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Forbes
3 days ago
- General
- Forbes
2025 UEFA Women's Nations League: France Stay Perfect, Switzerland Relegated And Ukraine Promoted
France maintained a 100% record in their group. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images) ... More With the league stage played out in the space of a few months in the first half of the year, the 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League has served as a great appetizer ahead of the Euros. Many of the tournament favorites were in action in League A, while there were some interesting stories and results elsewhere too. Each of the top three from the inaugural edition of the Women's Nations League sealed a return to the knockouts, but they all did so in different ways. In Group A1, Germany's first piece of competitive action under new head coach Christian Wück resulted in an entertaining 2-2 draw with the Netherlands. They proceeded to run away with the group thereafter, scoring 24 more goals and winning all five remaining group games comprehensively, including an emphatic 4-0 triumph over the Dutch to seal first place at the end of May. Austria finished third with six points, while Scotland was relegated after losing each of their first five games. France was even more commanding in Group A2, as they won all six games and kept clean sheets on all but one occasion. Norway was a distant second and followed by Iceland, while upcoming Euro host Switzerland finished last with just two points. Legendary head coach Pia Sundhage certainly has a task on her hands ahead of this summer's big tournament. Group A3 had all sorts of drama from start to finish. Just on the opening day, European champion England was held to a draw by Portugal while world champion Spain had to stage a dramatic late turnaround to beat Belgium 3-2. Ultimately, the two heavy-hitters went head to head for the top spot and semi-final berth. England won their first meeting by a solitary goal, but Spain staged another turnaround in the reverse fixture to win the group on the final day. Montse Tomé's side might have accumulated 15 points, but they are now without a clean sheet in 10 games and will need to tighten up at the back to meet expectations at the Euros. Spain's defense never looked entirely solid in this Nations League campaign. (Photo by Eric ...) The last group was nicely set up for an exciting finish as three teams remained in contention for the top spot on the final day, with only Wales' position confirmed at the bottom. However, Sweden raced to a three-goal lead in just over 10 minutes and went on to beat Denmark 6-1, leaving little room for any drama. Italy capitalized to finish second and avoid the relegation playoff. League B featured many teams that participated in the Euro 2025 Qualifying playoffs last year. Among them were Poland, who are set to make their debut at a major women's international tournament this summer. They certainly warmed up nicely by dominating Group B1, finishing with double of second-placed Northern Ireland's eight-point tally. Slovenia and Ireland finished level on points at the top of Group B2 with 15 each, but the former's 4-0 home head-to-head win earned them the top spot and with it, direct promotion to League A. At the bottom, Greece got the unwanted record of being the only pointless team in the top two divisions of the Nations League. Euro qualifiers Finland faced a tougher test in Group B3, where they were beaten to the top spot by Serbia. So, they will have to compete against a League A side in the promotion/relegation playoffs, which will be held in October. The promoted side from Group B4 was Ukraine, who edged ahead of Czechia thanks to a superior head-to-head record. Croatia was relegated after losing each of their first five games, thus finishing behind Albania. The directly promoted teams from League C are Slovakia, Malta, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Israel and Latvia. The Faroe Islands impressed by accumulating 10 points in six games, but perhaps the biggest story of all was Liechtenstein's final-day draw with Armenia, which earned them their first point in competitive action. Though it might not seem much, it marks a commendable effort from a team taking part in their first-ever official tournament.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
Euro 2025 host Switzerland loses to Norway in stadium close to Alpine rockslide village
SION, Switzerland (AP) — A full rehearsal for their opening day game at the Women's European Championship saw host Switzerland beaten 1-0 by Norway on Tuesday in the UEFA Nations League. The game was played at Sion, a Euro 2025 host venue about 40 kilometers (25 miles) down the River Rhone from the valley where the village of Blatten was destroyed last week by a landslide of rock and ice. The stadium observed a minute's silence before kickoff. On July 2, Switzerland will host Norway in the prime-time game on opening day of the Euros — likely not forgetting the manner of the only goal Tuesday in the fourth minute. When a Swiss defender purposely put a deflated ball out of play, Norway took the throw-in with a fresh ball and started an attack. That quickly led to a shooting chance for Vilde Boe Risa to score. 'It's not even a goal, because they haven't played with 'fair play,'' Switzerland midfielder Smilla Vallotto told broadcaster RTS. 'That motivates me for the next match. It's really not possible that they did that.' The young Swiss team coached by Pia Sundhage, who led the United States to Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012, is now relegated from the Nations League top tier in a group won by France, which beat Iceland 2-0 Tuesday. After hosting Norway in Basel in four weeks' time, Switzerland will play Iceland in Bern and Finland in Geneva. ___ AP soccer:
