Key events
Let’s have a peruse of the local reaction to Switzerland’s 2-0 win over Iceland. The front page of the Swiss newspaper Blick this morning celebrated the riesenfreude of the 14,000-strong fan march that took place before the nati’s victory in Bern.
A Tages-Anzeiger’s headline reads: “Suffered, fought, won – the Swiss beat Iceland with late goals”, while only two Swiss players get a rating of less than four out of six in 20 Minuten’s player ratings.
The reigning Wafcon champions, South Africa, begin their tournament against Ghana later today in Oujda in Group C, with Mali and Tanzania the late kick-off in Berkane.
The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations got under way at the weekend in Moroccowhere the hosts opened with a 2-2 draw against Zambia on Saturday. Morocco, coached by Spain’s World Cup-winning manager Jorge Vilda, salvaged a point thanks to Ghizlane Chebbak’s 87th-minute equaliser after Barbra Banda had scored and assisted for their opponents.
Senegal kicked off their campaign with a 4-0 thrashing of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Group A. In Group B, Nigeria were 3-0 winners over Tunisia with Asisat Oshoala on the scoresheet, while Algeria got off the mark with a 1-0 victory against Botswana.
Van Dongen Announces Retirement
The Dutch defender Merel van Dongen has announced – somewhat nostalgically via a notes screenshot on social media – that she will hang up her boots after the Campeón de Campeonas match on 16 July. Her Monterrey team, the 2024 Apertura champions, will face Pachuca, the 2025 Clausura champions, in San Antonio.
Van Dongen, 32, was left out of the Netherlands squad for Euro 2025 and has been playing in Mexico since leaving Atlético Madrid last year. She made 63 appearances for the Netherlands and was in the squad that reached the 2019 World Cup final. She also played for ADO Den Haag, Ajax and Real Betis across a 15-year senior career.
As for Spain, they will be hoping Aitana Bonmatí can get some more minutes under her belt after playing the last 10 or so against Portugal. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper AS, she has admitted that she had doubts over whether she would be at the tournament after spending time in hospital with viral meningitis:
For a moment, yes [I thought I could miss the Euros]. I didn’t know when I could get back. I went to hospital and they told me that I had to stay, when I [just] went for them to help me and [then] Go back to the football city [training base]. As they couldn’t find what I had, over the course of the night they told me that I had meningitis.
Let’s have a look at today’s Group B games at Euro 2025. Belgium are up against it in the early kick-off against Spain having already lost their opening game 1-0 to Italy last Thursday. They may struggle to keep Spain out at one end but they can still do damage at the other. Inter striker Tessa Wullaert is very much Belgium’s talisman and scored against Spain in the Nations League in February.
Here is Wim Conings on Belgium’s No 9 in our tournament team preview:
Few countries will have such a standout player as Belgium. The 32-year-old Inter striker Tessa Wullaert is the country’s record scorer, having found the net 92 times and is not slowing down: recently scoring against Spain, England (twice) and Portugal (twice). She normally has two defenders marking her but if she feels she is not getting involved enough she will drop deeper into midfield and start play from there. Any team that can keep her out of the game will either draw or beat Belgium.
Arsenal sign Taylor Hinds
European champions Arsenal have completed the signing of Taylor Hinds on a free transfer following the expiration of her contract at Liverpool. The 26-year-old Jamaica international came through Arsenal’s academy before moving to Everton in 2018.
“I’m so proud to have signed for Arsenal,” Hinds told the club’s website. “I want to push, compete and be winning trophies – and this club encompasses all of that both on and off the pitch. You can see what direction Arsenal is going in and everyone at the club wants to win.
“This is a full-circle moment for me and I’m grateful to come back to a place I called home when I was younger. I can’t wait to get started and to step out on the pitch at Emirates Stadium in front of all our incredible supporters.”
While we’re on men’s football, Mexico have defended their Gold Cup crownwinning their 10th continental title with a 2-1 victory against the United States in Houston. West Ham’s Edson Álvarez scored a second-half winner after Raúl Jiménez had paid tribute to Diogo Jota following his equaliser.
Mauricio Pochettino, head coach of the USMNT, was keeping things positive at full-time:
It was a massive lesson for us. It was an amazing tournament to realise in the way that we wanted to grow. This is the way that I think we are going to find the way to compete better and better, and be very competitive and be in the place that we wanted to be. When you lose a trophy or you lose a game it’s really, really painful. But the most important thing is to have our head up because I think the tournament was fantastic and we keep going, that is the way we want to build our journey into the World Cup
Now is as good a time as any to have a gander at our summer transfer window interactives:
Over in the men’s game, the top transfer news to come out of the weekend was Arsenal’s £50m signing of Martín Zubimendi from Real Sociedad. Sid Lowe has been on hand to explain what Arsenal fans can expect from the midfielder:
“It feels extremely bad,” groaned the Finland coach, Marko Saloranta, after he thought his team deserved more from their defeat to Norway. Attention for them turns to a date with hosts Switzerland in Geneva on Thursday. Alayah Pilgrim’s late second goal against Iceland turned the goal difference tables in Switzerland’s favour – they only need a draw to progress against Finland.
