logo
Euro 2025: Host Switzerland's Late Goals Secure 2-0 Win Over Iceland

Euro 2025: Host Switzerland's Late Goals Secure 2-0 Win Over Iceland

Al Arabiya7 days ago
Host nation Switzerland put its Women's European Championship campaign back on track with a 2–0 win over Iceland on Sunday, eliminating its opponents in the process.
Géraldine Reuteler netted with 14 minutes remaining as the Stadion Wankdorf erupted in celebration in a sea of red, and Alayah Pilgrim sealed the result in the final minute. It will now be all to play for on Thursday when Switzerland meets Finland in their final group match, with a place in the quarterfinals at stake. Both teams are level on three points–three points behind Norway, which beat Finland 2–1 earlier and has now advanced to the knockout stage as Group A champion. Iceland has zero points and is out of the tournament regardless of what happens in its final match against Norway.
In contrast to when the teams played the opening matches last Wednesday, when Switzerland was engulfed by a heat wave, it was raining for most of the match in Bern. Iceland almost scored in the opening minute, but Ingibjörg Sigurdardóttir volleyed off the crossbar. Switzerland thought it had taken the lead on the half-hour mark. A corner was whipped in, and Svenja Fölmli's header was inadvertently nodded into the net by Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir. Swiss fans celebrated, but it was ruled out after a review on the pitchside monitor for a foul by Fölmli in the buildup.
Inside a packed stadium with a capacity crowd of nearly 30,000, the 2,000 Icelandic fans made themselves heard with their thunder claps, while the equally fervent home support yelled 'Hopp Schwiiz.' And almost all of them thought Switzerland had taken the lead in stunning fashion in first-half stoppage time, as Iman Beney's long-range attempt rippled the side netting. Iceland started the second half in almost exactly the same way it had started the first–by hitting the crossbar. This time, Karolína Lea Vilhjalmsdóttir's free kick skimmed the top of the woodwork.
Switzerland had barely had a shot on target until it broke the deadlock in the 76th minute. Sydney Schertenleib threaded an intelligent ball through for Reuteler to run onto and slot into the far bottom corner. And Switzerland wrapped up its first win in its home tournament when Pilgrim collected a pinpoint pass from another substitute, Leila Wandeler, and cut inside before curling into the back of the net.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Britain's Rowland takes Formula E title with two races to spare
Britain's Rowland takes Formula E title with two races to spare

Arab News

timean hour ago

  • Arab News

Britain's Rowland takes Formula E title with two races to spare

BERLIN: Nissan's Oliver Rowland won the Formula E title for the first time and with two races to spare on Sunday, the Briton becoming the all-electric series' 10th different champion in the space of 11 seasons. Rowland had needed to lead Pascal Wehrlein by 59 points after the second of two races in Berlin, the championship's penultimate weekend, and he did it by finishing fourth with his Porsche rival only 16th despite starting on pole. The Briton now has 184 points with Wehrlein on 125. OLIVER ROWLAND. SEASON 11 WORLD CHAMPION!!!@oliverrowland1 secures the title in Berlin! @Hankook_Sport #BerlinEPrix — Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 13, 2025 Sunday's race at Berlin's old Tempelhof airport was won by Jaguar's Nick Cassidy, completing a weekend sweep after teammate Mitch Evans won on Saturday, with Andretti's Jake Dennis second and Jean-Eric Vergne third for DS Penske. The final two races of the season are in London on July 26-27. It was the first time a Japanese manufacturer had won the championship. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Christian Radnedge)

Grace Kim With a Stunning Finish Wins Evian Championship for Her First Major
Grace Kim With a Stunning Finish Wins Evian Championship for Her First Major

