Latest news with #EuroChampionship
Business Insider
4 days ago
- Sport
- Business Insider
Where to watch England vs. Spain: Live stream Women's Euro Final free from anywhere
If you want to find out where to watch England vs. Spain in the 2025 Women's Euro final this Sunday, you've come to the right place. Keep reading to learn the best ways to stream the match around the globe, as well as free options. In terms of sequels, this is about as big as they come. England and Spain last met in the World Cup final two years ago when Olga Carmona's goal was enough to claim a 1-0 victory for La Roja. England, though, are the defending European champions and would dearly love to retain their crown in Basel. The Lionesses got here the hard way, losing their opening match against France and relying on penalty shoot-outs and last-minute winners in the knockouts. That has lent them a certain air of invincibility, however, with Sarina Wiegman's squad seemingly never accepting the idea of calling it quits. Spain's passage has been more comfortable, smashing in 14 goals across their three group games, before overcoming hosts Switzerland and eventually getting past Germany after extra time in the semi-finals. With Esther González and Alexia Putellas leading the tournament scoring, they clearly have the firepower to vanquish England on Sunday. Can La Roja win their first Euro Championship this weekend, or will the Lionesses roar again? Find out below with our guide to watching England vs. Spain live streams. Where to watch England vs. Spain: quick links US: FOX DirecTV MySports (5-day free trial) Sling TV Blue (50% off first month) Fubo Pro (5-day free trial) UK: BBC iPlayer (Free) ITVX (Free) Access streaming anywhere: NordVPN (30-day money-back guarantee) When: Sunday, July 27 at 12 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. BST / 12 a.m. AWST (Mon.) Follow our WhatsApp and Instagram for more deals and buying guides. Where to watch England vs. Spain for free With England's Lionesses making it through, the UK has free live streams of the Women's Euro final. It will be shown on both the BBC One and ITV1 — the two main free-to-air terrestrial television channels in the UK. That means England vs. Spain will also be available to stream for free live and on demand via their respective streaming services: BBC iPlayer and ITVX. The choice is yours, depending on whose coverage and commentators you prefer. Watching La Roja in Spain? It's free there, too, streaming on the RTVE Play platform. How to watch England vs. Spain from anywhere The 2025 Women's Euros collides with vacation season, which may mean that you're overseas when the final is on and potentially can't find somewhere to watch it. Try to watch on the iPlayer or ITVX, however, and you'll find that you can't due to geographical restrictions. Thankfully, there's technology in the form of a VPN (standing for Virtual Private Network) that lets you stream the action as if you were back home, cheering on from your sofa. You may have already heard of NordVPN, which we rate as the very best VPN out there right now. It's ridiculously easy to set up and use, unblocks just about every streaming service you can think of, and doubles up as an extra layer of encryption for all your internet traffic. Plus, you can give it a try without risk thanks to its 30-day money-back guarantee. Read more about the benefits in our in-depth NordVPN review. How to watch England vs. Spain with a VPN Sign up for a VPN if you don't already have one. Install it on the device you're using to watch. Turn it on and set it to the location of your streaming service. Navigate to your streaming service, such as BBC iPlayer or ITVX, and create an account if necessary. Enjoy the match. Where to watch England vs. Spain in the US FOX is showing the England vs. Spain final in the US, meaning it will be widely available to watch on cable plans or through over-the-air antennae. Don't have access to FOX through those means but still want to watch the Women's Euro final? You can tune into the network through your choice of month-to-month live TV streaming services. DirecTV is one such provider that includes FOX and can be tailored to your TV viewing habits. If it's just sports that you're interested in, then it would make sense to opt for its DirecTV MySports genre pack. It costs $70/month and includes FOX, FS1, FS2, ESPN, TNT, USA, NFL Network, NBA TV, MLB Network, and the Golf Channel among its dedicated channel lineup. FOX also appears in its regular 'signature' plans that start from $85/month. All DirecTV plans