If you’ve already looked at our Italy and Spain pages, then take a look at our Portugal and Belgium team guides.
Women’s Euro 2025: Switzerland reaction, Italy v Spain, Portugal v Belgium buildup – live | Women’s Euro 2025
Published: 2025-07-11 17:53:53 | Views: 13
Key events
Be sure to check out our Italy and Spain team guides before kick-off this evening.
Spain have already booked their place in the Euro 2025 knockouts, with just one more spot up for grabs. Italy currently sit second in the group on four points. Portugal have the chance to leapfrog them and finish second tonight, although they will have to make up a goal difference of six. Should they defeat Belgium with a comfortable goal cushion and Italy lose to Spain, it could make things pretty interesting come the closing stages of play.
You can keep up to date with both Group D games with our minute-by-minute coverage.
Arsenal have reached an agreement to sign Noni Madueke from Chelsea for £52m.
The England winger has already agreed terms on a five-year deal and is likely to complete a move to the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal, who are also expected to ramp up their pursuit of Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze, have been looking to add more depth on the flanks and have acted quickly after identifying Madueke as a key target.
Lauren Hemp said she felt “back to her best” for England against the Netherlands on Wednesday. The forward admitted: “Preferably, I’d have liked a whole season to get ready for the tournament but it’s football, there’s injuries all the time. I was lucky I gained a few games under my belt coming into the Euros.
“People have good and bad games, things happen in games you can’t sometimes control, but I wanted to make sure I was firing for the next one and I felt confident going into the game on Wednesday.
“I felt back to my best at points, so I hope at the tournament I’ll continue to improve, and we’ll see how far we can get.”
AC Milan’s upcoming Serie A clash with Como, scheduled for next February, could be played in… Australia.
Yes, you read that right – Australia. Because, why not, eh?
If you haven’t already, be sure to give the latest edition of our Football Daily newsletter a read…
In some more women’s football transfer news, Newcastle are in advanced talks to sign the former Arsenal and Aston Villa midfielder Jordan Nobbs. The 32-year-old is currently available on a free transfer, having left Villa last month.
Crystal Palace have been banned from the Europa League and moved into the Conference League after Uefa concluded the FA Cup winners were in breach of its multi-club ownership rules.
The ban had been expected after Lyon won their appeal against relegation to Ligue 2, clearing them to take their place in the tournament.
Clubs with the same owner are barred from competing in the same Uefa competition if an individual or ownership group is considered to have a decisive influence over more than one of those teams.
More on Crystal Palace…
Crystal Palace kicked out of Europa League
UEFA have ruled that Crystal Palace will NOT play in the Europa League this season. Instead, they will be demoted to the Conference League.
More to follow.
Here is what Group B is looking like right now:
1 – Spain – 6pts – 9GD
2 – Italy – 4pts – 1GD
3 – Portugal – 1pts – -5GD
4 – Belgium – 0pts – -5GD
Riola Xhemaili scored a last-gasp equaliser against Finland last night to send tournament hosts Switzerland through to the Euro 2025 quarter-finals. Recap the action here with Nick Ames’ match report.
If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to our Moving the Goalposts newsletter for regular updates on women’s football. You’ll receive stories, features and interviews straight to your inbox twice a week. If there’s any time to sign up, it’s now!
Here’s a reminder of the fixtures we’ve got to look forward to this evening:
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Portugal v Belgium
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Italy v Spain
Both games kick off at 8pm BST.
Speaking of transfers, be sure to check out our men’s and women’s transfer interactives so you don’t miss a move…
Some Premier League transfer news for you now as Nottingham Forest are preparing to seek legal action over an alleged illegal approach for Morgan Gibbs-White by Tottenham. Spurs agreed to trigger the midfielder’s £60million release clause on Thursday but the deal is now on hold.
Previewing Sunday’s match against Wales this morning, England forward Lauren Hemp said: “It’s a great rivalry and these are the games you want to be involved in… It’s a derby, we want to win, end of. We’re going to do whatever we can to do that. It’s going to be a really tough match. We’ve got so much respect for Wales.”
