Latest news with #WankdorfStadium
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Behind The Scenes At Euro 2025
On Friday, July 18, 25,000 Swiss fans marched through the nations capital on the way to Stadium Wankdorf to see their country play in its first-ever Euros quarterfinal against Spain. While that match ended in defeat, and the Women's Euro 2025 host's tournament came to an end in Bern, the scenes and passion epitomized the women's soccer awakening that has taken place in Switzerland this summer. So, on this edition of Full Time Euros, it is time to ask what comes next? What will be the legacy of Women's Euro 2025 for Switzerland? And, how has soccer been forever changed in the country?
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Switzerland's fans are on the march. Can they ensure the game really is ‘here to stay'?
It is barely 7pm in Bern and a vexed motorcyclist revs his engine. It is angry and, honestly, in vain. Because there is no crossing this thick red-shirted river, and there is certainly no stopping it. There are almost two hours to go until kick-off and the mile perimeter around the Wankdorf Stadium is cordoned off, a momentary Switzerland dominion for the Euro 2025 host's quarter-final against Spain. A crimson placard screams from the fan march: 'Here To Stay.' At the risk of spoiling the ending, the hosts do not stay in Euro 2025. Spain beat Switzerland 2-0, Aitana Bonmati eventually prising open Switzerland's dogged defence in the 66th minute to feed Athenea del Castillo. That this game demanded two moments of pure brilliance surprised some. Spain are world champions; Switzerland qualified for their first major tournament a decade ago. The latter had never escaped the group stages — until now. The 15,000-strong Swiss fan march moves north towards the stadium purposefully, but slowly. Much in the same way that the locals here drift down the River Are, content to be swept up, knowing sometimes it is better not just to be in the present but to lose yourself in it, before having to eventually clamber to shore. So beers are toasted. Chants sung. A brass band quartet erupts into song while sitting atop some aesthetic-looking Swiss rocks. Even the queues for the portaloos — growing around corners — endure their wait with inexplicable fulfilment. Before kick-off, the Wankdorf is ear-splitting, each home player's name met with acclaim. When Spain's Mariona Caldentey drags her penalty wide in the eighth minute, a beer is released into the sky, and from there, all inhibitions are gone. As the half-time whistle blows with the score at 0-0, Spain head coach Montse Tome's brow is furrowed. The noise inside the stadium is deafening. At times, it is beautiful. At others, it is beautifully furious: at Laia Aleixandri's inexplicable escape of a second yellow card in the first half, at the penalty awarded to Alexia Putellas (also missed). Finally, at their journey suddenly ended. For Jennifer Dinges, the reality is dizzying. One of the three co-founders of the Switzerland Women's fan group alongside Celine Plee and Amy Owen (their friendship formed over their mutual appreciation of the former Arsenal and Switzerland international Malin Gut), Dinges recalls a Swiss Women's fan march last year involving a couple of hundred people, if that. 'No structure, no order,' she says. Over the past three years, the international matches she attended vacillated in supporters between 1,000 to 7,000. Before the European Championship, the trio knew change was paramount. They lobbied former Swiss FA head of women's and girls' football Tatjana Haenni for advice. 'She told us just to do it (the fan march),' Dinges says. 'If it picks up, which it would, people would follow.' They have. Nearly 5,000 turned out to watch Switzerland's open training sessions in the days leading to Friday's quarter-final. The 32,000-capacity Wankdorf was sold out. While Switzerland is a country that knows how to relish the present, considering the future has never been more critical. Records have been shattered here. The previous record aggregate group stage attendance (369,314) set at Euro 2022 was beaten by the end of matchday two, eventually totalling 461,582. A new record cumulative quarter-final crowd was set on Friday at 78,407, with another game in this round still to go. For a federation jeered for being too small to host the European Championship during the bidding process in 2022, such numbers are validation. But there is also the potential for a longer-lasting impact. 'Conservative' was the word Haenni used to describe the nation's historic relationship with women's football, a simple enough word carrying heavy baggage — from the outright banning of the sport in the 1920s to hostility towards women who defied it and eventually an apathetic acceptance of its existence. 'To actually see a Swiss country, which is quite reserved, make this kind of fun, follow women's football like this…' Dinges drifts off. Because for someone who was once one of a few hundred singing the anthem in an echo, the sentence has no clear end. Neither does this movement. Ensuring it is positive relies on harnessing the imagination that has so obviously been captured here. England provide a compelling blueprint. After hosting, and winning, Euro 2022, women's football enjoyed exponential growth in the country. According to its Football Association (FA), by 2024, 129,000 more girls became involved in school football across the host cities. Another 34,025 more women and girls were participating in football for recreational purposes, plus a further 10,356 playing competitively. The total attendance during the 2022-23 Women's Super League (WSL) season surpassed 680,000, 172 per cent higher than the 2021-22 season. For a nation still without a professional domestic league (the Switzerland Women's Super League operates as semi-professional), such growth is ambitious but not out of the equation. The Swiss FA launched a project looking to the future, which runs to the end of 2027. Targets are set to double the number of girls and women playing football in Switzerland from 40,000 to 80,000 by 2027, with the number of women working as coaches and referees also to be doubled from 2,500 to 5,000. There are also aims to at least double the number of the league's consumers (TV viewers and social media followers). But its main ambition is precisely that which was burned into a crimson-painted 2×2 cardboard placard. To stay. To maintain the present in the future. 'People showing up afterwards, like England,' says Dinges. 'That's the dream.' At full time, the stadium remained flooded in red, fans applauding the players as they made their way around the pitch. For now, they are staying. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Switzerland, Women's Soccer, Women's Euros 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
18-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Switzerland's fans are on the march. Can they ensure the game really is ‘here to stay'?
