By Catherine MacKenzie and Alyce Collett (29/6/2025)
Above: the UEFA Women’s Euros trophy. Photo: UEFA.
Ahead of the UEFA Women’s Euros kicking off this week, the 16 countries involved have been using friendlies to assess where they are heading into the competition. Looking at the likely title contenders, what have we learned from the games?
France
France 3 – 2 Brazil
France 5 – 0 Belgium
One of the biggest talking points surrounding France in the lead up to this tournament has been the absence of some key stars from their squad. One of those is Eugenie Le Sommer, who has been a stalwart in attack for the French for a number of tournaments.
However, their two friendlies have shown that scoring will not be an issue for the French. Not only did they score plenty of goals, they had five different goal scorers scoring the eight goals – alongside a number of different assist-providers amidst strong rotation.
The friendlies also exposed their depth up front: if an opponent can deal with the physicality of Kelly Gago, there are different profiles of forwards ready to come on – such as Sakina Karchaoui or Kadidiatou Diani.
France are on a good run of form, however they have only played one top-10 ranked team since last December’s 4-2 loss to Spain. They swept aside Belgium with ease; their biggest test ahead of the tournament came against Brazil. Les Blues were 2-0 down within 20 minutes, however clawed back the game thanks to the second half introductions of Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Melvine Malard.
The comeback showed their belief in the team, however it is also telling that they needed their more experienced players to generate the impetus for the comeback. They also looked susceptible to defensive struggles with pace – and conceding two in quick succession will be a cause for concern.
Spain
Spain 3 – 1 Japan
Spain opted for a single send-off game, against reigning She Believes champions Japan. Japan beat the USA earlier this year and have confirmed their status as a force not to be underestimated. With key players missing on both sides – Yui Hasegawa for Japan and Aitana Bonmati for Spain – it became a battle based on how their sides coped without them.
Spain’s comeback and eventual win showed their greatest strength: they do not need consecutive Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati to dominate and beat a top-level opponent. Whereas she would be the ultimate difference maker in most teams, for La Roja she is the best of the best.
This should serve as a warning to Euros competitors: if Bonmati takes time to recover from the viral meningitis that has left her hospitalised, Spain are still huge favourites for every game they play.
Netherlands
Netherlands 2 – 1 Finland
For the Netherlands, this was an important game with many different narratives behind it. It would be head coach Andries Jonker’s last game on home soil, and Vivianne Miedema was making a welcome return from injury.
It was a game of two halves for Oranje. Miedema’s minutes were managed, and once she left the pitch in the second half the Leeuwinnen did not have the same spark. In a rather scathing post-match interview, Jonker was asked why he opted not to bring on PSG’s Romée Leuchter – a more similar profile to Miedema than Chasity Grant – and the Oranje boss replied that she is “hopeless” as a striker.
Pundits and fans were shocked – and it is likely not an entirely happy camp heading for Switzerland.
The game showed that similarly to France, the Dutch struggled to maintain the same togetherness without one of their biggest stars on the pitch – and as Miedema is only just returning from injury, she is unlikely to play 90 minutes of every Euros game.
England
England 7 – 0 Jamaica
England opted for an unfamiliar opponent for their send-off friendly, seeing them take on the Reggae Girlz in Leicester. The biggest learning from the game is arguably that when their first 11 is fit and on the pitch together, the Lionesses pose a huge goalscoring threat.
That the goals came from six different players is a testament to that threat. Jamaica are ranked 40th in the world and England’s dominance was not surprising. Some have criticised the England camp for their choice of opponent, considering Spain and France’s choices. However, that ignores the fact that in the last twelve months, few teams in Europe have had the tests that England have – Sweden, France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium all twice, alongside the US and Germany once each.
The game also highlighted the competition in numerous parts of the pitch – Ella Toone played in the 10 role and scored a brace, and she is in competition with Grace Clinton, Jess Park, and Lauren James for that spot. Jess Carter had an impressive game at left-back; she is in competition with Niamh Charles for that spot. The game may have given head coach Sarina Wiegman a few headaches – headaches she will be pleased to have.
Germany
Germany have not opted to have public friendlies – it is likely they have been played behind closed doors against other in-house teams. This could be a positive or a negative – whilst it gives head coaches the change to test out their tactics and start building momentum without the prying eyes of opponents, players will have missed getting a big send off. Showing off what your squad can do ahead of a major tournament can be hugely encouraging for the team, and it gives them a chance to connect with fans before departing.
However, given their form – beating Austria 6-0 and Netherlands 4-0 in their last two outings – it is unlikely to impact them too significantly.
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