Group Stage of Women’s Euros concludes

Eight of the starting sixteen teams have qualified for the quarter-finals with the group stage now finalised.
 
Last year’s finalists, England and Germany, are through, as well as previous Euros winners, Norway and Sweden. Euro 2022 champions, England, finish second in Group D after a 2-1 opening match loss to France, who continue to the knockout stages first in their group having claimed all three victories. Eight-time Euros winners, Germany, suffered their greatest defeat in a European Championship thus far, with a 4-1 loss in the last game of the first stage to Sweden, and place second in Group C. Sweden take the top spot.
 
Favourites Spain pass through unbeaten having scored 14 goals so far in Group B, with Italy in second place. Esther Gonzalez leads the race for the golden boot with four to her name, followed by Spanish teammate Alexia Putellas with three goals. Despite their dominant start, dark horses Italy posed a serious threat to Spain’s chances at silverware in the first half, initially taking the lead in the final group stage match between both nations. Nevertheless, the world champions overcame the deficit, comfortably winning 3-1 after a much more convincing second-half performance.
 
In Group A, Norway are the last unbeaten team in the tournament and top their group with tournament hosts, Switzerland, qualifying for the quarterfinals for the first time since the inauguration of the tournament in 1984. The deciding match between Finland and Switzerland had tensions high until the dying minutes of the game, where Switzerland clinched a draw from Riola Xhemaili’s 92nd minute goal that proved to just be enough to push them into the knockout stages. Standout players include Switzerland’s Géraldine Reuteler, picking up  all three POTM awards and scoring against Iceland in the 2-0 win against them.
 

England managed to draw in the largest digital crowd over any other programme in the UK

It appears Norway have cruised by the initial three matches if compared to their last Euros run, especially after the 8-0 beating by titleholders England in 2022, but almost half of Norway’s goals have come from their opponents’ own detrimental errors. However, this is their first progression out of the group stage since their run to the final in 2013, which could look to be a promising start for them.
 
Switzerland has seen a number of records broken within the initial stages of the tournament.
 
Sarina Wiegman becomes the first coach to manage 14 wins at the Euros, after taking both England and the Netherlands on an unbeaten run in 2022 and 2017, respectively.
 
89 goals have been scored in this tournament, surpassing the 78 of the 2022 group stage, with 10 of them having been from outside the box – a 66% increase from the previous tournament.
 
This years Euros appears to be the most successful one to date, with ticket sales already squashing the last competition’s 575,875 total sold.
 

The group stage saw a record attendance with almost half a million people filling the stadiums

The support for the nations stretched back home too, with 3.5 million viewers watching the Lioness’ opening match against France. Despite the fact that both the Wimbledon Championships and the Club World Cup were running, England managed to draw in the largest digital crowd that day over any other programme in the UK.
 
Approximately 60,000 people participated in fan marches to the stadiums, showing the travelling and home support for the nations taking part.
 
The group stage saw a record attendance with almost half a million people filling the stadiums in Switzerland with over 90% of matches sold out. Head of women’s football at UEFA, Nadine Kessler cements this victory as proof that, women’s football is unstoppable and here to stay.” There is predicted to be a 112% increase in sponsorship from the 2022 Euros, further showing the ever-growing investment and support for women’s football.
 
“This is more than a tournament; it’s a movement.”