Pre-tournament listening: Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Tom Garry and Marva Kreel for a full preview of Euro 2025, with the tournament kicking off today in Thun. Faye and the Guardian panel will be recording regularly throughout the tournament, so please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Today’s match officials
Referee: Katalin Anna Kulcsár (Hungary)
Referee’s assistants: Anita Vad and Irina Pozdejeva
Fourth Official: Catarina Isabel Ferreira de Campos
Video Assistant Referee: Tamás Bognár
Prediction time: Spain are expected to win the tournament but England have a Golden Boot contender in Alessia Russo. Our writers, including the USA manager Emma Hayes, make their tournament predictions ahead of kickoff in Switzerland …
England’s Alessia Russo is among the favourites to be top scorer at the Euros. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/Shutterstock
Group A: Iceland v Finland
Iceland and Finland are the first of the 16 teams participating in this summer’s Euros to get a run out and while neither side is fancied to go too deep into the competition, a win at the Arena Thun this evening will get either off to a flyer.
Thorsteinn Halldórsson’s Iceland side go into this game as favourites against a Finland team managed by Marko Saloranta and who are the lowest ranked team in a group also containing Norway and the hosts, Switzerland.
Finland qualified for this tournamnet via the playoffs, seeing off Montenegro and Scotland in the process, while Iceland qualified in second place in their group behind Germany, winning four and drawing one of their six qualifiers. They are ranked 14th in the world, compared to Finland’s 26th. Kick-off in Thun is at 5pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
