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New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
2025 Women's Euros odds: Spain favoured ahead of defending champs England
The 14th edition of the European Women's Championship will begin on Wednesday in Switzerland, which becomes the sixth nation to host both the men's and women's Euros. Spain are the team to beat as holders of both the Nations League and World Cup. Now it remains to be seen whether they can complete the set. Advertisement The Spaniards are the favourites (7/4 on Betfair) to triumph in Switzerland and win a tournament secured by their male counterparts last summer. In a sense, this is the final frontier for Montse Tome's side given Spain have traditionally underperformed in this particular tournament. They haven't made it past the quarter-finals of any of the last three Euros but surely the expectations this time are different. Spain waltzed through qualification with no team in League A picking up more points or scoring more goals. Thirty-five-year-old Jenni Hermoso has been left out of the squad despite being the nation's record goalscorer. They have talent all over the pitch, though, and a plethora of treble winners with Barcelona suggest this could be the moment this team joins the ranks of the immortals. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, England are second favourites (47/10) to go all the way. They won this tournament when they hosted it three years ago and narrowly lost the World Cup final when they faced Spain the following year. They'll try to do better than England's men and actually win a tournament on foreign soil. England's coach, Sarina Wiegman, is the undisputed master of the Euros. She has won the tournament in charge of the Netherlands and England, winning an astonishing 12 out of 12 matches along the way. There are no sure things in sport but Wiegman in the European Championship is about as close to one as you can get. Once again, however, Spain stand in the way. Most outside observers believe that one of England or Spain will triumph over the coming weeks. Germany's women feel somewhat like Brazil's men in that they have a long and storied history that hasn't quite been emulated in more recent times. They are, in fact, the most successful nation in the history of this competition, having won it a staggering eight times. Like their male counterparts in 1966, they lost the last final after extra time at Wembley against the hosts. Germany have appeared in 9 out of the 13 Euros finals but find themselves, uncharacteristically, not necessarily expected to go the distance on this occasion. Advertisement The big blow for Germany (5/1) is the absence of Alexandra Popp. The attacking great retired in October of last year with a record of 67 goals in 145 international appearances, thus making her the third top scorer in the nation's history. Popp notched six goals in five appearances at the last Euros before an injury forced her to miss that Wembley final. Only time will tell how the country will fare without her goals at a major tournament. France (6/1) are deemed the fourth most likely team to succeed according to the bookmakers, although a lot has changed with the ousting of Wendie Renard and Eugenie Le Sommer, two of the country's longest-serving players. French supporters hope this changing of the guard will help the team buck the trend of history, which has seen them play in more major tournaments (12) without reaching a final than any other nation. Will number 13 prove lucky for them? The French open against the defending champs on Saturday. Sweden (14/1) are dark horses. They won the inaugural Euros in 1984, their only major competition win to date. Like England, the Swedes have reached the semi-finals of the last four major tournaments, an enviable record, to say the least. Kosovare Asllani figures to be crucial for Sweden, not least in terms of experience. She has made 18 appearances at the Euros, more than any other current player, and all of those have been as a starter. The Netherlands (22/1) do not have particularly short odds to win the 16-team tournament despite winning it in 2017. The Dutch are on a decent run of form that has seen them win 19 of their last 26 matches at major tournaments, a record only bettered by holders England. The most significant weapon in the arsenal of the Netherlands, Vivianne Miedema, has more goals in the WSL than any other player in history. With an astonishing 99 goals for her country, Miedema is closing in on becoming the first Dutch player, man or woman, to reach a century of international goals. It's hard to bet against her reaching that milestone in Switzerland, especially if the nation continues its record of going deep in tournaments. In a group containing England and France, though, an extended run is far from a given. Advertisement Betting/odds links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Photo of Alexia Putellas: Alex Bierens de Haan / Getty Images)
The Independent
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
England prepare for European Women's Championship by thrashing Jamaica
England signed off their last assignment before the European Women's Championship in style with a comprehensive 7-0 victory over Jamaica at the King Power Stadium. The Lionesses were looking to gather some momentum before they face France in their Euros curtain-raiser next Saturday and were more or less out of sight at the half-time whistle. Ella Toone struck twice from distance either side of Lucy Bronze's header to give England a three-goal lead at the break, but things could have been different if Kayla McKenna's effort for the visitors had not been ruled out by VAR for offside at 1-0. England fans cheered when Lauren James was introduced midway through the second period for her first minutes since suffering a hamstring injury in April. England still had room for more though. Georgia Stanway, Alessia Russo, Aggie Beever-Jones and Beth Mead also got in on the act to give England the perfect send off before they attempt to defend their European crown. As expected, the home side started in dominant fashion and twice came close through Jess Carter and Stanway from outside the box. However, it was not long before England made the breakthrough. Toone picked up the ball in space and curled one beyond the despairing dive of Liya Brooks to open the scoring in the 10th minute. For all of England's early dominance, the visitors thought they had an equaliser out of nowhere until VAR gave Sarina Wiegman's side a reprieve. Amelia van Zanten's corner was nudged on by Allyson Swaby and into the path of McKenna, whose shot deflected off Alex Greenwood and trickled over the line. The players ran off to celebrate, but VAR showed Kalyssa van Zanten was stood in an offside position and in the line of sight of goalkeeper Hannah Hampton when the shot came in as referee Franziska Wildfeuer ruled the goal out. England rubbed salt in the wound and doubled their lead, Jess Carter crossing on to the head of Bronze as she nodded into a empty goal after Brooks came racing off her line. The hosts continued to pepper the Jamaica goal, Bronze's clever flick setting beautifully for Lauren Hemp to fire against the post 10 minutes before the break while Russo then hit the upright shortly after. The Lionesses were 3-0 up in first-half stoppage time when Toone curled another great effort from the edge of the area for her second via a post. England's fourth came 14 minutes into the second half. Brooks and the Jamaica defence did well to deny a barrage of pressure initially, but could not stop Stanway's bullet effort into the roof of the net. The defending European champions showed no mercy, James making an instant impact after coming off the bench and floated an inch-perfect cross for Russo to head home at the far post. England rounded off an easy afternoon in Leicester when Beever-Jones climbed off the bench and poked beyond Brooks before Mead fired home in stoppage time.
