The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - England hit Wales for six and France send Netherlands home – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Tom Garry and Tanya Oxtoby to discuss England’s dominant win against Wales, France’s comeback, and the final twists in the Euro 2025 group stage

This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faker Rothers and welcome to The Guardian Women's Football Weekly. And then there were eight. England are into the quarterfinals of Euro 2025. Sweden should be scared, is the message from Eletoon. It's all over for Wales though as far as this tournament is concerned anyway but Nidu Drossos, it's not over because the future is bright. France knock out the Netherlands in another high-scoring game while Switzerland's last gasp equalizer sees them progress to the last eight for the first time. They join Spain, Italy, Norway and Germany as we move into knockout football. We'll dissect all of that, see how we're getting on with our predictions

at the end of the group stage. Spoiler alert, it's better than you think. Plus we'll take your questions. And that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. What a panel we have today. Suzy Rack, how are you? Tired, very, very tired, but good. Any cheese updates for us? No, I mean, this is the problem, right, of getting your gallbladder out within like a month of a tournament starting is you can't go heavy on the cheese.

Like it's fine, I can have some, but you can't go heavy on the cheese. Like it's fine. I can have some, but I can't go heavy. I had some brie the other day and it was nice, but that's a bit French, not Swiss, isn't it? It is a little bit. It's just a tad. Tom Gary, how are you sampling more cheese? Good morning. I'm very well. I have actually sampled something delicious, but I felt like I was slightly misled. I was advised that there was a local specialty here in St Gallen called a flem kuchen that I had to try because it was, I would never have had anything like it before. I ordered one that came with like red onions and raclette cheese with a little bit of mushroom. And I thought, oh, this is

going to sound great. Cooked on a flame. It was a pizza, Faye. Basically it was a glorified pizza with a fancy name, with an umlaut over the U, which made it sound, it was a pizza, Faye. Basically, it was a glorified pizza with a fancy name with an umlaut over the U that made it sound. It was very lovely, but it was not quite the unique once in a lifetime culinary experience that I was promised. Well, you've given Tanya Rox to be the heads up when she heads out to Switzerland next. Tanya, how are you? It's lovely to see you. Yeah, I'm very well, thank you, very well. I might stay away from that one, Tom. Thanks for the heads up. Always good to have some almost TripAdvisor style advice. He's a weatherman, he's a restaurant, what do you call it? Restaurant critic is what I meant actually. Now listen, after our

last pod we received this email from Bettina in Zurich. Hi Faye and everyone. Ever wonder why I've somehow become a secret England supporter? It's because I'm always listening to you lot. Sorry Bettina. What a joy it is though to hear you talk about the Swiss players, Switzerland's game and to see my hometown of Zurich and country through your eyes. Also quite enjoying the cheese chat by the way. That's why I did that intro Bettina, it was for you. Just to throw a little something into the mix, Swiss people practically never eat fondue in the summer. That's more of a raclette season really and loads of people, me included, still have their annual fondue

despite all sorts of intolerances purely for the social aspect with the appropriate medicinal prep of course. Okay that's setting me up for some epic fall I think with all the allergies that I've got and again just letting us know that Sion is pronounced with an E. To sum up she says and this was before Switzerland's game, we'll either suffer tonight or we'll lose something like 20-0 to Spain in the quarterfinals. Anyway, such fun. Thank you for all the great work, Bettina. Well congratulations, you are into the quarterfinals, Bettina, and hopefully not a 20-0 defeat. Right, let's talk about the Lionesses and Wales, shall we? Group D lived up to its name

as the group of death, everything still to be decided on the final day and England knew that a win would send them through or a draw would send them through if the Netherlands lost to France. Wales knew they'd only progress if they beat England by four or more goals and France beat the Netherlands. So despite all the pre-match build-up it was a comprehensive victory in the end for England. They ran out six one winners, six different goal scorers as well. Georgia Stanway, Ella Toon, Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo with her first goal of the tournament, Beth Mead and Aggy Beaver-Jones. Hannah Kane came on to score a late consolation for Wales, felt like a real confidence building performance from the Lionesses setting

up a quarterfinal against Sweden. This is what Serena Wiegman had to say about the urgency that had been put into the team after that loss to France in the opening game. That really brought us together, everyone really wanted to perform and be successful. In the Netherlands game, we created urgency and momentum by playing really well into our strengths. With that loss, the urgency came, and I think the team really responded well. Now, hopefully, we can show that against Sweden.

What did you make of the game, Suzie? Do you feel like this England have now clicked into the gear after that early scare? Yeah, very much so. I think they found the formation and the right personnel in the right places to get the best out of them and get the best out of it. The midfield is just so better and much more stable with Ella Toon in it and Lauren James moved out wide. I wrote in my colour piece that I thought that that right wing threat of bronze and James and the way they linked up was

like really reminiscent of the bronze Nikita Paris right hand side in the 2019 World Cup, which everyone was writing about after sort of the first and second games, because they were so impactful. And it was sort of nice to sort of see that that reborn almost through bronze and James. And then instead of, you know, like Frank Kirby shifting across to work with them, it was Ella Toon. And the three of them are all such like workhorses. And then you've got obviously Lauren James, incredible like skill on top of that.

And I thought it was just electric. And the thing is, what's exciting is like, you know, if a team identifies that and focuses on that, like they do that at their peril because then you've got Lauren Hemp stood over on the other wing, like there's just so many options. And the fact that like they changed, like by the sort of 50th to 60th minute, the entire front line, entire right hand side had changed, and they still score another couple of goals was just sublime. So yeah, I think it was a real show of England's tacking talent and a really mature and business-like performance whereas the build-up from Wales have been all about the emotion of it and

them trying to use that emotion to push them through a huge barrier which is much, much further behind pace of development of women's football in Wales and like the, you know, experience gap and a gap in professionalism between like the players at the two teams disposal. Like there's the only way they could really kind of begin to overcome that would be through sort of heart and spirit and things like that. And, and I thought England were just so, so like focused and business like in that performance. Yeah, I agree with you on that. And you know, the kind of defending that Wales put in, which we'll discuss very shortly.

