We’ve got four teams left in Women’s Euro 2025, and while Italy scored a major upset to survive, England won a penalty shootout and just about gave all their fans a coronary, and somehow both France and Germany did what they do. Here’s where it stands before the semifinal round.
WOMEN’S EURO WINNERS
Sarina Wiegman
She turned the match by subbing in Chloe Kelly and Michelle Agyemang, as Kelly’s crosses led to goals and Agyemang bagged the equalizer against Sweden. A game that was looking like an easy win for the Swedes instead saw England advance. As coach of Netherlands and now England, she has taken her teams to four straight semifinals at the World Cup and Euros. That record includes her teams never losing a penalty shootout. Maybe the Dutch men’s team should hire her.
Lucy Bronze and Hannah Hampton
Bronze has a strong case for being this sport’s best-ever right-back. At each major tournament, she typically scores a blaster from long-range, but against Sweden, she scored on a close-range header off Kelly’s cross and helped the Lionesses erase a two-goal deficit to reach a penalty shootout. In that shootout, Bronze lashed her spot kick into the roof of the net to put England up while her Chelsea teammate Hampton (taking over for the long-serving Mary Earps in England’s goal) saved two of Sweden’s penalties to advance England to the next round, and did it with cotton wadding in her nose after a goalmouth collision let her bloody. Also, Bronze publicly disclosed her autism diagnosis this past spring, so neurodivergent fans can rejoice in her success.
Chloe Kelly
She has come a long way from the beginning of the year, when she struggled for minutes at Manchester City. Her loan to Arsenal not only gave her playing time but also a Champions League title, and now that loan has become a permanent move. Her sterling record with penalty kicks is why she was handed the pressure-filled fifth slot in England’s lineup during the shootout, and she laced her shot into the net when a miss would have eliminated her team. Click here to learn the science behind her weird “one foot on the staircase” stance when she takes penalties.
Andrea Soncin
The Italy coach outfoxed his opposing number at Norway, Gemma Grainger, and created overloads that put pressure on the ropy Norwegian backline and starved Norway’s lethal attackers (Caroline Graham Hansen, Ada Hegerberg, and Signe Gaupset) of the ball, with the notable exception of the long ball that created Hegerberg’s 1-on-1 goal. Sofia Cantore, who will join Washington Spirit after this tournament, finally made her mark on this tournament with two crosses that were converted by Cristiana Girelli. Italy’s upset win puts them in the quarterfinal, which already matches their best result in a major tournament since the turn of the century.
Spain
They got the easiest win in the quarterfinals, though Switzerland did not exactly make it easy for them. The host country defended stoutly and created a few chances on the break, although La Roja would have had a much easier time of it if Mariona Caldentey hadn’t missed an early penalty, or if Alexia Putellas hadn’t put a late penalty straight into the midsection of goalkeeper Livia Peng. Their German opponents in the semis will be eyeing their spot kicks as a weakness, but given the World Cup champions’ historically rough time in the Euros, they’ll happily take their first-ever semifinal berth in this tourney.
WOMEN’S EURO LOSERS
France
And here I thought the French had run out of ways to lose at big tournaments. Les Bleues seemed to finally have the advantage over Germany after experienced defender Kathrin Hendrich went schoolyard and pulled the hair of Griedge Mbock on a free kick, getting herself sent off and conceding a penalty that put France up 1-0. Never underestimate France’s ability to choke, especially against Germany. Sjoeke Nüsken headed in Klara Bühl’s corner kick to equalize, and France couldn’t get the winning goal despite playing 11 against 10 for more than 100 minutes. Germany goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger deserves much credit for two stops and one goal in the penalty shootout, not to mention a spectacular stop of her teammate’s goalbound clearance. Still, what needs to happen for this team to win a major tournament, or even just reach the finals? The women can look over at their male compatriots, as the French men seemed similarly cursed until they finally broke through at World Cup 1998. Even so, this loss is going to sting until the women finally take home a trophy.
Filippa Angeldahl, Lauren James, Beth Mead, Magdalena Eriksson, Alex Greenwood, Jennifer Falk, Grace Clinton, Sofia Jakobsson, and Smilla Holmberg
All their missed penalties made for a shootout that was an agonizing 14 minutes for fans of the teams involved, and great entertainment for the rest of us. For the record, England’s four “misses” were all on target, but were all saved by Falk, who was starting for Sweden because Zećira Mušović is pregnant. The Häcken goalkeeper had a chance to be the hero when she took Sweden’s fifth penalty with the blågult leading, but she booted her penalty over the crossbar. The teenage Hammarby fullback Holmberg did the same with the last spot kick that sent England into the semis.
Andries Jonker
The Dutch coach was already a lame duck going into this tournament, and he wondered out loud at press conferences why he was still there. He has a lot of company now, as his exit has been accompanied by much backbiting and existential moaning about whether Netherlands is still among this sport’s elite. This much is certain: The country just wasted a tournament, and incoming Coach Arjan Veurink (who is currently employed as an assistant coach for England’s women’s team) will have a great deal of work to do as De Oranje rebuild.
The Nordic countries
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden all qualified for this tournament, and all of them are now out. Maybe it’s not a surprise that Finland and Iceland failed to advance out of the group stage, but none of these countries will even get to play for the third-place medal. The Nordic crosses will be hanging a little lower this summer.