Euro 2025 roundup: Spain's dominance, too hot to play and key set pieces for underdogs

New York Times

9 hours ago

Four days into Euro 2025, we've seen every side in action once. Keeping track of 24 matches across 12 days is a daunting task. The Athletic's Michael Cox watched every match to bring you the moments you may have missed.
In a slow-burning but eventually enjoyable opening round of the competition, there have been eight victories and no draws thus far. Here are some early patterns.
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Tournaments aren't won on the strength of performances in the first round of group matches. But on the evidence so far, Spain are on a different planet from the other 15 teams in the competition.
Starting at a remarkably high tempo against Portugal, they were ahead inside three minutes, 4-0 up by half-time, and pretty much killed the game after that. Ultimately, 5-0 was a fair reflection of their dominance.
Amongst their star performers were the authoritative holding midfielder Patri Guijarro, the elusive Claudia Pina and the quick-footed Vicky Lopez, all familiar to anyone with even a passing knowledge of Barcelona. But it's significant that none of that trio played in Spain's triumph at World Cup 2023.
So while it was the same old Spain with silky possession play, it was also a side with even more quality in attacking positions, and a newfound desire to go long, as two of their balls came from lofted passes over the opposition.
We're yet to see their backline tested properly, but this was a terrifyingly good attacking performance.
Much of the focus at the men's Club World Cup has been on the heat. Across the Atlantic at Euro 2025, temperatures in Switzerland are less extreme, but still testing. And it's clearly affected the matches.
This has been a particular problem with the games played at 6pm local time, which have been extremely sluggish. There has been a notably high number of players suffering from cramp, often at a relatively early stage. Two of the four 6pm games were 0-0 at half-time. The other two featured openers in the 44th and 45th minutes.
The opening match between Finland and Iceland was incredibly standoffish, with neither side looking to close down in the opposition's half at all. That's partly simply a tactical thing — both sides naturally sit deep — but the conditions seemed to dissuade any kind of positional bravery.
Italy's 1-0 win over Belgium in the second 6pm kickoff was similarly slow, with Belgium attacker Hannah Eurlings explaining how the conditions affected her side. 'We had more possession and created better chances, but maybe the big, big chances didn't materialise today. It may be because of the weather,' she said. 'Normally, we're good on counters, but it was hard with every ball we won.'
Sweden's 1-0 win over Denmark was more open, but it's worth noting the majority of the pitch in Geneva was in shade.
It's rare to see the warm weather blamed for a lack of countering, rather than a lot of pressing, but it's also understandable. The players didn't have the capacity to sprint. Some other players have been reluctant to blame the conditions publicly, but have acknowledged it's been an issue.
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The most obvious summary of the situation is the goal tally. There were six goals from the four 6pm matches, and 13 goals from the 9pm matches. Thankfully, there are only four more 6pm kickoffs. Thereafter, everything is at 9pm, and the action should be all the better for it.
There are only a few sides truly capable of winning matches with sparkling football. The way for the outsiders to narrow the gap is, in part, through set pieces.
But, by and large, the set-piece delivery in the competition so far has been underwhelming. It was a particular issue for Belgium in their defeat to Italy. Belgium consistently had corners or free kicks and a chance to test an Italian backline who struggled in this sense at World Cup 2023, but Tessa Wullaert's ball was overhit and the chance was wasted.
At that World Cup, there was an obvious trend of sides playing inswinging corners to great effect, and when balls have been put into the box here, they've generally been that type of delivery. But there's also been a curious tendency to play short corners. Some of these, like an early one in that aforementioned Italy game, prompted a wayward return pass that went out for a goal kick. England played a dreadful short corner in their loss to France.
There is some logic to short corners, but there's also a great deal to be said for inswinging corners in the women's game, where goalkeepers often struggle to deal with high balls under the bar. Ada Hegerberg's thumping equaliser for Norway against hosts Switzerland was a good advert for getting it in the mixer, and getting your best striker on the end of the cross.
In terms of formation, there's been considerably more variety than at Euro 2022. In their opening games, six sides — Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland and Wales — used a back three. That's quite a contrast from three years ago, when only two sides, Denmark and Northern Ireland, used the system regularly, while Sweden started the tournament with a 3-4-3 before reverting to their usual 4-2-3-1.
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Granted, the majority of those sides, particularly Portugal and Wales, have used the approach as a primarily defensive strategy, simply packing defence and guarding against being exposed by switches from flank to flank. But at times, the wing-backs have found great space pushing forward, and these sides have tended to play out well from defence — helped by a lack of opposition pressing.
Denmark are always adept at their wide centre-backs bringing the ball forward, while Italy started to turn the screw in their 1-0 win over Belgium when Elena Linari and Martina Lenzini realised they had space to carry the ball forward. There's more to a tactical battle than formations, but the game feels more strategically advanced than three years ago.
Jennifer Falk, Sweden: We're yet to see a truly outstanding goalkeeping performance thus far, but Falk was solid in Sweden's 1-0 win over Denmark. The undisputed No 1 due to Zecira Musovic's pregnancy, she is regarded as better than Musovic with the ball at her feet, but played a higher percentage of her passes long than any other goalkeeper in the tournament thus far.
Emma Koivisto, Finland: She constantly stormed forward well from right-back, and also produced two crucial blocks, including a genuinely superb piece of defending at the far post, one by simply getting her face in the way of a goalbound shot.
Dominique Janssen, Netherlands: Perhaps not overly stretched by Wales, but her distribution with both feet and her speed to sweep up at the back was precisely what was required in a high, proactive Dutch defensive line.
Tuva Hansen, Norway: She made a crucial late block at the end of a good performance. In an otherwise porous Norway side, she'll need more starring performances like this one.
Nadine Riesen, Switzerland: The Swiss dominated the opening half hour of their clash against Norway, with wing-back Riesen enjoying huge freedom down the left, and also popping up with the opener.
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Patri Guijarro, Spain: She can probably still be regarded as an unsung hero in relation to Aitana Bonmati and Alexis Putellas, but she's surely the best holding midfielder in Europe.
Filippa Angeldahl, Sweden: Her driving midfield runs will define Sweden's play this summer. She went close with a trademark powerful free kick, then played a neat one-two with Kosovare Asllani for the winner.
Arianna Caruso, Italy: She was involved in almost all of Italy's best moments, bustling her way through midfield, and also scored a fine winner with a clever shot inside the near post.
Delphine Cascarino, France: Both France's wingers were electric in the 2-1 win over England. Cascarino repeatedly beat Jess Carter, usually a one-against-one specialist, and gave England two warning signs before setting up the opener for Marie-Antoinette Katoto.
Vicky Lopez, Spain: Various Spanish attackers could have got the nod, but Lopez's trickery in tight situations marked her out as Spain's best performer in their opener — one piece of skill to create a chance for Alexis Putellas was majestic.
Katariina Kosola, Finland: The biggest threat throughout the game against Iceland from the left wing, she was the deserved matchwinner with a lovely curler.
(Top Photo: Eddie Keogh / Getty Images)