It doesn't matter about the emotion. You can't defend like that in a game of that importance. Ella Toon though, key performer, as you mentioned, I loved the intricate passing between herself and Lauren James. She got a goal to assist 100% pass completion rate as well. This is what she said of herself, I've missed this Ella Toon, I've not had it for a while, I feel like I'm really coming into it, I'm really enjoying it and I love playing with these girls,

I love the football that we play. Do you feel she's getting back to her best, Tom? Yeah, I think I might be the best performance I've seen from Ella Toon in an England shirt. To get 20 passes out of 20, accurately finding their target as a number 10 is a very rare thing. You might occasionally see it from a kind of a centre-back playing cautious passes or conservative passes. Toon doing it in an attacking bowl just, I think, showed the kind of form and confidence that she's found. There's also, we should say say there's this really poignant and quite heartwarming and lovely underlying narrative there in that it's the first tournament

she's had since losing her dad. And you could tell from some of the things she was saying in the mix zone alongside Beth Mead, actually how hard they had both found that this tournament, after losing parents and looking up to the stands in the first match against France and not seeing them there, I think must have been really difficult. And they clearly have helped each other as well through that process. And to see them both on the score sheet last night and so happy for each other was really, really lovely. And Toon, thinking just about the football for a moment, has clicked into this great bit of form. She's got these intelligent runs off the ball. She's

working really hard without the ball as well, which is giving Walsh and Stanway a little bit more of an opportunity to express themselves with the ball. And all in all, that's working quite fabulously for England right now with Lauren James in good form as well, Rosseau in front of them playing well, so they've found a really nice balance to the sort of front six of the team. Yeah, Kiera Walsh spoke post-match about the importance of England's midfield in the last two matches as well, different combinations, different strategies that we've seen and we've actually seen Kiera Walsh herself getting higher than we've seen her before. She had that long range effort right at the end, of course scored in the opening game. What have you made of England's tweaks to

their game plan, Tanya, from a coach's perspective? Lucy Bronze has also been talking about how adaptable they are nowadays. It was probably the most impressive part of their performance last night for me. I think if you look, particularly in the first half, Bronze was kind of inverting and coming inside, which gave real balance to that midfield. I think it was the second goal was Thune's goal, correct me if I'm wrong, but you had Samoyed and Thune really high and they were able to do that because Bronze had inverted and she was sitting almost alongside Walsh. There's a real balance to that because what she also does by doing that is isolating Lauren

James 1v1 in those wide areas, which is her strength as well. It didn't happen every time, but when it did happen, there was a real balance and an overload in midfield. I think Susie spoke about Walsh getting forward maybe a little bit more as well. That happens because they've got numbers centrally and I don't think Wales coped with that variation very well last night because I think they're a little bit rigid in the way that they set up and when bronze came inside, I'm not really sure they dealt with the central overload and then when it was double width out on the right-hand side, I'm not sure they then adapted

to that either. That fluidity from England, you need that as you go further on in the tournament to be able to know the right times. Bronze is such a clever player to know when to do that and when not to. It was really impressive last night watching that because it didn't feel like it was a structured thing. It wasn't something like, when the ball is here, we want you to do this. It was that intuitive understanding of when to do it, when not to do it. And it was a really, really nice piece of tactical play to watch because I thought it really affected England in terms of the numbers they could send forward and the balance they had behind the

ball as well to kind of continue to have second and third opportunities in the final third for them. So really impressive performance from that point of view. And if they can keep that up, that will hold them in good stead. Obviously as they progress through the tournament, hopefully. Yeah. And obviously squad depth, you know, shows within that, Susie, six different goal scorers, huge positive from that, plus the impact from the bench. Agibiva Jones as well, getting her first goal at a major tournament. It just feels like the foot never really comes off the gas. Yeah, it's the depth. The depth is key. I'd say it's the biggest asset at the tournament

is the depth off the bench, particularly in those wide areas. You know, the fact that you've got Beth Mead, Chloe Kelly, and then Aggie Beaver-Jones able to come on more centrally as well. Then you've also got Michelle Ajiman who didn't come on but poses a very different type of threat. It's just deadly, really, really deadly. The quality doesn't dip at all. They've all played together for such a long time now. Obviously, notie but you know I'm talking about the others here, that there's those relationships are really well established as well so there's disruption, there was disruption at half time when they made a few changes and then again on like 56 minutes

ish and then a little bit later but at the same time it's not significant disruption and things sort of start to gel together again relatively quickly. But yeah, I mean, you're not going to complain about six different goal scorers in any game and yeah, bodes well moving forward. Big disappointment for Wales though, Tanya, not necessarily the defeat, but the manner of it really, I think. And Rhian Wilkinson gave a very honest assessment post-match. It's one of those games where we can't shy away from that performance by England.

That was far superior. And equally by Serena and her staff, I was out-coached. That's the reality. We're not quite ready yet. What we need to remember is that we have to start somewhere. She also gave an impassioned speech about Wales needing to create equal opportunities for young girls, similar to what the Lionesses did after their Euro 2022 win. She didn't shy away from anything,

it felt Tanya, and as someone working in an organisation that's also rebuilding after their first major tournament, what does she need to do to try and make sure that this moment's not lost? The moment not being lost is the key piece. So using the momentum to really affect change. And I think she also spoke about the physical gap that she felt was there. And that's something that's really tangible that you can start to now impact and influence. I think that's key. The depth like we just spoke about there, where is the next generation coming from and where are they being set up in terms of playing their football and the infrastructure in and

around the domestic game for Wales and making sure that there's investment and the right kind of support there is really important. But also then making sure that players are playing, you know, at the highest possible level week in week out so that they continue to grow. And the depth of the squad grows as well. And I think on the flip of that, when you look at the infrastructure in terms of the staffing, that is another key area. And I think on the flip of that, when you look at the infrastructure in terms of the staffing, that is another key area. So making sure that the preparation and all of the things that go in and around the actual playing group is there and ready.