Fire breaks out in Euro 2025 fan zone
A food stall caught fire at a Euro 2025 fan zone in Zurich this afternoon. The fire broke out in the Europaallee neighbourhood and it has been reported that few people were nearby at the time of the incident.
The local fire service arrived on the scene quickly to extinguish the blaze. One person suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital by paramedics.
The exact cause of the fire is currently unknown.
In case you were not already too familiar with Olivia Smith…
Smith joined Liverpool for a club-record fee believed to be just over £200,000 last July from the Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon. She scored seven times in 20 WSL appearances during her debut season and was named Players’ Player of the Year and Players’ Young Player of the Year by Liverpool in May.
The 20-year-old is also part of the Canada women’s national team.
In case you missed it, Tom Garry exclusively revealed yesterday that Liverpool had accepted a £1million bid for Olivia Smith. Once the deal is completed, Smith will become the most expensive women’s player in the world.
How much sport have you consumed this week? Be sure to take our quiz of the week and let me know how you get on!
Thanks David! As the old saying goes, you learn something new everyday!
And with that unlikely branch into science, I’ll hand you over to Emillia Hawkins to get this blog back on track. Enjoy!
What to do in Bern before kick-off between Italy and Spain tonight? Well, how about a visit to Einstein House?
“Albert Einstein lived in Bern from 1903 to 1905 and developed his Theory of Relativity here. The Einstein House gives visitors a chance to see where the great physicist completely revolutionized our understanding of space and time,” says the bern.com website.
So, according to my calculations, he lived there in his 20s (24 to 26). Was he a football fan? This is how AI responded? “While Einstein was known for his love of music, particularly the violin, and enjoyed sailing, there’s no evidence that he was a fan of football. He is quoted as saying he didn’t play any games and had no time for them, though he did play chess “once or twice” when a boy.”
Liverpool have announced plans to pay tribute to Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva during Sunday’s pre-season friendly at Preston.
(Per PA Media)
The match at Deepdale will be the Reds’ first since Liverpool forward Jota and his brother were killed in a car crash in Spain on July 3.
There will be a rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ prior to the 3pm kick-off and Preston will lay a wreath alongside the away supporters, Liverpool said. A minute’s silence will then be observed, with digital tributes displayed on the stadium big screen and on pitchside LED boards.
Players from both teams will wear black armbands, Liverpool said. The pre-match programme will also feature written tributes to Jota and Silva. Many of Liverpool’s players attended the brothers’ funerals in Gondomar, Portugal, last Saturday.
Liverpool are also scheduled to face AC Milan in Hong Kong and Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan at the end of this month. As Premier League champions, they will take on FA Cup winners Crystal Palace in the Community Shield on August 10.
Father of three Jota, who married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso 11 days before the accident, died alongside his brother after a Lamborghini they were travelling in burst into flames following a suspected tyre blowout in the early hours of Thursday, July 3.
Reds manager Arne Slot attended last Saturday’s funeral, along with club captain Virgil van Dijk and team-mates including Andy Robertson, Conor Bradley, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez.
We all love a Golden Boot race. And like it used to be with the men’s World Cup, six is the magic number for this tournament.
Top scorers in Women’s Euros:
2022 – 6 Beth Mead (England), Alexandra Popp (Germany)
2017 – 6 Jodie Taylor (England)
2013 – 6 Lotta Schelin (Sweden)
2009 – 6 Inka Grings (Germany)
No-one has ever scored over six in a Euros.
Here are the current standings…
I’ve been raiding the Uefa.com stat pack for the England v Wales game. Did you know…
England have won 11 of their last 13 Women’s EURO final tournament matches (L2).
All of England’s 36 Women’s EURO final tournament games have featured at least one goal.
If England fail to qualify, they will be the first defending champions to exit before the quarter-finals of a Women’s EURO tournament.
Wales’ Sophie Ingle played at Chelsea from 2018 to 2025 and was a team-mate of England’s Hannah Hampton, Lucy Bronze, Niamh Charles, Keira Walsh, Lauren James and Aggie Beever-Jones.
