Women's Euro 2025: Miedema and Mead hunt milestones in Switzerland

The stage is set in Switzerland for the biggest stars to continue to break some significant personal and national records.

A big question is, will there be a new team to lift the trophy? There has been a different winner in each of the last three Women’s Euros (Germany, the Netherlands and England) – it is the first time that has happened since the first three editions of the tournament between 1984 and 1989 (Sweden, Norway and West Germany).

But that is a record the likes of Sweden, France and Spain will be keen to break.

A record has been broken before a ball has been kicked, though. A total of six head coaches are taking charge of a different nation to their home country.

They are England’s Sarina Wiegman (Dutch), Switzerland’s Pia Sundhage (Swedish), Denmark’s Andree Jeglertz (Swedish), Norway’s Gemma Grainger (English), Belgium’s Elisabet Gunnarsdottir (Icelandic) and Wales’ Rhian Wilkinson (Canadian). That is the most such coaches in a single edition of the tournament.

Wiegman has already etched her name into the history books and is European managerial royalty. She heads to the tournament attempting to become the second head coach to win the tournament in three consecutive editions, after Germany’s Tina Theune.

But there is another Dutchwoman hoping to make history at Euro 2025.

Vivianne Miedema has had a good season at Manchester City despite suffering from some ongoing injury troubles, and after missing out on the World Cup in 2023 through injury, she will be determined to make up for lost time with her country.

An unprecedented century

The pedigree of Dutch strikers in world football is well known across both the men’s and women's game. The likes of Johan Cruyff, Dennis Bergkamp, Robin van Persie, Patrick Kluivert, Lieke Martens and Ruud van Nistelrooy have all donned the famous Oranje to represent the iconic jersey.

None of the above, however, have ever come close to reaching the significant milestone of 100 goals for their country. Miedema, though, is on the brink.

Miedema sits on 99 goals in 125 appearances for the Netherlands.

She made her senior debut for the Netherlands on 26 September 2013, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute for Martens in a 4–0 victory over Albania during 2015 World Cup qualifying.

Miedema could become the 19th woman to have scored at least 100 international goals. Christine Sinclair is the highest international goalscorer of all time, with 190 to her name for Canada. Only three male players have netted 100 international goals – Cristiano Ronaldo (138), Lionel Messi (112) and Ali Daei (108).

While she has a way to go to catch Sinclair, Miedema could become just the sixth European woman to hit a ton of international goals. The Dutch face tournament debutants Wales in their opening Group D game on Saturday, so Miedema will be licking her lips.

On the men’s side, Van Persie and Memphis Depay are the top scorers for the Netherlands, with 50 goals each. With the calibre of Dutch legends in that list, and how far she is ahead of her nearest challengers, it makes this potential Miedema achievement all the more special.

Miedema has scored four goals in eight appearances at the Euros, averaging a goal every 186.5 minutes. She is the highest-scoring Dutchwoman in the competition, and has netted seven goals at major tournaments overall, from 19 such appearances.

The 28-year-old is no stranger to records, too. Her tally of 87 Women’s Super League goals is five more than any other player in the competition’s history. Her 123 goal contributions is also a WSL record, four more than next-best Beth Mead (119), who happens to be Miedema’s partner.

Despite missing the entirety of the last World Cup through injury, the only European players to score more goals across the last four major tournaments (World Cup/Euros) than Miedema (seven) are Germany’s Alexandra Popp (12) and England's Ellen White (nine), who have now retired from international football and football altogether, respectively.

Man City team-mate Alex Greenwood emphasised the size of the achievement ahead of the tournament.

Greenwood told Stats Perform: "For me personally, I hope she gets that, but I hope not against us [England]. I have so much respect for Viv. We've been able to work with her over the last 12 months.

"I think even with not feeling 100% all the time, what she can bring to a match is game-changing. She can change a game in a moment and she's a great person, a great personality.

"Of course, I wish her well at the tournament, but not against us!"

Former Arsenal team-mate Lotte Wubben-Moy knows just how much of a threat Miedema can be, explaining the qualities that have seen her get to the brink of this incredible milestone.

"Viv, as a player, is very intuitive. I think she plays a lot to the right side, looking for sweeping switches across to the left," Wubben-Moy said.

"She's not someone who is going to press enthusiastically, but you know that wherever she's hanging about, there could be danger.

"She'll be on your back shoulder, and she can pop a shot from anywhere, pretty much from 30 or 40 yards out."

Keeping it in the family

It could be a family affair of records broken, as Miedema’s partner Mead will look to better her six-goal haul from Euro 2022.

Mead (Euro 2022), Popp (Euro 2022) and Inka Grings (Euro 2009) jointly hold the record for most goals scored at a single edition of the tournament (six each).

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 in 2022. She finished that tournament with 10 goal involvements.

Having contributed to England’s 7-0 rout of Jamaica last week, Mead will be full of confidence coming off the back of a Champions League-winning campaign with Arsenal, and she will fancy her chances of improving on her last Euros effort.

Teams who are defending champions have never failed to progress through the group stages at the Women's Euros, though the last two such sides have exited the tournament in the quarter-finals.

That came after a run where the first 10 defending champion teams made at least the semis, so England will be hoping to restore that trend.

England, though, are in the group of death, so the Lionesses will want Mead on top form starting with their opening match against France. They will not want to set a milestone of being the first holders to not progress through the first stage.

OTHERS TO WATCH

Kosovare Asllani

Asllani has made more appearances (18) at the Euros than any other current international player.

She has started each of Sweden’s 18 Women’s Euros games since Euro 2009, the longest ever starting run by a player in the competition. Currently on 197 caps, she will be looking to reach a double century by leading Sweden to the knockout stages.

Meanwhile, only Norway’s Solveig Gulbrandsen (20 – 2001-2013) and Italy’s Patrizia Panico (19 – 1997-2013) have appeared in more consecutive matches overall for a nation at the tournament.

Cristiana Girelli

Since her first goal for Italy in September 2013, Girelli has scored 39 times across the Euros and the World Cup (including qualifiers), at least 20 more than any other player for the Azzurre in that period.

At 35, she is ageing like a fine Italian wine, and seemingly getting better in front of goal. Her contributions will likely be key if Italy are to make it out of a tough group that includes Belgium, Spain and Portugal.

Ewa Pajor

Among nations that will compete at Euro 2025, only Belgium’s Tessa Wullaert (49%) and Finland’s Linda Sallstrom (47%) were directly involved in a greater proportion of their nation’s total goals than Ewa Pajor was for Poland (46% – 13/28) across the last two qualifying campaigns.

No player scored more goals across Europe’s big five leagues and the Women’s Champions League combined in the 2024-25 season than Barcelona's Pajor.

Tessa Wullaert

Wullaert is Belgium’s all-time record scorer (92 goals) and has scored at least twice against each of Belgium’s Group B opponents at Euro 2025 (four vs Portugal and Spain, two vs Italy).

Inter forward Wullaert was comfortably the top-scoring Belgian player in Europe’s big five leagues in the 2024-25 season, netting 10 league goals.

Sandy Baltimore

No player scored more goals in the 2025 Women’s Nations League group stage than Sandy Baltimore (five), who netted in each of France’s games between MD2 and MD6.

The versatile Chelsea player is the first to score in five straight outings for France since Marie-Antoinette Katoto between September and November 2021.