And I don't know what Wales have and don't have, but I think there's an allude, she's alluding a little bit there to maybe the resources that are at their disposal and the preparation and ability to be able to do what they need to do. And that's another area. I think, you know, when you're looking at going to a major tournament, what do you need? And sometimes you don't know till you're there. Okay, staffing wise, what expertise and skills do we also need, you know, to make sure that we're able to adjust and adapt and be as prepared as possible. And I guess, the other thing, I alluded to it just before,

but that adaptability as a group is important. I think whales were quite one-dimensional and I understand why, because they probably wanted to go and show a really good account of themselves and understand their roles and responsibilities and be able to, I suppose, execute that. But at this level, you need to be able to adapt and adjust.

And there probably wasn't exactly that ability to do that, particularly last night. So I think those are areas that, you know, they're tangible things that can be, I suppose, grown over time, but they can't lose the moment. They need to make sure that they use this momentum now to implement some of those changes so that when the qualifiers for the World Cup are present that they are continuing to move forward and not sort of, I suppose, stalemate because that would be the most disappointing thing I think after what's been a really momentous occasion for them. Yeah, without a doubt, lots of work to do behind the scenes and it's going

to be a changing Wales side as well because we've talked a lot about Jess Fishlock this week there's a feeling at the age of 38 this could be her last hurrah in a Wales shirt she wouldn't be drawn on it after the game I don't know right now she said I think that's a tough one I need to take a little seat and have a little think but no decisions have been made as of right now I'm still a Welsh player although Rhean Wilkinson did kind of nod to it in her post-match interview. It's going to be a massively difficult decision for her Tom but do you feel this is probably the end of the road? It does sound like it might be the direction of travel fair, yes. What I would say to counter that is that despite being at the age of 38, Jess Fischluck still looked like one of the

Welsh players with the highest level of athleticism in the game, despite her age, you know, which sort of speaks to how hard she has worked as a professional over many, many years in the high level that she's trained and looked after her body, but also the kind of the club she's been at and the way she's played all around the world. I would love to see her carry on, but inevitably, you know, nothing like this can last forever. And maybe scoring in Wales's first major tournament is sort of one of the perfect ways to bow out internationally and sort of, you know, she's helped drag this team kicking and screaming all the way to its first tournament and achieved that pinnacle. So, so much to be proud of in that regard. So maybe the timing is right, but I

never really thought she would announce it last night. I think she's the sort of person who would probably want to take a little bit of time to just calmly reflect. When that moment does come, there are enormous shoes to fill for Wales in so many different ways. And my slight concern is that there's still a huge gap in the quality. I don't want to be too critical of Wales' results in this tournament because we've spoken before about just how unusually difficult their draw was with three of the best teams in the tournament. So it's really an anomaly in terms of as a group. So I would love to have seen them have a crack at group A or even group B and maybe they could have picked up quite a few points. But what I also I think I hope will change from Wales is this sort of narrative

of that we see from a lot of the supporters and some of the pundits around it of sort of, oh, they've done so well, we're so proud. Like the anthem was amazing, the atmosphere was wonderful. That's all great. That is really great. But if you want to kick on and be at these tournaments as a big force. The mindset in psychology needs to shift away from haven't we done well to be here to let's up the quality, let's be able to have the standards to demand that we don't concede four goals in the first half against England and

I hope that that will start to evolve as you head into the World Cup campaign. Yeah, agreed. With England's victory, all that was to be determined was whether or not they were going to top the group or qualify as a runner-up. And actually, for a brief moment, they did go top, but France's comeback win over the Netherlands made sure that they sealed first place the other game. It finished Netherlands 2, France 5. More controversy in the Dutch camp though with Viv Meedemaar left on the bench. Look, I know you were at the England game, Susie, and that's where your focus really was. So not much time to dissect this other game. But what did you make of that decision? Yeah, I mean, obviously controversial when you leave out your record goal scorer who's

just hit a hundred goal mark, but there is like a bit of logic there too in that obviously France are really like fast paced sides, like quick on the attack, they leave space in behind and Miedema's not the fastest of players necessarily at the moment, particularly like off the back of the various injuries problems she's had. So like, I can understand why they'd want to play Berenstead and have like a little bit more pace through the middle. And it was sort of effective, but at the same time, like Midsom is someone who has the ability to create something from nothing when you need it most. And so it's always going to be a controversial decision. And when you win, it's going to look like genius. And when you don't

win it's gonna look like a massive mistake. But I think there was logic to that decision as much as like I'm someone that would always want to see her on a pitch and play and because I love watching her. You know I don't think it was that insane of a move. Yeah, okay, fair enough. France topped the group with that win. So England comes second. So Netherlands and Wales are out. I can't remember whether I told you. Do you remember we go back to the first pod and the Euro 2025 Guardian pullout where every team was given a Swiss mascot who was effectively basically like the team. England were Toblerone, France were the Fondue, Wales William Tell iconic veteran

up front with obviously Jess Fishlock but the Netherlands were Velcro and this was what was said about them huge success story solid concept but wears out as it gets older due to the breakdown of its fibers easily torn apart and unfortunately for the Netherlands that's exactly what happened to them and they exit at the group stage. Tom by the way was confident that we could overturn our predictions who do. Kinda is how I'm gonna say it because Susie, Marva and Tom all predicted England would finish the group top. Susie you predicted Netherlands would finish second that's your first you've had quite a few ticks to be fair but yeah England finished second

ultimately and this is how the quarterfinals are going to look like in terms of the teams from group D so the Lionesses will now face Sweden in Zurich while Lauren Bonadie's French side will face Germany. How do you see those two quarterfinals playing out, Tom? They're two blockbuster quarterfinals and the England-Sweden tie in particular will have the feel of a semi-final about it because they will both know that for all the strengths that Norway and Italy have, in terms of world ranking and everything else, that's as kind of a semi-final as you could be offered. So the chance to play in that half of the draw is huge for England and Sweden.