Al Arabiya

time3 hours ago

  • Al Arabiya

Grace Kim With a Stunning Finish Wins Evian Championship for Her First Major

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France Grace Kim delivered one stunning shot after another Sunday in the Evian Championship, starting with an eagle to force a playoff and another eagle to beat Jeeno Thitikul on the second extra hole to make her first LPGA win a major title. Kim, whose 2-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th in regulation gave her a 4-under 67, looked to be just as surprised as everyone else when she rolled in a 12-foot eagle putt to win the playoff. The 24-year-old Australian calmly placed her hand over her mouth and stood still before doubling over and breaking into a wide smile. Thitikul's biggest challenge had been English amateur Lottie Woad, who was coming off a win in the Irish Women's Open and at one point had the lead on the back nine of Evian Resort. She closed with 64 and then waited to see if that would be enough. Woad was bidding to become the first amateur to win a major since Catherine Lacoste at the 1967 US Women's Open. Thitikul birdied the 17th to take the lead, and the Thai player was on the verge of her first major when she laid up short of the pond and hit wedge into 8 feet on the final hole. But there was Kim blasting a fairway metal onto the green. The ball rolled back down the slope to 2 feet for eagle to tie for the lead. Thitikul's birdie putt for the title missed right. She shot 67 and joined Kim at 14-under 270, one ahead of Woad and Minjee Lee (68). Back to the 18th in the playoff, Thitikul again looked like a winner when Kim's second shot bounced on a cart path, over some rocks, and into the pond. Thitikul was just left of the green in two. Kim took her penalty drop then chipped in for birdie across the green. Thitikul had to make an 8-foot birdie putt to extend the playoff, which she did. Playing the 18th for the third time, Kim again delivered another beauty over the pond and onto the green to about 12 feet. Thitikul, who had tiny insects buzzing around her ball in the collar of a bunker, chipped weakly to about 6 feet. She could only watch as Kim ended it with an eagle. That extended what already is a record streak in the LPGA Tour's 75-year history, the 18th consecutive tournament to start a season with a different winner. It also makes 13 different winners in the last 13 majors. Kim won for the second time on the LPGA, adding to her title in Hawaii two years ago.

Iga Swiatek wins wimbledon after a difficult year that included a doping case and a title drought
Iga Swiatek wins wimbledon after a difficult year that included a doping case and a title drought

Al Arabiya

time7 hours ago

  • Al Arabiya

Iga Swiatek wins wimbledon after a difficult year that included a doping case and a title drought

For weeks while back home in Warsaw last year, Iga Swiatek hung out with friends and made new ones but didn't dare tell them about a doping case that was hanging over her. 'Obviously in the back of my mind,' she said Saturday evening at the All England Club, 'I had this thing.' There was more going on, too, and she only opened up to her family and her team. A coaching change. A long-for-her title drought. A ranking drop. Her grandfather's passing. 'It all (happened) together,' Swiatek said. 'It wasn't easy.' And so in some ways, the Wimbledon championship Swiatek claimed Saturday with a 6-0, 6-0 victory — yes, read that score again — in 57 minutes over Amanda Anisimova could be viewed as more than merely a significant on-court result. Swiatek's the youngest since Serena Williams with majors on 3 surfaces It mattered, of course, that she finally conquered grass courts in general and that venue in particular. That the 24-year-old from Poland became the youngest woman with at least on major trophy on all three surfaces since 2002, when Serena Williams did it at age 20. That Swiatek now needs only an Australian Open title to complete a career Grand Slam. For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. In the bigger picture, though, this triumph followed a difficult 12-plus months and provided the following takeaway in Swiatek's words: 'The lesson is just that even when you feel like you're not on a good path, you can always get back to it if you put enough effort and you have good people around you.' There was a not-long-ago stretch in which she was considered far-and-away the best in women's tennis. 'She's an unbelievable player,' Anisimova said. Swiatek adds Wimbledon to 4 French Open titles, 1 at the US Open Swiatek held the No. 1 ranking for most of the past three seasons. She put together a 37-match winning streak in 2022 that included six tournament titles until it ended — where else? — at Wimbledon. She won five Grand Slam titles, four on the red clay at the French Open and one on the hard courts at the US Open, and established herself as a bona fide star. Except there was always the matter of what went on when she played on grass. Zero titles. Zero finals. One quarterfinal run at the All England Club. The questions kept arising from herself and from others. Then those doubts spread to other events and other surfaces. She left the 2024 Olympics held at Roland-Garros with a bronze medal after losing in the semifinals. She departed Wimbledon last year in the third round, the US Open in the quarterfinals. She exited the French Open last month in the semifinals, ending her bid for a fourth consecutive championship there. In all, Swiatek went more than a year without reaching a final anywhere. Swiatek's doping ban weighed on her Then there was the matter of a one-month doping ban she accepted after failing an out-of-competition drug test. The International Tennis Integrity Agency accepted her explanation that the result was unintentional and caused by the contamination of a non-prescription medication she was taking for issues with jet lag and sleeping. 'The second half of last year was extremely challenging for me, especially due to the positive doping test and how circumstances completely beyond my control took away my chance to fight for the highest sport goals at the end of the season,' Swiatek wrote in a social media post in March, adding that the episode 'forced me to rearrange certain things within myself.' Eventually Swiatek was able to Saturday 'I came back to being my old kind of self,' even if she still is 'way more scared about eating something that will be contaminated.' On June 12 — a month to the day before facing Anisimova — Swiatek checked her phone's calendar to be sure — and a week after her 26-match French Open winning streak came to a close, it was time to get to work. Swiatek headed to the Spanish island of Mallorca to practice on grass. Next was a trip to Germany for more training before entering a tournament there. She made it all the way to that final before losing and tearing up during the post-match ceremony. Two weeks later at Wimbledon, Swiatek was all smiles, and as she left her last interview of the day, she joked: 'That was a good therapy session.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store