England’s next game, of course, is against Wales. That one kicks off at 8pm on Sunday evening in St Gallen.
England will reach the quarter-finals if they win. A draw is enough if the Netherlands don’t beat France in the other Group D game. Okay, this is the longest of longshots but, for the record, Wales will reach the quarter-finals if they beat England by four goals or more and Netherlands lose to France.
For a bit of context, England are 1/33 to win Sunday’s match.
Some great insight here from Emma Hayes on what might be going on in the England camp right now and how to survive a long tournament.
I’ve seen what happens when players do look at social media too much during an intense period, and I don’t think it improves their position at all. On the plus side, though, those who have a healthy boundary with it during tournaments are usually the ones who perform.
As is the case with final group games, they start at the same time. So, no 5pm kick-off today. The other 8pm clash is Portugal v Belgium.
So, if you’re itching for some live action before then, we have you covered. Get stuck into this lot.
Cricket – Joe Root got his 100 but was out soon afterwards. Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse have currently added 82 for the eighth wicket after a Jasprit Bumrah blitz.
Tennis – it’s men’s semi-finals day. Fritz v Alcaraz first up and then Sinner v Djokovic.
Cycling – Tour de France stage seven and there’s a five-man breakaway.
Thanks Dom. Yes, a scorcher here in West Yorkshire. Can’t help but notice today’s Italy v Spain clash is in Bern. Get that sun cream on folks. Temperatures in Bern currently 26 degrees, dropping to 24 at kick-off (8pm), so not too bad.
Right that’s my stint done and here’s David Tindall ready to take over while I try and stay cool.
And in other unexpected transfer news, away from the women’s game …
Re: your predictions. The Lionesses to seal back-to-back Euro triumphs? That’s what Elle Lawrence thinks, emailing in:
Belgium showed that Spain can be vulnerable to the type of long balls that Hannah Hampton so brilliantly distributed to Russo in the Netherlands match. Arsenal showed that Barca could be defeated, and given the ties between club and country squads, I see an England repeat!
England’s Lauren Hemp is excited at the news of Olivia Smith’s record-breaking £1m transfer to Arsenal, asked about the deal in a recent Lionesses press conference.
It’s the direction the women’s game is going in, and it’s great to see. As players, we’re sort of in a bit of a bubble at the moment, so we’re not really seeing much of that [news], we’re just focusing on the tournament.
But it is great to see and it’s proof that women’s footballers are great, and that is the way that game is going, so long may that continue.
Read more from Hemp, via our man Tom Garry, here:
“I expect Spain to win Euro 2025,” writes Kachilapo Mulongoti on email. “But the horse I’m backing is Germany, though I expect them to fall short as their midfield options do not inspire much confidence as creative players. I miss Dzsenifer Marozsán.”
Everton have completed the signing of Japan international forward Yuka Momiki following the expiry of her contract with Leicester City.
Momiki becomes manager Brian Sorensen’s fifth signing of the summer transfer window, after midfielder Rosa van Gool, forward Ornella Vignola and defenders Rion Ishikawa and Hikaru Kitagawa.
Momiki joins compatriots Honoka Hayashi, Ishikawa and Kitagawa at the team who are set for their first full season at Goodison Park in the WSL.
“I am just so excited to be a player for Everton and also I am so excited to play at Goodison Park,” she told evertontv.
“I went on the guided tour of Goodison Park and I heard all of the stories. It made me really proud knowing I will be a part of the club’s history, so I can’t wait.
“Women’s football is growing so much. In England, and also at Everton, there is a clear goal to grow our game as much as possible. That ambition, makes me even more excited and was a key reason for me coming here.”
The tournament bracket may have a big bearing on who meets who, and when.
Norway face the Group B runners-up, most likely Italy, while Switzerland will probably play Spain in the quarter-finals. If England end up finishing second in Group D, which looks a distinct possibility, they’ll have to get past the Group C winners – either Sweden or Germany.