So they'll both be seeing this quarterfinal as an enormous game. And I think it will be final as an enormous game. I think it will be tight because we know how experienced and well coached Sweden are. But I do think with the former England are in, you've got to lean towards seeing England winning this game because they found their mojo. They found that sort of momentum that they look so confident with. In terms of the other tie, France-Germany, I think that stands out for me as the tie of the round. That will be, I think, a fabulous game with so much attacking talent at both ends of the pitch. I think there could be quite a lot of goals in it as well. I don't think either of them are spot on defensively, particularly the Germans look a little bit vulnerable defensively, and I'm leaning maybe towards France edging through there. They look like they've had a very good

tournament so far. So I probably for those two ties, we'd be looking at maybe England and France to get through, but what a golden opportunity for England or Sweden if they can get through this quarterfinal. You would then, you know, the winner of this quarterfinal will really, really expect to make it all the way to Basel for the final. Do you think Tanya, actually, it's been good for England to finish second? They avoid Spain. 100%. 100% when you're looking at the draw, that's, as Tom said, that's as kind a path as you could possibly hope for. So it's a big game obviously against Sweden. England, Sweden is going to be a really, really tough one, but whoever progresses from that will

be very pleased, I think, to face Norway or Italy next up and avoid Spain on that side of the draw because we all know what form they're in. They're destructive at the moment. So any chance to avoid that would be welcomed, I think. draw because we all know what form they're in. They're destructive at the moment. So any chance to avoid that would be welcomed, I think. Who's going through? France or Germany? France for me. France. Yep. Susie? Oh, France, 100%. I've seen Germany twice. I've been unimpressed.

Tom had predicted them to give Spain and England a run for their money in terms of winning the whole thing. Tom, are you sticking by your guns having seen them? Tom Perfidly happy to stick by that prediction. At the time, I think it was a very valid thing to say the form they were in, they lost their captain in the first game, which was a big, big loss for them with Gwyn injured for the rest of the tournament and probably several more weeks and months. What I've been surprised about is how much they've struggled without her, particularly at the back. And they arrived in such a rich vein of form, didn't they? And they still, they can, don't get me wrong, I don't think it's quite 100% France.

me wrong, I don't think it's quite 100% France. I said a minute ago that I think France will get through, but there's still an enormous amount of quality in the Germany team. It's possible maybe that this tournament has just come a little bit too early for this group. Maybe they'll be more at their peak when the next World Cup comes around. What was striking when they played Sweden was how disorganised they looked at the back. That was a real shock that I don't think any, myself certainly I did not see coming before the start of the tournament. They were really poor defensively. Yeah, well we shall see. Thursday is England's game, Saturday for France against Germany. Right, that's it for part one. In part two, we'll have a look at the conclusions of the other three groups as the quarterfinal lineups are confirmed.

Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Right, so we have some catching up to do. So Thursday afternoon saw the conclusion of group A and with Norway already through, attention was all on Finland, Switzerland for who was going to take second spot. And I tell you what, it more than served up the drama, finishing Finland one, Switzerland one. The host knew a draw was all they needed to go through, but Natalia Kweecker looked with broken Swiss hearts when she converted a penalty with just 11 minutes to go. But the 92nd minute is gonna be one to remember

for the Swiss. Riola Shamali scored to spark special scenes and write her team's name in history as they booked their spot in the quarterfinals for the first time. It was heart in the-the-mouth stuff, Susie, but an incredible moment for the Swiss. How important was that goal for the nation as a whole who seemed to have been really embracing this tournament? Yeah, huge. The atmosphere out here has been fantastic. It's the highlight of the

tournament really in terms of the way just like local people have embraced it. The like fan marches to the Switzerland games, the like, I think I said it before that how vocal the crowds are during the Switzerland matches as well I think is really impressive given that they like their highest ever attendance for a women's game prior to this tournament was like 10,000. So you've got a whole layer of new fans at these games, like, properly engaged. And what better than a really, really late minute goal to put you through to knockout stages, to take fans on a

journey with you? That's the kind of thing, that heart in the mouth stuff that really brings a country along with you. So, you know, it's not just that they're through. I think it's the manner in which they went through and the fight they showed and front pages with Lea Vaughty all over them saying, she's here, she's there, she's everywhere, that kind of thing. Like, there's just so much love for the team around at the moment. And it's quite magical really. It's sort of reminiscent of it in England, but I would even say maybe a little bit more supercharged because obviously smaller country. So everything just feels a little bit bigger and a little bit more

dominating. And every city you go to, there's lots of presence of the tournament which in smaller places that's easier to make very visible as opposed to trying to make a major tournament scene in London. So yeah, it's been wonderful and they've really started to take fans on a journey with them which will probably end, let's be realistic, in the next game, what a way to go out against this Spain team as well, as is probably likely. And yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how much the crowd can carry them. Jolene Rutler earned her third player of the match award in as many games. Tom, what is it about her that set this tournament alight?

So much, the movement, the positioning she's getting in the box, the work rate is so high. I think she's been a real breakthrough star of the tournament in terms of the international stage. I'm a huge fan. Also really think that Iman Bene, the new Man City signing who's been playing a right wing back has impressed in this tournament. She looks as a technically gifted player and her and Roy Tiller stood out as superstars of this team, along with Chetan Leib as well, coming off the bench at times. But there's a bright future for Switzerland with so many 18-year-olds in the team. They can capitalise on this and try and kick on to qualify for future tournaments and do well.