come with a five-day free trial. Sling TV is one of the most affordable options for cord-cutters. It features local FOX channels in select cities (check if yours is covered here) with its 40+ channel Blue plan that costs $46/month. If you're new to Sling, you also get the perk of paying half price for your first month. It's flexible, too, allowing you to cancel your subscription at any time you wish. Fubo is one of the most comprehensive cord-cutting services on the market and FOX is a staple of all its plans; even its entry-level Pro plan includes 150+ channels (and often more than 200). Subscriptions start at $85/month, but you can save $20 on your first month and there's the option to try before you buy with its five-day free trial. Like Sling, we suggest you double-check that the local FOX channels are carried in your location. Where to watch England vs. Spain in the UK As explained above, England vs. Spain will be shown on both the BBC and ITV on UK television screens, with the BBC iPlayer and ITVX showing live streams of the game online for anybody that has a valid TV licence. You can watch through your web browser and apps for both are available on pretty much every streaming device you can think of, including smartphones, tablets, games consoles, Smart TVs, and the likes of Apple TV and Amazon Fire sticks. Gabby Logan is on main presenting duties for the BBC, with Robyn Cowen the lead commentator and analysis from former England players Jill Scott and Ellen White. Laura Woods, Ian Wright and Karen Carney lead the ITV coverage. Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Business Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
WSL hoping to turn Lionesses fever at Euros into huge boost for domestic game
Kitted out in an 'Everyone is Watching the Lionesses' T-shirt before boarding a flight to Basel, the WSL Football chief executive, Nikki Doucet, describes England's extraordinary progress to a third successive major final as another 'ignition moment' for the sport, but the international game has long since been on fire. While not everyone has been watching in an increasingly fractured television landscape, ITV's peak audience of 10.2 million for England's dramatic semi-final win over Italy on Tuesday was its biggest of the year, and with live coverage of Sunday's final against Spain shared with the BBC, more broadcast records could tumble. The challenge for Doucet and the clubs is to convert more of the millions captivated by women's football every other summer into regular fans, who attend matches, watch games on TV and buy some of the increasingly wide-ranging merchandise springing up in stores across the country. With 84 WSL players involved at a European Championship from which every match has been broadcast live on terrestrial TV, the past few weeks have been a marketing department's dream, particularly with new heroes emerging such as Michelle Agyemang. 'Women's football is growing, period,' Doucet says. 'If England win on Sunday there's going to be another massive moment, but even if they don't win everyone is still going to want to watch Michelle and Chloe [Kelly]. They're still going to want to come and watch Hannah [Hampton]. They're going to want to come and watch Olivia Smith now. And we haven't talked about [the Australian star forward] Sam Kerr coming back [from injury] for Chelsea. 'There are more and more icons, more and more players that people want to come and watch, more and more stories that they know. This summer has been another ignition moment, and if England win it will be another massive moment of joy, but even if they don't win, it's still an incredible achievement. Winning is just another cherry on the cake, a cake that keeps growing.' The Women's Super League was able to use England's historic success in winning the 2022 European Championship to grow the competition, with matchday attendances across the league increasing by 172% and TV viewing figures rising by 33% the following season, but are better placed now to take full advantage of Lioness fever. From being the responsibility of a small department in the Football Association three years, club football is now run by WSL Football, an independent company led by Doucet, with a full-time staff of 60. A new fully professional WSL2, which includes a higher minimum wage provision, launches in September. Every game in the top two tiers will be broadcast live for the first time, either on Sky Sports, the BBC or YouTube. 'We're the only country in the world that has two fully professional leagues,' Doucet says. 