Finishing second would mean that England avoid Spain until the final… if both countries get there.
An email from Jon Martins:
Nobody will stop Spain. Putellas, Bonmati and Caldentey are miles clear as the tournament’s best three players. England have shown their true colours, but like everyone else they’ll have no answer to the super Spaniards.
Right up readers, I want your predictions/forecasts/thoughts on who is going to actually win this thing.
Is it as obvious as saying that nobody can stop Spain? Do you fancy the Lionesses to keep roaring back from that opening defeat? Or maybe you’ve been impressed by France, Norway or Sweden. Maybe you can simply never, EVER, rule out the Germans.
Once we get to the quarter-finals, I’ve got a feeling the tournament will have a very open and ultra-competitive feel. Drop me an email with your comments.
Jordan Nobbs is now 32 and no longer in the England setup, after winning 71 caps for the Lionesses. She’s also now a free agent after leaving Aston Villa at the end of her contract earlier this summer.
Nobbs is apparently wanted by Newcastle, who are gearing up for a promotion bid from WSL2 in the coming campaign. Here’s the story, again from the ever-excellent Tom Garry.
No apologies from me for reposting this: our interactive guide to every single player at Euro 2025. It really is a tremendous tool. Get around it.
I got 10/15 on that quiz, by the way, which is a pretty shoddy score for a sports journalist working across these various events. I’m sure you’ll fare better.
Fancy a Friday morning quiz? Of course you do.
Looking more at Group C and tonight’s games, and Portugal actually need a six-goal swing between them and Italy – and the Italians to lose to Spain – to go through. For all Spain’s brilliance, that’s unlikely.
Belgium are already out. Portugal are going to need to rack up the goals against them this evening. Both games kick off at 8pm (BST).
FAO: Italy.
(Also, do subscribe to Moving The Goalposts, our weekly women’s football newsletter).
Some other big news yesterday was Olivia Smith’s impending £1m transfer from Liverpool to Arsenal.
The 20-year-old Canadian forward is set to become the women’s game’s first ever £1m player, with the fee set to exceed the $1.1m (£812,000) paid by Chelsea for the USA centre-back Naomi Girma in January.
Smith scored seven goals in the WSL last season after joining Liverpool for a club-record fee in the region of £200,000 in July 2024 from the Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon.
Exciting news for her, for Arsenal and for women’s football.
Lionesses now. And Sarina Wiegman got all the big calls right against the Netherlands, writes Tom Garry.
England will now expect to beat Wales and reach the quarter-finals. They couldn’t do it again… could they? They have renewed hope.
Some other big news from the world of women’s football that broke last night.
Tobin Heath, a two-time World Cup winner with the USA, has announced her retirement after years away from the sport due to injury – a big blow to her legions of fans who hoped she might one day retake the field.
“I never played to be famous or for people to care about me,” said Heath. “I just played because I loved it.”
The Women’s Euros has been competing for air time with the Club World Cup this summer (I know which one I prefer, but hey ho) and the Guardian wants to hear your thoughts on the newest addition to the football calendar.
A nice novel idea, or an unnecessary summer distraction?
Preamble
Hello! And good morning from a sweltering south Manchester where it’s barely 10am but I’m already seeking the ice water and hand fans. Anyway … in the world of Euro 2025 things are heating up in a different way. Group A came to a conclusion last night, with Norway sealing a third straight victory, beating Iceland in a 4-3 humdinger, to top the group on a clean nine points. Behind them, host nation Switzerland squeaked through on goal difference after a 1-1 draw with Finland. They left it late mind you.
Spain are already through to the quarter-finals but can match Norway’s maximum points tally if they beat Italy, for whom a defeat will only prove terminal if Portugal beat Belgium by a very handy margin. It should be the Spanish and the Italians in the last eight from Group B, with Group C offering no jeopardy going into the final round of group games – although Group D (containing England and Wales) could get tasty.
Let’s get into today’s live blog, then, bringing you all the reaction from last night, breaking news and buildup to this evening’s footballing fare.
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