I'm sort of with Susie though, I think for all the new fans that they've had for this tournament, this will be the game where the sport sort of comes and breaks their hearts. My gut feeling is they might actually give Spain a real run for their money. I think it could be quite a tight game, quite a close contest,

but that ultimately in the end, Spain's quality will come through and that it will be that sort of national moment of crushing heartbreak that might actually help in the long run to engage more people in the sport. Forgive me using a men's sport example, but as a fan base, you sort of fall in love with your heroes when you see them lose. And I think of Andy Murray crying, for example, in the Wimbledon 2012 final and how much that meant the nation sort of warmed to him. I sort of had this strange vision of the Switzerland

fans, you know, crying for their team when they get broadly knocked out by Spain. Maybe it's like a late bit of brilliance from Proteus or some wonder strike in extra time from Pina. And that then they might then become more emotionally engaged with the team for the next decade. So that's sort of the blessing in disguise of them having such a difficult quarterfinal. Yeah, similar to the Lionesses. If you want a women's football example, Tom, producer Sophie has reminded us that in 2015, of course, Laura Bassett's own goal in the semi-finals, you know, everybody felt for her, felt for the Lionesses. That's a good reminder of that. A word on Finland, Tanya. Sadly out,

but they've impressed at times. Have they given themselves enough to build on as they go into the next major tournament cycle? I think so. I think they've had some really impressive performances, maybe not got necessarily the results that they would have liked. But I think they've shown enough to have a good foundation to move forward with. And they've been really impressive in the group, to be honest. So it's a group that I've kind of been lucky enough to watch a few of the games, obviously, while I was out there over the last week or so. They've done really well. They need to build on it now, I think, and continue to move forward.

But yeah, for me, the two that have been impressive in that group, Switzerland and Finland, for sure, because I just think they're probably not the ones that, from my point of view, when I went out and was watching, they weren't probably the two that I thought maybe would stand out and they have in that group and I think they've been really, really positive, which is great. Yeah, I found it amusing that in the Guardians Euro pullout, it was Finland who were described as Emmental cheese full of holes, but actually it probably should have been attributed to Iceland who conceded seven goals to Finland's three in the end because the other game provided a real goal fest. It finished Norway four,

Iceland three. Three wins from three for Norway, Suzy, but they had to hold off a really late rally from Iceland. How worried should they be at that lack of cohesiveness they have heading into their quarterfinal against Italy? Yeah, I think they should be worried about the lack of cohesiveness they've had for the past decade. It does not seem to be solving itself. I was saying before this tournament that I thought this would maybe be the moment that, given that they had a really, really kind group draw, that things would start working out for them, that they'd build a little bit of momentum in this group stage, but they've been pretty pretty unconvincing and you know, even moving forward,

you know, they've got the kind of draw, but I still, you know, would say that I maybe prefer Italy going into that game because I just think they've been so inconsistent, obviously defensively, they're not as strong as they are in terms of like top level attacking talent they've got but at the same time that attacking talent just isn't clicking and I just don't understand they're the like Bermuda triangle of women's football I like just don't understand like that what goes in doesn't come out brilliant yeah, it's just it's a weird anomaly. Yes, without a doubt. You did, however, predict that they were going to finish top, which they did prediction correct, as was your prediction that Switzerland finished second.

Tom, you went for Switzerland finishing top and Iceland finished second. You're not you are replacing myself and Susie in the mantle of terrible predictions so far in this tournament. Yeah, misled by Iceland, the draw specialist coming into the tournament who barely lost a single game in the last 18 months. Yeah, disappointing for Iceland, more than happy to be proven wrong by Norway winning the group. I felt that they would, you know, come in here and really struggle again on the form that they'd shown in the previous kind of six months. But they have, for all I agree with Susie about what she said about Norway, they have at least got the job done and they've won the group and they've avoided Spain. So I think there's

quite a lot to be pleased about that they have at least avoided the banana skins that have caught Norway out in the last several major tournaments, particularly when you think back to the World Cup when they lost to New Zealand and sort of still got through the group but were desperately frustrating to watch. And there are improvements. There's still not quite showing us the some of the parts that you would hope to see with the talent in the team that they have. So I agree with Susie that I think Italy have got a fantastic chance in that quarterfinal.

Yeah. Next came Group B, which was practically decided ahead of matchday three. Barring a little bit of a miracle, Spain already threw at top of the group and Italy therefore knew that they could afford to lose and still qualify barring a Portugal win and a six-goal swing away from them. All eyes were on Bern as Italy went toe-to-toe with Spain and actually Italy have had good form recently against Montse Tome's side which we mentioned on the pod but it did finish Italy one against Montsitome's side, which we mentioned on the pod, but it did finish Italy one, Spain three in the end. Andreas Sonschen's side enjoyed the perfect start.

Elizabetta Oliveiro put them ahead, but Spain hit back just four minutes later through Del Castillo before Patrick Gallaro and Esther Gonzalez made sure of the result in the second half. And the scoreline was convincing in the end, but Italy did make life difficult for Spain. What did you make of the game Tom? The few things that stuck out for me, one were the link-up play between

Spain is starting to become some of the best that we've ever seen in this tournament. With the ball they look so, so good. It's scary but at the same time, Italy did expose again, a few defensive run abilities that we've seen from the Spanish side, particularly when teams go against them with a little bit of pace in transition. There, we saw it also against Belgium, you know, that Belgium had a bit of joy getting in behind the Spain defence with pace. So I thought the game was great fun, fabulously enjoyable to watch it as a neutral as every Spain game is becoming because the spectacle of seeing these majestically skillful players linking up together so well with the ball is great. But I think the other teams in the tournament are just seeing a little glimmer

of hope that there is a way to score against a Spain team. I think if somebody a really well coached side gets their game plan right against Spain, they'll shock them. It could be somebody like Sweden, with all of Gerhard's experience and all that there now. It could be somebody like Serena Wigman, who of course beat Spain in February and was beating Spain in June before she swapped and brought all her kids onto the pitch. Or you know, it could be France. They're the best team in the tournament Spain but they are beatable. I think these games have shown that. Yeah, although they do have Alexia Puteas and we mentioned her the other day, she registered her third and

fourth assist of the tournament, which is seven goal contributions already Tanya. When you consider what happened to her in Euro 2022, how good is it to see her back at her best like this? I think for the neutral, it's amazing to watch the quality that she brings onto the pitch and you know, I've had the pleasure of watching Italy live, obviously, two of their other, the two other group games and they are no slouches. They are organized, they are structured, defensively, they're very, very good. But she sliced through like cheese, maybe. I don't know if you want to use that term. Yay, bring the cheese back in.

