Women's Euros 2025: Guide to Group B – the world champions and a Nations League reunion

New York Times

4 days ago

If you are looking at Group B and wondering why this set of teams feels so familiar, your spider-sense is not deceiving you. Spain, Portugal and Belgium were all in the same pool as England during this year's Nations League, and those three will now meet again at Euro 2025 in Switzerland, where Italy replace Sarina Wiegman's defending champions.
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You'd think Group B is probably all going to be about the fight for second place, with Belgium, Portugal and Italy all good enough to follow 2023 World Cup and 2024 UEFA Nations League winners Spain into the quarter-finals. Given how well a lot of these teams know each other, expect some intriguing tactical match-ups.
It is impossible to look past Spain when it comes to winning this group, even if all is not exactly rosy under Montse Tome's management. Tome was Jorge Vilda's assistant when they lifted the World Cup in Australia two years ago and took over following his post-tournament sacking.
They then also won the previous Nations League in February 2024 to qualify for the Olympic football tournament but went home from France empty-handed after losing to Brazil in the semi-finals and Germany in the bronze-medal game.
Spain have looked very vulnerable in transitional play, and there is a sense that, despite the overwhelming amount of talent at their disposal, Tome does not know her best team.
A 1-0 loss to England at Wembley in February, the first meeting between the sides since that World Cup final in Sydney, only seemed to confirm the suspicion. Spain did ultimately win their Nations League group to book a place in October's semis, though, helped by a 2-1 win against England in the reverse fixture at the start of June.
Italy vs Spain
It would probably be a bit of an exaggeration to say Italy are Spain's bogey team but, over the past couple of years, they have certainly caused them some issues, having picked up a 3-2 win and a 1-1 draw from the past two meetings. The fact these two meet on the final day of the group could really add to the drama, as Italy may well be in a position to swipe top spot from under Spain's nose.
Alexia Putellas (Spain)
It is hard to pick between Aitana Bonmati and Putellas when it comes to Spain's Ballon d'Or winners, but the latter heads into this European Championship meaning business. It was on the eve of the previous Euros in 2022, in one of Spain's final training sessions, that she sustained the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury that would keep her out for a year.
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Though it's taken time for Putellas to get back to her best but she finally looked like her old self again last season, scoring 16 goals for Barcelona in the Spanish top flight while making 17 starts.
Her club and country team-mate Bonmati has topped the voting for the past two Ballons d'Or but with the field this year looking wide open, a strong Euros from the award's 2021 and 2022 winner Putellas could see her become the first woman to receive it three times since it was introduced seven years ago.
Vicky Lopez (Spain)
The 18-year-old Barcelona forward first caught the eye at 15, when she became the youngest player to make an appearance in Spain's top flight for Madrid CFF. It was not long before a move to Barcelona materialised. She initially played in their B team in the second division, before stepping up to the first-team squad.
In November 2023, aged 17 years and 116 days, she became the youngest player to score in either a men's or women's Clasico, netting in a 5-0 Barcelona win. She took the record from Ansu Fati but was then usurped the following October by Lamine Yamal, who achieved the feat aged 17 years, 105 days.
It is not always easy to get opportunities in a team regarded as the best in the world but Lopez has continued to impress at the highest level, making 17 league starts last season and scoring 10 goals.
Pre-tournament chat always concerns itself with the mystique of the dark horse. Group B is exciting in that regard because it boasts two of the main candidates for that tag at Euro 2025: Portugal and Italy.
Portugal's dark-horse credentials took a blow with their recent thrashings in the Nations League from Spain (7-1) and England (6-0), coupled with an ankle injury that will keep 22-year-old Barcelona star Kika Nazareth out of this tournament. For many Portugal fans, hope of reaching the knockout phase now sits on the shoulders of Real Sociedad midfielder Andreia Jacinto, 23.
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Predictions of tectonic group-stage shifts have instead centred around Italy in the weeks leading up to the finals.
They picked up 10 points from their six Nations League matches, including a memorable 3-0 away win against Denmark and a goalless home draw with Sweden, while losing 3-2 to the latter only by a 95th-minute penalty in the reverse fixture.
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Italy, too, are without a Barcelona starlet, with Giulia Dragoni having had ankle ligament surgery last month. Dragoni, then 16, was the second-youngest player called up to the 2023 World Cup and became the youngest player ever to represent Italy at a men's or women's World Cup. She started all three group games.
But with Belgium and Spain also in Group B, one of Portugal or Italy will need to live up to their billing if they want to make it to the quarter-finals. From there? Anything is possible.
Beta Gunnarsdottir will be on the touchline for Belgium in this tournament — but it could all have been very different. The 48-year-old Icelandic manager was linked with the vacant Chelsea job that eventually went to Sonia Bompastor last year. Aston Villa also supposedly showed an interest in the former Kristianstad boss.
In her 14-year stint with the Swedish club, Gunnarsdottir developed a reputation for punching above her weight in terms of the team's resources. She will be required to do similarly in this group with a Belgium side who may well be seen as the weakest of the four. That said, they beat England 3-2 in the Nations League in April, four days after being swept aside 5-0 in the reverse fixture, and ultimately finished third in a tough group containing both the 2023 World Cup finalists.
(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)