It is barely 7pm in Bern and a vexed motorcyclist revs his engine. It is angry and, honestly, in vain. Because there is no crossing this thick red-shirted river, and there is certainly no stopping it. There are almost two hours to go until kick-off and the mile perimeter around the Wankdorf Stadium is cordoned off, a momentary Switzerland dominion for the Euro 2025 host's quarter-final against Spain. A crimson placard screams from the fan march: 'Here To Stay.' Advertisement At the risk of spoiling the ending, the hosts do not stay in Euro 2025. Spain beat Switzerland 2-0, Aitana Bonmati eventually prising open Switzerland's dogged defence in the 66th minute to feed Athenea del Castillo. That this game demanded two moments of pure brilliance surprised some. Spain are world champions, Switzerland qualified for their first major tournament a decade ago. They had never escaped the group stages — until now. GO DEEPER The Briefing: Spain 2 Switzerland 0 - Favourites into semis, Bonmati's magic, more missed penalties The 15,000-strong Swiss fan march moves north towards the stadium purposefully, but slowly. Much in the same way the locals here drift down the River Are, content to be swept up, knowing sometimes it is better not just to be in the present but to lose yourself in it, before having to eventually clamber to shore. So beers are toasted. Chants sung. A brass band quartet erupts into song while sat atop some aesthetic-looking Swiss rocks. Even the queues for the portaloos — growing around corners like straw-paper snakes — endure their wait with inexplicable fulfilment. Before kick-off, the Wankdorf is ear-splitting, each home player's name met with a quasi-war cry. When Spain's Mariona Caldentey drags her penalty wide in the eighth minute, a beer is released into the sky, and from there, all inhibitions are gone. As the half-time whistle blows with the score at 0-0, Spain head coach Montse Tome's brow is furrowed. The noise inside the stadium is deafening. At times, it is beautiful. At others, it is beautifully furious: at Laia Alexandri's inexplicable escape of a second yellow card in the first half, at the penalty awarded to Alexia Putellas (also missed). Finally, at their journey suddenly ended. For Jennifer Dinges, the reality is dizzying. One of the three co-founders of the Switzerland Women's fan group alongside Celine Plee and Amy Owen (their friendship formed over their mutual appreciation of former Arsenal and Switzerland international Malin Gut), Dinges recalls a Swiss Women's fan march last year involving a couple of hundred people, if that. 'No structure, no order,' she says. Over the past three years, the international matches she attended vacillated in supporters between 1,000 to 7,000. Advertisement Before the European Championship, the trio knew change was paramount. They lobbied former Swiss FA head of women's and girls' football Tatjana Haenni for advice. 'She told us just to do it (the fan march),' Dinges says. 'It if picks up, which it would, people would follow.' They have. Nearly 5,000 turned out to watch Switzerland's open training sessions in the days leading to Friday's quarter-final. The 32,000-capacity Wankdorf was sold out. While Switzerland is a country that knows how to relish the present, considering the future has never been more critical. Records have been shattered here. The previous record aggregate group stage attendance (369,314) set at Euro 2022 was beaten by the end of matchday two, eventually totalling 461,582. A new record cumulative quarter-final crowd was set on Friday at 78,407, with another game in this round still to go. For a federation jeered for being too small to host the European Championship during the bidding process in 2022, such numbers are validation. But there is also the potential for longer-lasting impact. 'Conservative' was the word Haenni used to describe the nation's historic relationship with women's football, a simple enough word carrying heavy baggage — from the outright banning of the sport in the 1920s to hostility towards women who defied it and eventually an apathetic acceptance of its existence. 'To actually see a Swiss country, which is quite reserved, make this kind of fun, follow women's football like this… ,' Dinges drifts off. Because for someone who was once one of a few hundred singing the anthem in an echo, the sentence has no clear end. Neither does this movement. Ensuring it is positive relies on harnessing the imagination that has so obviously been captured here. England provide a compelling blueprint. After hosting, and winning, Euro 2022, women's football enjoyed exponential growth in the country. According to its Football Association (FA), by 2024 129,000 more girls became involved in school football across the host cities. Another 34,025 more women and girls were participating in football for recreational purposes, plus a further 10,356 playing competitively. The total attendance during the 2022-23 Women's Super League (WSL) season surpassed 680,000, 172 per cent higher than the 2021-22 season. Advertisement For a nation still without a professional domestic league (the Switzerland Women's Super League operates as semi-professional), such growth is ambitious but not out of the equation. The Swiss FA launched a project looking to the future which runs to the end of 2027. Targets are set to double the number of girls and women playing football in Switzerland from 40,000 to 80,000 by 2027, with the number of women working as coaches and referees also to be doubled from 2,500 to 5,000. There are also aims to at least double the number of the league's consumers (TV viewers and social media followers). But its main ambition is precisely that which was burned into a crimson-painted 2×2 cardboard placard. To stay. To maintain the present in the future. 'People showing up afterwards, like England,' says Dinges. 'That's the dream.' At full time, the stadium remained flooded in red, fans applauding the players as they made their way around the pitch. For now, they are staying.