But look, her quality is a pleasure to watch. And I think that consistency that she's found now at that level, she's back to her best. She's playing with a real smile on her face, which is great to see, I suppose, given the heartache and some of the things that she's had to go through. It's just nice to see her expressing herself. And it's a pleasure to watch that sort of standard

and the way that she brings her teammates into the game and we've known her quality for a long time but to see that now consistently every single game you know she brings something to life it's a real pleasure to watch and long may it continue because for the women's game it's a real privilege and a pleasure to watch her play. Yep certainly is is. The other game, finished Portugal 1, Belgium 2, ultimately didn't really matter. Janis Kamen got the late winner in the 96th minute to make sure that Belgium did at least, you know, get a win during the tournament, but it was a disappointing campaign I think for both sides

Suzie. What do they need to do to rebuild? Yeah I mean they've both got issues right like obviously Portugal haven't had Kika Nazareth fit for the past few months so she was coming into the tournament off the back of injury. Obviously, Jessica Silver had her issues with her sight that, you know, she was back in time for the tournament. But like, there's, you know, key players there that have had issues in the build-up that I think, you know, can be disruptive. And then also, you know, in terms of Belgium, like a strong side, but I think there's a real sort of gap in the squad in terms of like, the age of that squad. I feel like there's a lot of very, very young players or a lot of quite old players and not many in the middle.

I mean, when you look at down their list of players, you know, Fildjens is 36, Kamen is 36, De Luz 32, Van Havermaet 33, like there's a lot of like older players in that squad mixed with younger players and there's not very many in between and like yeah that balance and that transition I think is going to take a little bit of time for those players to sort of be phased out on the newer generation to come through and then be impactful. So I think they're both on a journey to be like really cliched and have been impressing like at times in recent years, but like finding like a level of consistency and building that squad depth and all those kinds of things are things that do take time. And I think,

you know, it will come for both. There's investment happening in those countries. There are players coming through that are very talented. And it's yeah, it's not the right time for them yet. Yeah, it's the right time for Tom though. He's redeeming himself right now because he did predict Spain top, Italy second. Whereas you and Marv and Suzy both went for Belgium to finish second. But you've given good reasons as to why that did not happen. I was just looking actually at Spain, gold, only really vulnerable to daylight robbery and there's been no daylight robbery going on has there in this tournament so far. I'll look ahead to the quarterfinals of both Spain and Italy in a second but

let's just round off group C because that finished on Saturday and in Zurich it was a top-of-the-table clash between Sweden and Germany. Straight shootout. We were expecting an enthralling encounter between two traditional heavyweights of the game but I'm not quite sure we were prepared for all the drama. It finished Sweden 4, Germany 1, Gjullabrand capitalising on Germany's fast start but then Sweden hit back, 18 year old Samila Holmberg firing her side into the lead and then it was just chaos wasn't it? Germany's Carlotta Wamser shone a straight red for making a brilliant save to deny Frida Linow role foe. Only problem for those of you who don't know what her position is she is not a goalkeeper.

Lina Hurtig came on in the second half and added a fourth and it was ultimately a result that saw Peter Gerhardsen's side top the group. It was quite the game, Susie, the most fun I would say. We've had a few fun games in this group stage but the most fun maybe and quite the beating for Germany as well which we didn't expect. What did you make the performance for both sides? Yeah, like I said earlier, I think Germany haven't been very convincing in this tournament. I saw them against Denmark and they were very, very fortunate with the decision around their second goal in that game that gave them the win. So watching them play, I've not been very convinced. And the red card was just like staggeringly bad decision making. I mean, like Rachel O'Sullivan, producer Sophie's other half, who's a photographer,

was down the other end and saw it and said she thought, oh wow, what a brilliant save. And then she said, hang on a second, Berger's a way over there and realised that it wasn't actually the goalkeeper making the save. So it was like really, really baffling a move because I think that completely crippled Germany then and handed Sweden the game. They just couldn't compete 10 on 11. It was just, like you say, utter chaos and a really, really strange decision. And it really hamstrings them for the next game as well against France because Wamsa was the replacement for Julia Gwynne, right back, who is out with an MCL injury now. So they now miss Wamsa too. So who is their third choice right

back that's going to slot into that role? And if you're France, you are utterly licking your lips, putting your like incredibly pacey wingers up against them. So I think they're in real trouble and yeah, it was like the most bizarre like on field decision making from a player that I've seen for some time. And also a headache for the coach. Christian Wuch, obviously without the injured Julia Gwynn, as exactly as Susie said, Carlotta Wamsa is her backup at right back. What does he do? Tanya? It's a conundrum. And I think you could tell at the time when the red card was confirmed, they knew it. Then I think you look at the reaction from the bench, you look at the reaction from the player, there was that real moment of, oh, this is not just going to cause chaos

now. This is actually a problem for the next round as well. I just think they're going to have to reshuffle the pack a little bit because if it's Baltimore out on that left-hand side for France, you're going to have to put someone that's got a lot of pace, a lot of power, but also some experience out there. So I think they're going to have to reshuffle the pack and think outside the box a little bit and maybe sacrifice in other areas somewhere along the line. But it's definitely not something as a coach that you want to have to be considering going into a quarterfinal, that's for sure.

