Women's Euro 2025: England out to defend their crown but Spain the team to beat

The Women’s Euro 2025 is about to take centre stage, as some of the world's best teams and players head to Switzerland.

It is the 14th edition of the Women's Euros, which began in 1984.

The competition runs from July 2 to 27, as Switzerland becomes only the sixth country to host both the men’s and women’s European Championships.

Of the 16 qualified teams, only two are making their Euros debuts – Poland and Wales. But who are the favourites?

It is difficult to look past world champions Spain. La Roja are looking to complete a full trophy set with a maiden Euros victory, having also clinched the inaugural Nations League title last year to follow up their 2023 World Cup triumph.

There will be some fierce competition, though.

Holders England are bound to be no pushovers, while eight-time European champions Germany can never be discounted. France are looking to finally end their major tournament duck, and the Netherlands and Sweden have plenty of talent to call on, too.

Only five nations have ever won the Euros, and just two have won it more than once, but will that change this year? 

With the help of the Opta supercomputer, we run through the favourites and the outside contenders.

THE FAVOURITES

Spain

La Roja head into this tournament not only as world champions, but also having won the inaugural Women's Nations League - a success that marked a great start for coach Montse Tome, whose team beat France 2-0 in the final last year.

Spain are aiming to become only the second women's team in history to win the World Cup and Euros consecutively, after Germany, who won five tournaments in a row between 2001 and 2009 (2003 and 2007 World Cups, 2001, 2005 and 2009 Euros).

While they have failed to make it past the quarter-finals at each of the last three editions of the Euros and have never reached a final, Spain are expected to lift the trophy at the end of July by our supercomputer, with a 24.8% chance of success.

They are also deemed most likely to reach the quarter-finals (87.5%), as well as the last four (65.9%) and the showpiece match (38.9%).

La Roja proved their worth in qualifying, topping their group, while no team in League A won more points (15) or scored more goals (18) than they did.

They will, however, be without all-time leading scorer Jenni Hermoso, who has netted 57 goals in 123 appearances for her country but has been left out of the squad. Yet they still boast a star-studded pool of talent, which includes 10 Barcelona players fresh off winning a domestic treble.

Spain's campaign begins against Portugal, and they are expected to top Group B (66.2%), with Italy expected to qualify with them. 

Player to watch: Aitana Bonmati

Two-time Ballon d'Or Feminin winner Bonmati made more passes that ended in the final third (126) than any other player at Euro 2022.

Meanwhile, with 182, she also ranked first for passes completed in the opposition half, ahead of England's Keira Walsh (171).

Bonmati has had another hugely successful season at Barcelona, and she will be looking to cement her status as the world's best player.

England

England have a title to defend in Switzerland, having claimed their first major tournament win when they triumphed on home soil in 2022.

The Lionesses are now aiming to be the second team to win the Euros in back-to-back editions after Germany, who won six in a row between 1995 and 2013 and two in a row between 1989 and 1991 (one as West Germany).

And they have a coach with a winning formula. Sarina Wiegman became the first boss to win the Women’s Euros with two different nations last time out, with her record at the tournament standing at 100%; she has 12 wins from 12 games.

In fact, should England progress to the quarter-finals, Wiegman will surpass Hope Powell and Christina Theune-Meyer (15) as the coach with the most matches managed at the Euros.

While England are not favourites, they are given a 16.1% chance of retaining their crown and are expected to face Spain in another major final, with the Opta prediction model rating their likelihood of making the showpiece in Basel at 28.2%.

England have won each of their last 14 group-stage games at major tournaments (World Cup/Euros), the longest ever such run by a European nation, and are just expected to claim top spot in a tough Group D (40.6%).

But England will be hoping to recapture their form from their stellar run to the trophy in 2022, in which they scored 22 goals, a record for a team in a single edition of the competition (men’s and women’s).

They have come under criticism in recent months after struggling to maintain their form – they won only three of their Nations League group games (D1 L2) – and finished second behind Spain in Group A3.

England were also rocked by the international retirements of Mary Earps and Fran Kirby prior to the tournament, with Millie Bright also ruling herself out due to personal reasons, meaning they will be without a lot of experience, so that has not been ideal preparation for Wiegman.

The Lionesses face France in their group opener, and both teams are expected to go through to the quarter-finals, but it could be tight – Les Bleues finished above Wiegman’s side in qualifying for the tournament.

Player to watch: Beth Mead

England may have lost some big players, but they have a superstar in Mead, who was the joint-Golden Boot winner in the last edition (six goals), and Alessia Russo, who netted 12 goals in the Women’s Super League in 2024-25.