“I think that there were not many people in the world, outside my team and the staff, that expected that we are fighting for going through the group phase,” Saloranta said yesterday. “It’s not surprising for us but we are very proud how we played today, even though there is zero points and we are disappointed. I think we will continue the same way. We are very brave, even though of course we are underdogs in this group.”
Norway have booked their place in the quarter-finals and secured top spot in Group A, although they are yet to really hit their stride. Another unconvincing 2-1 win, this time against Finland in Sion, was sealed courtesy of an own goal and a cross-cum-shot from Caroline Graham Hansen that bounced in off the back post. Sophie Downey was there for us:
Last night’s defeat in Bern has sealed the fate of Icelandwho become the first team to exit Euro 2025. It’s a disappointing outcome for a side who perhaps expected to reach the quarter-finals without much fuss – they are the highest team in the group (14th) in terms of world rankings (Norway 16th, Switzerland 23rd, Finland 26th).
And it’s a shame the knockouts won’t be graced by the presence of the very noisy travelling Icelandic contingent. At least they can earn some Nordic bragging rights against Norway on Thursday.
Iman Beney is fast becoming Euro 2025’s breakout star. The 18-year-old, who joined Manchester City from Young Boys last month, had her very own Raheem-Sterling-in-Manaus moment when her spectacular half-volley from distance hit the top corner of the side netting, making half the crowd think she’d scored an early contender for goal of the tournament
I think we can imagine Swiss commuters heading to work with a spring in their step this morning after the hosts sparked their tournament into life with a 2-0 win against Iceland in Bern. A fair amount of relief greeted Géraldine Reuteler’s breakthrough goal in the 76th minute but the celebrations could really start after Alayah Pilgrim’s late deflected strike gave them a cushion. Louise Taylor has the lowdown:
Saturday’s results put France and the Netherlands in charge in Group D. Les Bleues pulled off their statement win against England without their injured captain Griedge Mbock. Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore were on the scoresheet in an especially impressive first-half display but their manager, Laurent Bonadei, is keeping their feet on the ground:
We can do better every time. We have to improve in each department of the team, in defence, in midfield and offensively
The comfortable result against Wales will come to the relief of the Dutch manager, Andries Jonker, who got in a bit of a pickle before the tournament got under way. After it was announced that his contract would not be renewed after Euro 2025 in January, Jonker said last week that he had considered quitting anyway. Journalists accused him of creating a ‘puppet show’ in the buildup to their opening game. He was not impressed:
These women have given everything in 2025. Everything. And we have done that together. You people are all here today and this is thanks to us. To these women. The royal family will be there. And you have the guts to call it puppetry. If you think it’s a puppet show, than you’re entitled to your opinion. You are insulting the players. I have never seen you at training sessions and you’re asking the players if they will believe the puppet show
Saturday also saw Wales make history by taking to the field for the first time at a major tournament. Goals from Vivianne Miedema, Victoria Pelova and Esmee Brugts made it a tough afternoon for the Euro debutants but their manager, Rhian Wilkinson, remained proud of her team:
We’ve got two more games and we’ve got to show up. We’ve got to cut out the defensive lapses and create more but my players have put in a massive shift, they’ve run their socks off
First to England, who got off to a rocky start on Saturday night with their 2-1 defeat by France in Zurich. Sarina Wiegman’s squad remain bullish about their chances of progressing through what is surely the group of death. Their next group match against the Netherlands on Wednesday is now a must-win. Suzanne Wrack is in Zurich and has been hearing from Lauren Hemp:
I love playing in football matches where we need to win – they’re the games you want to be involved in
Preamble
Hello and welcome to day six of Euro 2025. We’ll be building up to the second round of fixtures in Group B later today, while also taking a look back at an emotional night for hosts Switzerland after their exploits against Iceland. We’ll also keep track of goings-on in the England camp before Wednesday’s crunch game against the Netherlands.
Many people’s tournament favourites, Spain, are in action at 5pm (BST) today against Belgium in Thun. Montse Tomé’s world champions got off to a flyer against Portugal in their curtain-raiser and, well, you don’t envy Belgium, who were thrashed 5-1 by today’s opponents in the Nations League at the end of May.
Portugal, on the end of the opening 5-0 trouncing by Spain, look to make amends when they face Italy at 8pm (BST) in Geneva. The two sides haven’t played each other in a competitive setting since a World Cup qualifier in 2018 that Italy won 3-0.
Do feel free to get in touch with your predictions for today’s matches, as well as your thoughts on the drama that unfurled in Group A on Sunday – did Caroline Graham Hansen mean that?
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