

 

They played each other recently in the Women’s Nations League fixtures, Norway won 3-1 on aggregate.

 

The Swiss team had to step up without forward Ramona Bachmann, who suffered an ACL injury in the run-up to the finals.

 

They will hope that the host nation has won the last two Women’s Euros, and that two-time winners Norway have not survived the group stage in the last two editions.

 

Switzerland: Peng; Beney, Calligaris, Stierli, Maritz, Riesen; Reuteler, Ivelj, Wälti, Vallotto; Schertenleib

 

Norway: Fiskerstrand; Hansen, Harviken, Mjelde, Bjelde; Engen, Bøe Risa; Reiten, Graham Hansen, Maanum; Hegerberg

 

When: Wednesday 2 July (21:00 CET kick-off)

Where: St. Jakob-Park, Basel

 

 


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