'There's a reason why 84 players in the Euros play in the Women's Super League. I had a player tell me at the Euros, that the perception is you have to be an international player to play in the WSL. It's the most competitive league in the world. And to be a great footballer you want to play in the best league.' With new long-term domestic TV contracts for the WSL and FA Cup starting this season, and the biggest sponsorship deal in women's sport with Barclays running for another three years, the immediate priority is increasing match-day attendances. Despite long-term growth trends the average WSL crowd fell by 10% last season, a drop Deloitte's Sports Business Group attributed to 'a lack of international football drawing attention to the domestic game', which should not be a problem this year. Of greater concern was the fact TV viewing figures fell by 35%, with Chelsea's success in running away with a sixth successive WSL title another mitigating factor. As with their trailblazing success on the pitch in the 1990s and 2000s, Arsenal have led the way in commercialising women's football. Before the 2022 Euros the club announced that six home games in the following season would be moved from their usual ground at Meadow Park to the Emirates Stadium, and began selling tickets on the weekend of England's victory in the final against Germany, which led to 16,000 tickets being sold in 24 hours. Arsenal attracted a then WSL record crowd of 47,367 for the north London derby in September 2022, after the Euros win, before achieving a sell-out of 60,160 against Manchester United in February of last year. The club have also gradually upped the number of matches played at the Emirates over the past three years, from six to eight to 13 last season, and all of their WSL fixtures and Champions League knockout games will take place there in the upcoming campaign. More than 15,000 season-tickets have now been sold – a huge leap from the 1,000 that were available at Meadow Park – and in another innovation half season-tickets will also be available for the first time. Other clubs are attempting to follow their lead, with Everton moving into Goodison Park, and Chelsea and Aston Villa planning to stage more matches at Stamford Bridge and Villa Park respectively. The WSL has also taken steps to boost ticket sales, with next season's fixtures announced on Friday to coincide with Euro final fever, and a regular noon Sunday kick-off slot agreed with the broadcasters to give fans more certainty. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion 'For the clubs matchday attendance and creating a fan experience that rivals going to a Euros is a priority,' Doucet says. 'What Everton is going to do at Goodison Park is really exciting.' For Adam Kelly, president of media rights at the sponsorship company IMG, the commercial value of women's football is 'nowhere near' its peak. IMG negotiated the North American Women's Soccer League's £45m-a-year US TV deal, which is worth three times that of the WSL, so his bullishness appears well founded. 'Women's football has really gone to another level and is starting to realise its commercial potential,' Kelly says. 'We feel there's a lot more room for growth. Getting the attention of tens of millions of people in this market is hugely valuable. In a very unpredictable broadcast world one of the few certainties is that the final will bring more record figures. The task now is to convert attention into revenue. The best way to reach people is through broadcast, the way to convert them into customers is through an intense digital programme, and you create fans through a brilliant matchday atmosphere driven by ticket sales. The clubs have to do all three. 'There's a huge upside to come as there's a new audience out there. Many people enjoy watching women's tennis in a different way to men's tennis, but they're equally valid. We're nowhere near the peak.' England's players will be among the first to benefit from an anticipated growth in sponsorship deals, according to Marcel Knobil, founder of the consultancy firm Superbrands. 'Sponsors want reassurance they are associating with success, and with three successive finals this England team almost comes with a guarantee,' Knobil says. 'The investment from sponsors such as EE, Nike, and Xero have already increased significantly in recent years, and reaching another final will see a further acceleration of revenues. The earnings, from salary and sponsorships, and purchase value of many of the team, especially the likes of Agyemang, Kelly and Hampton, will continue to rise.'
