2022 Women’s Euros – Group C Overview

While Group B is known as the ‘group of death’ ahead of the Euros, Group C definitely has some intriguing teams in it, including two favourites for the tournament Sweden and Netherlands.

There are many reasons to keep a close eye on this group. Current holders The Netherlands will look to progress easily through the group to the knockout stages to try and retain their Euros crown. While winners of the 1984 Euros tournament Sweden (who always tend to be favourites) will look to kick start their tournament in a positive way too. While Portugal and Switzerland will look to battle through the group as the so-called ‘underdogs’.

 

The Netherlands

The dutch had a relatively easy qualifying campaign, in the ten games they played, they won all ten, scored 48 goals and only conceded three.

Their team for the Euros is full of exceptionally talented players, many coming from the WSL in England. Some players to keep an eye on are leading goalscorer Vivianne Miedema, Lieke Martens, Jill Roord, Jackie Groenen and Danielle Van De Donk.

Forward Vivianne Miedema, is her country’s all time leading goal scorer and she holds the current record (which will keep increasing) for the most goals in WSL history with 74 for her club Arsenal.

She scored 14 goals and grabbed eight assists for The Gunners last season and has recently signed a new contract with the North London club.

The winners of the 2017 tournament are without manager Sarina Wiegman as she took over England Women not so long ago. So new boss Mark Parsons will have a big task on his hands for his side to retain their Euros crown, but after picking mostly the same side from 2017, he will be hoping his star players can shine.

Will they win back to back Euros? We will only know on July 31st.

 

Sweden

The swedes go into the tournament again as one of the favourites to win the whole thing after their success in 1984.

They have had many recent successes on the international stage including winning bronze at the 2019 World Cup and silver at the 2021 Olympic Games. During their qualifying campaign they finished top of their group, won seven out of eight games and drew one. In this time they scored 40 goals and only conceded twice.

Boss Peter Gerhardsson selected a well balanced squad ahead of the tournament, it includes the likes of Magdalena Eriksson, Kosovare Asslani and Fridolina Rolfö.

Their forward line also includes Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius and Juventus’ Lina Hurtig who combined scored 10 goals between them last season. Both will surely get on the score sheet numerous times across the tournament but it’s Barcelona’s Rolfö to keep an eye on in this squad.

 

Switzerland

Arguably, one of the underdogs at the tournament this year Switzerland have built a fairly strong squad over the years and could maybe cause an upset to the two favourites in the group stages.

Their boss Nils Nielsen previously managed Denmark, and he led the side to the Euro 2017 final.

In their qualifying campaign the Swiss finished runners up to Belgium, in the eight games they played, they won six, drew one and lost one. They scored 20 goals and conceded six.

A key figure in their squad will be their captain Lia Wälti. She plays for Arsenal in the WSL and is a very calm defensive midfielder. Her calmness should allow her side to play out from the back well in order to get the ball to their attackers.

But a key player missing from the Swiss side will be Aston Villa striker Alisha Lehmann who despite being selected for the tournament decided to withdraw due to personal reasons.

However, there is still plenty of talent in that Swiss side that can help them have a successful tournament overall and maybe cause some problems for the favourites of this group. PSG’s Ramona Bachmann leads the attack and is in super form with four goals and two assists in the UWCL last season.

 

Portugal

The Portuguese side made it into the tournament this year due to Russia being suspended.

Boss Francisco Neto’s 23 woman side includes 21 players who play their club football in Portugal, with clubs such as Benfica and Sporting CP.

Goalkeeper Ines Pereira is one of the two players in the squad who play their club football abroad. The 23-year-old keeper plays for the Swiss side Servette. The goalkeeper has made a few appearances in the UWCL after Servette held Chelsea to a 0-0 draw until the 67th minute. She will no doubt be crucial for Portugal when coming up against Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands) and Fridolina Roflö (Sweden) in the group stage.

During their qualifying campaign ahead of the tournament Portugal finished second in their group behind Finland. In their eight games, they won six, drew one and lost one. In this time they scored 10 and conceded twice.

One major concern for Portugal going into the tournament will be their lack of goalscorers. Only scoring 10 in their qualifying campaign (including their play off games) it’s by far one of the lowest totals for any side at the tournament this summer.

 

Who will come out on top in Group C, will it be one of the favourites The Netherlands or Sweden? Or will Switzerland or Portugal produce a shock?

 

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