France 24
18-07-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Spain see off spirited Swiss to reach Euro 2025 semi-finals
Athenea del Castillo and Claudia Pina scored the goals in the second half in Bern to give La Roja deserved passage to the last four where they will face either France or Germany on Wednesday. But Montse Tome's team didn't have it all their own way as hosts Switzerland put up a brave fight in front of a passionate crowd at the Wankdorf Stadium. The Swiss survived an early scare when Mariona Caldentey shot wide a ninth-minute penalty and from there did a great job in gumming up Spain's usually free-flowing football. Pia Sundhage's players acquitted themselves brilliantly in their home tournament and were given a loud round of applause from the majority of the nearly 30,000 supporters. The Swiss, who finished the match with 10 women after Noelle Maritz was sent off in the final minute, had never progressed past the group stage of a Euros before and in the end Spain proved to be too much for the team ranked 23rd in the world. Spain meanwhile overcame a serious test of patience before their superior quality eventually prevailed, with Alexia Putellas' wasted penalty late on changing nothing. An already raucous home crowd roared with delight when Caldentey scuffed wide her spot-kick after the Arsenal forward was brought down by Nadine Riesen. But that didn't discourage Spain who dealt well with the fervent atmosphere and some fierce tackling but struggled to find a way through the home team's packed defence. The efforts that Spain did have on goal were wayward with a series of potshots and blocked efforts before Irene Paredes headed Pina's corner onto the post two minutes before half-time. The same pattern continued after the break with Spain probing and bumping against both a Swiss wall and the woodwork. Patri Guijarro headed another corner onto the post and in the ensuing scramble Esther Gonzalez somehow contrived to strike the other post in front of an open goal. It didn't look like it was going to be Spain's night but del Castillo finally made the breakthrough in the 66th minutes -- four minute after replacing Caldentey -- collecting Aitana Bonmati's through ball and rolling home the goal which ended Switzerland's spirited resistance. Pina whipped home a wonderful second goal five minutes later and that was that for the Swiss, who at least had one more thing to cheer for when Livia Peng pushed out Putellas' weak spot-kick with two minutes remaining.
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Spain are huge favourites to continue their perfect start at the Women's Euros as Italy take on reigning world champions in final group clash
Spain's European Championship campaign has got off to a perfectly ominous start for the rest of the competition, and now the world champions face Italy in their final group game. Spain beat England in the World Cup final two summers ago, and are already looking like comfortable favourites to go all the way in Switzerland and match the feat of their men's team in 2010. The Spanish men's team held both European and world titles from 20018 to 2014, winning consecutive Euros and a first World Cup title in 2010. So far in Switzerland, Spain have scored 11 goals for the concession of just two in their two opening games, with a 6-2 win over Belgium and a 5-0 thrashing of Portugal. Now, though, their attentions turn to Italy, who have four points on the board after beating Belgium 1-0 and being held to a 1-1 draw by Portugal. They face an uphill task, though, against Spain, who are backed comfortably as 2/9 favourites. Italy, meanwhile are 9/1 outsiders, with a draw between the two sides currently priced at 19/4. Sky Bet are also offering two Price Boosts for the upcoming group clash, set to be played at Wankdorf Stadium. Claudia Pina has only scored once so far in the tournament, but for her to score two or more goals against Italy Sky Bet are offering boosted odds of 5/1, having previously been priced at 4/1. Spain to score one or more goals in each half, win two or more corners in each half and Italy to pick up one or more cards in each half is now priced at 9/1, up from 8/1. Sky Bet odds for Italy vs Spain: Italy 9/1 Spain 2/9 Draw 19/4 Price Boosts: Claudia Pina to score two or more goals WAS 4/1 NOW 5/1