Mead also holds the record (since 2013, from when Opta have such data on record) for most assists at a single edition of the Euros, having provided four assists in 2022. She finished the tournament with 10 goal involvements.

France

France are entering a new era, with long-time captain Wendie Renard, who has made 168 appearances, and all-time leading goalscorer Eugenie Le Sommer, who has scored 94 goals in 200 caps, left out of the squad for the tournament.

But France will hope this new era sees them get over the final hurdle; they have played in more major tournaments without ever reaching a final than any other European nation (12 – seven Euros, five World Cups).

They have progressed from the group stage on each of their last eight appearances at major tournaments (four apiece) and reached the semi-finals at the Euros for the first time in 2022, falling to Germany.

In fact, France have played (26) and won (11 – D8 L7) the most games at the Euros among teams that have never reached the final.

France are given a 15.3% probability of winning a first major tournament, with their chances of reaching each of the knockout stages just marginally lower than England’s. Their hopes of reaching their first final are rated at 27.4%.

Player to watch: Kadidiatou Diani

No team recorded more shots than France at Euro 2022 (108 – level with Germany), but only three teams had a worse shooting accuracy (42%). So, it will be up to the likes of Kadidiatou Diani and Clara Mateo to improve on that as they aim to translate their fine club form to the international stage.

Diani shone for Lyon last term, as she netted 16 goals in all competitions, while adding a further 10 assists. She already has five goal involvements (two goals, three assists) for France in 2025.

Germany

Germany are the most successful team in the history of the Euros, winning eight titles, and they fell just short of a ninth in 2022, going down 2-1 to England in extra time at Wembley.

It would be no surprise to see them in the latter stages of the tournament once more, as they have appeared in 69% of the Euro finals in history (9/13), though the last edition was the first time they had lost one.

Germany have played (46) and won (36) the most games at the Euros, boasting the best win rate (78%), though they are only fourth favourites to get their hands on the trophy (14.5%).

Only Spain finished first in their group in more of the pre-tournament simulations, with Germany qualifying as Group C winners in 48.3%. They face Poland in their opening match.

They also have the second-highest likelihood of making the quarter-finals (77.3%) but slip further down the pecking order for the last four (40.7%) and the final (26.3%).

Germany have both scored more goals (102) and averaged more goals per game (2.2) than any other nation in the competition’s history. 

Player to watch: Selina Cerci

Six of Germany's 14 goals at the Euros three years ago came from the now-retired Alexandra Popp.

There are big shoes to fill, then, but Cerci heads into this tournament having scored 16 league goals for Hoffenheim in 2024-25, which ranked behind only Lineth Beerensteyn (17) in the German top flight.

OUTSIDE BETS

Sweden

Sweden were the inaugural winners of the Euros back in 1984 and have never failed to make it out of the group stage.

Only twice in their previous 11 appearances at the tournament have they failed to make it to the last four, in 2009 and 2017, while they have finished as runners-up on three occasions.

Sweden and England are the only two European nations to reach the semi-final stage in each of the last three major tournaments. They finished third at the 2019 and 2023 World Cups and lost to the Lionesses in the Euro 2022 semi-finals.

They start against Denmark but are expected to finish second in Group C, behind Germany. However, they are given a 58.7% chance of reaching the quarter-finals. Their chances of a second Euros triumph sit at just 6%.

Netherlands

Like Sweden, the Netherlands are given a slim outside chance of claiming a second title, with the Opta supercomputer rating their chances at 5.4%.

The Netherlands have won 17 of their last 22 games across the World Cup and Euros (D2 L3), with England (20) the only European nation to win more major tournament matches since Euro 2017.

They are in Group D along with England and France, though, meaning they would first have to upset the odds to make it to the knockout stage.

The Netherlands have some serious firepower, however. WSL record goalscorer Vivianne Miedema will lead their line, and she is three goals away from becoming the first man or woman to score 100 times for the nation.

Fellow attacker Beerensteyn, meanwhile, will be looking to build on her excellent season with Wolfsburg.

Denmark

Finalists in 2017, Denmark have been drawn into a tough group along with Germany, Sweden and Poland.

However, they are the only team to claim multiple wins over Germany at the Euros (W2 L2).

They have one of Europe's best attackers, too, in Pernille Harder. 

Since she joined Bayern Munich ahead of the 2023-24 season, only Nicole Anyomi (25) has scored more goals in the German Bundesliga than Harder (23), who netted Denmark's last goal at Euro 2017 and only goal at Euro 2022. 

However, even with Harder at her best, Denmark are not fancied to go all the way.

Their chances of clinching their maiden European crown come in at 5.4%.