Key events
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.