New York Times
09-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
This was Sarina Wiegman's England at their very best – energetic and thriving under pressure
It will never be remembered as fondly as the six straight victories throughout the last European Championship, which featured an 8-0 group-stage win, a come-from-behind quarter-final victory, a 4-0 semi-final success and a memorable extra-time triumph in the final. But their 4-0 thrashing of the Netherlands in Zurich was perhaps England's most impressive performance of the Sarina Wiegman era. Under immense pressure, the Lionesses controlled almost the entire game, shutting out the Dutch and creating chances from every angle. Advertisement In the immediate aftermath of the 2-1 defeat by France on Saturday, Wiegman refused to concede her starting XI had been top-heavy and unbalanced, putting too much pressure on Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway in the deeper midfield positions. But the tweak to her side for England's second group game created something more balanced: Ella Toone in for Beth Mead, with Lauren James moving to the right. England offered more energy in the centre of the pitch and James was perfectly prominent from the right, the role where she has generally played her best football for England. She is able to pop up in central positions when playing from the wing, as she showed for both goals, the first of which was a magnificent strike. But there was further change not evident from looking at the team sheet, too. Jess Carter, overrun at left-back against France, moved into the centre of defence, switching positions with Alex Greenwood. This was clearly something England wanted to keep secret: in the warm-up, they spent most of the time practising drills in their 'old' positions. There is a history here: in England's goalless draw with the United States late last year, they swapped positions just a minute into the game. Wiegman loves their versatility, even if Carter has recently voiced her frustration at perennially being considered a utility player, rather than a specialist in one role. She was untroubled at centre-back, the position she prefers, while Greenwood provided a left-footed option for crosses towards the head of Alessia Russo, who really should have converted an early chance from that supply line. Russo will be the only England player coming away from the game disappointed, having failed to find the ner. But her close friend Ella Toone rounded off the scoring, and while Toone is not always the most prominent of No 10s, she tends to pop up in the box at the right time. Advertisement In fact, wherever you looked, there were contributions that justified Wiegman's decisions. Her choice of Hannah Hampton as No 1 for this tournament prompted plenty of questions, as well as the sudden retirement of Mary Earps. In 2022, Earps was herself initially favoured over other options for her distribution skills, but it is clear Hampton is now superior in that respect. Her exquisite, back-to-front through-ball for Russo led to England's opener, and from there she had little traditional goalkeeping duties to perform. Meanwhile, Wiegman's faith in Stanway, who is clearly a key part of her plans despite missing the entire second half of the season for Bayern Munich, paid off when the midfielder struck England's second. Wiegman is increasingly criticised for 'having her favourites', but there is a reason they are her favourites. Wiegman was keen to stress in her post-match interview that the Netherlands are very different opponents to France, and suggested there was little point comparing the two different line-ups. That is a fair argument, and it seems unlikely Greenwood would have fared well against the speed of Delphine Cascarino, for example. But this was nevertheless roughly the sort of system many England fans would have liked from the outset of this competition, and Toone was the subject of regular chanting from England supporters throughout the game. Wiegman did concede that it 'did look like a more balanced team', and it would be a surprise if she deviated significantly for the final group game against Wales. But ultimately the credit should go to the players. It should not come as a surprise that this group is capable of delivering under pressure. In 2022, they won a European Championship on home soil with a huge level of expectation. They won a World Cup semi-final against hosts Australia two years ago in an atmosphere that, in the context of women's football, felt almost unprecedented in its hostility. Still, this was a different type of pressure, when losing would have meant ridicule, when the players would have been criticised for being unfocused, when squad harmony and a lack of hunger would have been blamed, when the tabloids might have got stuck into players' personal lives. Those are the go-to concepts when England fail at football. But Wiegman and her players are rarely found wanting in psychological terms. The issue against France was a pure footballing one, and whether or not Wiegman regrets her XI that night, she has found a system that will surely take England through to the knockout stage. And while it will most likely be in second place rather than first, that will probably mean ending up on the opposite half of the draw to Spain — like at the last World Cup, the team to avoid for as long as possible. Suddenly, that 2-1 defeat by France feels like a blessing in disguise.