I just felt like Germany, even after they went a player down, just probably didn't help themselves with their game management either. It was just more chaos and more chaos. They just couldn't kind of, they didn't have leadership to pull that back together and sort of just consolidate. It just seemed like a, you know, in terms of building out, making poor decisions and just perpetuated the errors over and over again. So it wasn't a good

day at the office and it has consequences obviously moving forward and obviously as a coach you're then sort of pulling your hair out and as I said you could see on the sideline there was sort of just impact not just for now but obviously for the next game. So we'll see what magic comes out of the box and what solutions they come up with as a coaching staff. It'll be a really interesting one. Yeah. That was actually, which I hadn't realised, Sweden's first Euros win against Germany at the seventh time of asking Tom, three wins from three. I'm beating him in 15 now. They are just in incredible form at the minute. What did England have to watch out for in

their quarterfinal? They've got to watch out for Blackistenius, 100%. And I think they've got to appreciate that compared to the Dutch and Welsh defending, they're going to be up against a far more cohesive defensive unit as well than what they've been up against in the last couple of games. I thought that the players that maybe are wrongly thought of as heading towards the twilight years of their career actually really still thriving in very impressive ways whether that be Aslani, whether that be Jakobsson, you know, it's a team that still have so much quality in this major tournament experience. But having said that,

sorry, I don't want to come across like with English bias here, but if you put the 2-11 side by side, there are very, very few players in the position where you would choose the Swedish player over the English player. If you lined up with 2-11 side by side England still technically would have the stronger squad and stronger team. So they need to go into that with confidence because like for all we've spoken about England and whatever side of the draw they're on like Sweden must be a bit frustrated like to have won the group and done all the hard work of beating Germany and then your reward for being group winners is to play the defending champions. It feels like they've hit a little bit hard done by with that pathway. I think it will be such a close quarterfinal, but I feel a little bit sorry for Sweden because the way they played in the groups is kind of deserved a bit more. If you compare it to Norway, for example,

who haven't played particularly well and won the group, their reward is significantly kinder than what Sweden have been given, if that makes any sense. I hope that the fact that their Swiss mascot is the Zip actually helps England out a little bit because described as hugely effective, knows its job very up and down, lacks rotation, easily comes undone. Fingers crossed in terms of the quarterfinal that that comes to pass. Suzy, you were the only one right on this group. Sweden top, Germany second. Marva and Tom had both said that Germany were going to win, but I just want to

talk about Poland because Tom had completely convinced me on Poland and I did go all out. I don't make predictions now because they're always terrible. So there's absolutely no point whatsoever. But I thought that they were going to hold Germany to a draw in in that opening game. But they did get their first ever win in a major tournament. Poland 3, Denmark 2. It was ultimately a dead rubber this game, but it was quite a good game with just pride to play for. And actually there's a lot of excitement around Polish women's football

at the moment, Susie. They hosted the under-19s Euros this summer. They've got the under-20s World Cup next year and they've got a senior team reaching major tournaments now. So how much do you think they're showing here, although ultimately they didn't progress out of the group, can actually add a bit of impetus to the growth in Poland? Yeah, it's impressive. And like the performances, you know, really warranted that win. They've played really, really well. They're also one of the interested bidders for the next year at Women's Euros as well. So like they're, you know, they're clearly taking the game very seriously and wanting to see this growth.

I'm sure they're looking at what has been done in Switzerland and thinking of the impact that has had on the women's team and on the culture there and thinking that they could have a similar impact. Were they to win that bid? They're one of five going for it though, so it would be a hard ask to win it. But they're doing all the right things and hosting the youth tournaments and stuff in the hope of us, I'm sure, setting their stall out. But yeah, I mean, it's lovely to see them get a win. It's great to see Eva Payot on the score sheet. And yeah, it's impressive

that they've managed to take some points from what is not the easiest group for a newcomer. So the quarterfinals start on Wednesday. Norway against Italy in Geneva, first of all. We haven't actually previewed this one. Who wants to take this? How do you see this going? I think this is probably the hardest, well no actually it's not the hardest quarterfinal to predict. That's absolute rubbish. They're all pretty hard to predict apart from Spain, Switzerland I would say. How do you see this going? Who wants to take it? Tanya, Tom? Yeah I've seen a lot of both of these teams sort of across the group stages and I think Italy, I've got a real shout here to be honest. The way that they play and their structure and the way

that they try and disconnect opposition defensive structures, I think it's going to cause Norway all sorts of problems. And also the way that Norway likes to play with the ball, with a higher right back sort of tilting around in a box midfield, it's going to be really, really interesting. But I think Italy have got enough quality, especially if Girol is up top, I think she can cause all sorts of problems with the way that they're going to look to exploit Norway. I think Norway have not found any sort of rhythm at all yet. I hope, for Jenna's sake, I wanted to do well, the Norway coach, but I just think Italy are going to cause Norway all sorts of problems in this encounter. It's going to be a really good one, but I just think Italy are going to cause Norway all sorts of problems in this

encounter. So it's going to be a really good one, but Italy for me in this quarterfinal. Yeah, Sweden, England play on Thursday in Zurich. We've previewed that already. And then on Friday, it's Spain against Switzerland. And I think we've already all decided that Switzerland's tournament is going to come to an end. You said it was going to be difficult, Tom, though, for Spain. Why do you think so? I don't think you can underestimate the power of the hosts with the belief that they have and the fact they've got nothing to lose in this game at all. In Bern, they'll have so much support for them and I think that they're, you know, while I do agree with everyone, I see Spain going through, I just, I think it will be a blockbuster night. You know, it's the world champions against the host nation. It's kind of a knockout title to look forward to.

