Women's Euro 2025: Five things to know

Where and when Euro 2025 be played?

Euro 2025 is being hosted by Switzerland from July 2 to July 27 and the matches will be played at eight stadiums: in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Thun and Sion. Iceland and Finland open the tournament in Thun on July 2, while hosts Switzerland kick off their campaign three hours later in Basel's St. Jakob-Park stadium – where the final is to be played on July 27. Germany open their campaign against Poland in St. Gallen on July 4.

What's the format of the tournament?

By today's standards this is a relatively small tournament, with just 16 teams, divided into four groups. Each team plays the other three in their group once, with the top two from each advancing to the quarterfinals. Should matches in the knockout stage remain drawn after 90 minutes, two 15-minute periods of extra time are played. If necessary, matches will be decided in penalty shootouts. 

Basel's St. Jakob-Park is to host the final on July 27Image: Oliver Lerch/GEPA pictures/IMAGO

Who are Euro 2025 favorites?

World Cup champions Spain disappointed by finishing out of the medals at last summer's Paris Olympics, still they top this list as the continent's highest FIFA-ranked women's team (No. 2). By now they should have put the controversy over the unwanted kiss by former FA President Luis Rubiales after the 2023 World Cup final behind them.

Normally one of the first teams you would name would be the defending champions, however England have had a list of absences and injuries to deal with in recent months. Key central defender Millie Bright ruled herself our, saying she was at her "mental and physical limit" while fellow Euro 2022 winners Fran Kirby and goalkeeper Mary Earps retired on the eve of the squad announcement. Bayern Munich star Georgia Stanway as well as Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood of Manchester City, each missed the bulk of the season after undergoing knee surgery but all make the squad, as does the mercurial Chelsea forward Lauren James, who is nursing a hamstring injury.

In Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas (seen here with Barcelona), Spain have two recent Ballon d'Or winners in their ranksImage: Bagu Blanco/Pressinphoto/IMAGO

Germany, finalists in 2022, are just behind Spain in the FIFA rankings but are a lesser-known quantity than they were three years ago. They've gone through a coaching change after the disappointing 2023 World Cup and captain Alexandra Popp retired. New coach Christian Wück is optimistic about his squad, which he hopes will play with a mixture of "joy, enthusiasm, will and conviction."

France have established themselves as regular quarterfinalists in recent Euros, making it to the semifinals in 2022 – and the Nations League Final in 2024. They had recently fallen off a bit but climbed back into the top 10 in FIFA's latest women's rankings. 

Who are the stars to watch out for?

Following the retirement of Alexandra Popp, Giulia Gwinn has big boots to fill as Germany's new captain, but is a proven winner with Bayern Munich. She was also a member of the Nationalmannschaft that fell at the last hurdle in England three years ago.

Giulia Gwinn (right) has big boots to fill as successor to former captain Alexandra PoppImage: Revierfoto/dpa/picture alliance

Spain boast two recent Ballon d'Or winners in midfielders Aitana Bonmati (2023, 2024) and Alexia Putellas (2021, 2022) – two good reasons for making Spain one of the favorites. Both were members of Spain's World Cup-winning side in 2023 and semifinalists at the Paris Olympics. 

A teammate of Putellas and Bonmati at Barcelona, Ewa Pajor is making her debut at a major tournament with her national team, as this is the first time that Poland have managed to qualify for either the World Cup or the Euros. They will need the striker to be at the top of her game if they are to come out of a group with Germany, Denmark and Sweden.

Ewa Pajor will be leading Poland into their first major tournamentImage: Maciej Rogowski/IMAGO

One of her opponents will be Pernille Harder, a veteran of more than 160 matches for Denmark at 32, she is still going strong for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

For the defending champions, Alessia Russo has graduated from Euro 2022 supersub to England's first choice striker. The Arsenal forward was joint top scorer in the domestic Women's Super League (WSL) and won the Champions League with her club. She will be the focal point for a side who have plenty of attacking midfield threats.

How much money is up for grabs?

UEFA announced late last year that it had earmarked a total of €41 million ($47 million) in prize money for the 2025 Women's Euros, representing a 156% increase on the figure from the previous tournament in 2022. In a statement, European football's governing body said the increase in funds reflected "UEFA's on-going commitment to growing women's football across Europe." Still, the women continue to trail far behind the men in this department, with the total prize money for Euro 2024 coming in at €331 million – or about eight times what the women are playing for this summer.

Edited by: Matt Pearson