The Sun
09-07-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
England 4 Holland 0: Lionesses bounce back from France defeat with Dutch demolition thanks to Lauren James double
THE LIONESSES have lift-off thanks to Lauren James. England produced a brilliant response to silence their critics and roar past Holland 4-0 to finally get their European Championship defence going. 6 6 6 A brace from James provided the perfect tonic to cure any potential hangover from the opening day defeat to France. And Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone added the finishing touches as they sent out an ominous warning to Wales. The pressure was on holders England and Sarina Wiegman going into this one at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich. Another loss could potentially have ended their hopes of retaining the crown and meant Sunday's showdown with the Welsh could have been a dead rubber. But England will secure a place in the knockouts if they triumph in the Battle of Britain clash in St. Gallen after downing the Dutch. Wiegman, who led her home nation, the Netherlands, to Euro joy in 2017, demanded a reaction after the 2-1 setback against the French. Rather than get caught up in any hysteria, the experienced coach instead called for her troops to do their talking on the pitch. And they did just that. England, with Toone in for Beth Mead as their only change, flew out the traps. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 6 Lauren Hemp's trickery down the left led to her putting it on a plate for Alessia Russo, but the forward could only head wide unmarked from six yards. Holland survived that one, but they could do nothing to stop the genius of James moments later. The new Lionesses set to make their mark at the Women's Euro's as England kick off their title defence against France The move started with goalkeeper Hannah Hampton picking out Russo with a brilliant low pass into her feet. The 26-year-old Arsenal ace slipped it to James on the edge of the box and she cut in from the right, working it on to her left, and unleashed a piledriver straight into the top corner. The Chelsea star, whose older brother Reece also plays for the Blues and England, is fast turning into THE key player for Wiegman. She has eight goals and eight assists in her last 13 starts for her country and showed everybody why she is one of the first names on the team-sheet. James nearly returned the favour for Russo, but the latter could only flick her floated strike wide. The pressure was mounting and they got their reward when Stanway rifled low into the bottom right corner from 25 yards before the break. 6 6 The floodgates were open, and James could smell blood. Pinball in the Dutch box led to Hemp's shot deflecting out to her, and she coolly slotted home from six yards for her second. The Lionesses were still on the hunt and hungry for more, and they did not have to wait long to bite another chunk out of their completely outclassed opponents. Russo made it a hat-trick of assists as she teed up best pal Toone to score the fourth. Finally, and perhaps mercifully for them, Holland did have something to smile about when James made way to a huge ovation late on. Her work was done here. Now both she and England know the job in hand - beat Wales and it's off to the last-eight.
Reuters
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Swedes take to the air to book Euro 2025 knockout spot
LUCERNE, Switzerland, July 8 (Reuters) - Sweden subjected Poland to an all-out aerial attack, scoring three headed goals in a 3-0 win to reach the knockout stages of the women's European Championship, with captain Kosovare Asllani playing the role of air traffic controller throughout. The mercurial 35-year-old sent an early looping header bouncing off the woodwork before teeing up Stina Blackstenius to open the scoring. She then netted a header herself after the break, with Lina Hurtig adding a third from a corner as the Swedes guaranteed a top-two spot in Group C and a place in the next round. They will face Germany in their final group game on Saturday to decide who finishes top. "The plan was to attack through the flanks and through the wings, because we knew we would have a lot of space there, so we tried to attack, and got a lot of crosses in," Asllani told Reuters. "The first goal, I waited one second extra, waited for their defenders to move, for me to chip it in to Stina. So it's three headers, three beautiful goals, the three points." The Swedes never relented, pushing down the wings throughout the game. "We had seen clips where they are centred themselves a lot, so it felt natural for us to go wide and work from there. It worked for the whole game, so we just kept going at it," midfielder Filippa Angeldahl told Reuters. "We'll go through Germany and we'll take a lot of things with us from today. Obviously we're strong in the box and we want to get in the box as much as possible." With Poland and Denmark now eliminated, it remains to be seen whether the Swedes will adopt the same tactics against Germany when the two sides battle it out in Zurich, and Asllani had a steely look when asked what the plan would be. "We want to win the group. That's clear," she said.