I think Switzerland will embrace that challenge. They'll play with a bit of freedom. They've got the pace and kind of pause a few problems when they do break. So the challenge is whether or not they can get organised enough to sit in the deep block and kind of just stop Spain tormenting them at the other end for as long as possible. And the longer they can stay in the game, the longer they'll have a little bit of hope that they could do something special. So yeah, as I kind of alluded to earlier, I sort of foreseeing this sort of good performance from Switzerland, but ultimately a defeat which will be the sort of thing that maybe they'll try and build on for the future. Can I also just say what great hosts they've been as well? If this is where

we say goodbye to Switzerland, it's been such a good tournament in terms of the public transport, it's been exemplary, just the people that have been so helpful and everyone that you've met. So I really want to tip my hat to Switzerland as good hosts and not just for the games they've been involved in as well. Think about, we just talked about Poland there. Poland, Denmark, 14,000 people in Lucerne with an amazing atmosphere. For a game that was a dead rubber, That tells you what a good party this whole tournament has been and that's down to the atmosphere that the hosts have

set. Yeah, which is really important. But I think it's also important, Susie, before we started recording the pod, you mentioned actually how UEFA haven't necessarily been supporting journalists particularly well in the media as a whole in terms of transportation and support within press boxes? Yeah, I mean it's not been ideal. Like we don't have monitors in the press boxes so we don't see any replays which is a real issue like when you're trying to type and watch at the same time and sort of you know pick up on decisions that are being made that could potentially be controversial.

And you know, that's, that makes our jobs really difficult. It makes us prone to mistakes that, you know, aren't necessarily our fault. And it's just, it just makes it so much that much harder. And then also, you know, just little things, don't get me wrong, it's a huge, huge privilege to be able to like come out and cover a major tournament and you know, have expenses and things like that that enable you to be able to do it and you know, to be able to go in and watch these players and these matches and write about it is just like such a phenomenal, like fun and exhausting thing to do. But you know, after games where the last ones to leave the stadium,

there's no, at the World Cup, they always have like shuttle buses for journalists to get back into sort of city centres safely and things like that. Nothing of that out here. So, you know, myself and another younger than me, I was going to say young, another young, I'm not young, female journalist, like standing at a train station at sort of quarter to one in the morning, waiting for one of the last trains back into town, that's going to take half an hour before we get back into our hotels. We have to split up at the station and walk separately back through the dark city. Like it's just not ideal. Like little things like that, that you're just like, you can see where

costs are being cut to make this tournament happen and that this is these are some of the areas where it's been cut and it's frustrating because it's really not ideal. But like I say, it's been a huge privilege to cover the tournament and to be out here till the end and stuff as well. So, you know, there's lots to like too. It's still okay to hold organizations to account when things aren't done properly even though you're enjoying your job and it's a privilege to be there. It's still important that we get the standards right for sure. Right, let's update you on the Women's Africa Cup of Nations. In Morocco we're entering the knockout stages as well and Nigeria have set up a quarter

final showdown with Zambia after a goalless draw with Algeria secured them top spot in Group B. That result also sees Algeria progress as well but we'll find out their opponents later on Monday night if you're listening to the pod. At the minute we're recording on Monday morning whoever finishes second in Group C, either South Africa or Mali that will be. Elsewhere Botswana came from behind to beat Tunisia 2-1 and boost their chances of going through as one of the two best ranked third place sides while Ghana take on Tanzania with both sides needing to win in order to progress. Just more domestic transfer news for you in the WSL as well. The league looks like it's about to

have its first £1 million player with Arsenal set to pay the record fee for Liverpool's Olivia Smith. Susie, we know what a brilliant young player she is, just 20 years of age, but how much of a statement is this? Firstly from Arsenal, but secondly for women's football in this country. Oh yeah, it's a huge statement. I mean, I think Arsenal really needed it in that they've had a fair few reported record bids in recent years for the likes of Mary Earp, Celestia Russo, that kind of thing, that haven't come off. They've got players on a free, Russo was a free, Caldente was a free. Meanwhile, Chelsea and some of the other clubs around the world are spending big around them.

So they sort of needed to have a deal of this nature come off and also to hit the milestone of it being the first million-pound player, I think, is significant for a club that likes to set the standard and sort of lay down a marker in women's football generally, as we've seen on the pitch for so long. But yeah, I think brilliant for Arsenal in getting such a young talent, but fantastic business for Liverpool, who turn a £200,000 player into a £1 million player in just a couple of seasons and really hope that that money that they get from this deal goes back into reinvestment in their squad because we've seen a bit of underinvestment in Liverpool in recent years and hope that this will help start a shift

there. You can see that there is money in the women's game and it's there for the taking basically if you invest correctly and really go for it. But yeah, brilliant for women's football as well in the country. It's a constant arms race at the moment for setting these records, particularly with the NWSL. The WSL is, I think, rapidly becoming accepted as the fastest growing, if not the best, women's league in the world. It needs to be having these statement moves to be able to maintain that position. Interested to know coach's voice on that Tanya? Well, I interestingly did a Liverpool game. I covered two Liverpool games actually and I said at the time, I was like, there is no way that she is going to stay here because of those,

the level of the performances. So yeah, it's, I think the writing was on the wall. It's good business from Liverpool, you know, obviously spent money, brought her in, put her on the biggest stage and have got return on their investment and some. I think as has already been mentioned, just hope that that gets reinvested back into the squad because the squad itself probably needs a revamp holistically and hopefully that money will help do that. But yeah, no surprise from a coaching point of view. She set games on fire with her performances and I think she's a really welcome addition to Arsenal to continue to push higher and higher and that squad depth is going to be needed for them to be able to obviously compete on all fronts and try and win everything available.

Yeah, without a doubt. Just another piece of transfer news. Chelsea forward, me official, has signed with Seattle Rain on a contract until 2029. Right, it's been a pleasure. You lot need to get some rest. Tanya's heading back out to Switzerland imminently. Tom and Suzy, please rest up. Eat some cheese, Suzy. No time for rest, got to get a train back to Zurich. Oh dear. Tom, lovely to see you. Lovely to see you mate, speak soon. Take care. Tanya, see you on our screen soon no doubt. Thanks guys, safe travels everyone. Wonderful stuff. We'll be back later on this week to start to review all the quarterfinal action. Just keep having your say, sending your questions via social media or email us at Women's Football Weekly at theguardian.com.

And as ever, a reminder to sign up for our bi-weekly Women's Football Newsletter. All you need to do is search Moving the Goalposts. Sign up. The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Sophie Downey and Silas Gray. Music composition was by Laura Iredale. Our executive producer is Sal Ahmad. This is The Guardian.