The last time England hosted the Women’s European Championship, only one part of England really saw any of it. The eight-team tournament in 2005 was played entirely within the confines of the North West, stretching as far north as Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road but no further south than the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington. Germany ran out 3-1 winners against Norway at Ewood Park in front of a crowd of 21,105. England finished bottom of their group, by the way.
Seventeen years later, the next three-and-a-half weeks promise to demonstrate how much has changed since. It all begins in the North West once again – England host Austria at Old Trafford in tonight’s curtain-raiser – and although there is strangely no North East representation, the 10 venues stretch from Leigh down to Brighton, and the tournament will culminate in a Wembley final that has already sold all 87,200 tickets. More than 500,000 have been sold across all of the games.
That is not only a record but double the total sold for the last Euros in the Netherlands five years ago. The worldwide broadcast audience for the 2017 tournament hit 178 million but that too is set to be comfortably surpassed. Whereas Channel 4’s live coverage largely focused on the fate of the home nations then, every match will be available to watch across the BBC’s platforms now. This will be the biggest Euros yet, demonstrating the rapid pace of the game’s progress. And so, it is perhaps only right to stop and take a breath.
Women’s football is constantly discussed in terms of growth, exposure and much-needed social change. It is a necessary conversation but one that can overwhelm and undermine the game itself. Comparisons to the men’s equivalent are inevitable. Given one was shamefully outlawed in this country by the Football Association for 50 years and then overlooked for another four decades or more, disparities are inevitable and perhaps in some cases insurmountable.
Euro 2022 will be an opportunity to celebrate the gains of the recent past and plot more advances in the near future but it will also be a showcase for the talents of the present, of which there are many and not least with the host nation. Something would have to go seriously wrong for England to fall at the first hurdle at their own tournament again. Sarina Wiegman’s side are among the favourites to win outright and not only because of that home advantage.
The pedigree of reaching the semi-finals in each of their past three major tournaments cannot be ignored. Lucy Bronze is a veteran of all three campaigns and remains arguably the best right-back in the world. Nobody plundered more goals at the last World Cup than all-time leading scorer Ellen White. Fran Kirby’s fitness is a concern but her talent is undoubted, while much of the pre-tournament hype has centred on Lauren Hemp, winner of the PFA Young Player of the Year award in each of the last three seasons.
Wiegman herself is arguably England’s greatest asset of all, having won the 2017 Euros with the Netherlands before leading them to the World Cup final two years later. The postponement of this tournament because of the pandemic put it out of the reach of Phil Neville, whose goodwill finally ran out early last year. The Football Association bided their time and hired Hege Riise on a temporary basis while they waited for Wiegman to fulfil her duties with her home country at last year’s Tokyo Olympics. If that patience has meant limited preparation time, England have shown few signs of suffering from it.
Unbeaten in 12 games under her management, Wiegman has taken a refreshingly cool and pragmatic approach to the role, most notably when choosing to leave Steph Houghton at home for this tournament rather than take a risk with an influential but injured player. Leah Williamson, Houghton’s replacement as captain, has been deployed as a holding midfielder instead of a natural centre-half in one of several tactical tweaks. It has worked to date but now faces its greatest test.
Northern Ireland are first-time qualifiers, playing at their first major international tournament of any kind. Having sneaked through qualifying ahead of Wales, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament’s prize is another home nations encounter with England. Realistically, Kenny Shiels’s side, made up of part-time players, can expect an early exit but the absence of any pressure can only be a positive and their disciplined approach could prove difficult to break down.
Norway are likely to be England’s greatest threat to claiming top spot in Group A, particularly following the return to international football of Ada Hegerberg after a five-year hiatus. Having led her club to domestic and European glory this season, this summer is her chance to make up for lost time with her country. Though an outside bet for the Golden Boot given that Norway are not the force of old, a fast start could put Hegerberg in contention, particularly if withdrawn strike partner and playmaker Caroline Graham Hansen is at her imaginative best.
Graham Hansen is more often found turning out for Barcelona Femeni, who make a compelling case to be the most dominant team in world football, even after their surprise defeat in the Champions League final. Many from that side will be representing Spain, who are undefeated in two years and scored 48 goals in qualifying, conceding only once. It is easy to see why they are well-fancied, despite a history of flattering to deceive at tournaments, but they will be without the Ballon d’Or holder and best player in the world Alexia Putellas, who suffered a knee injury on the eve of the tournament.
Germany could be accused of the same underachievement in recent years and are still searching for an identity under Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, yet being eight-time winners counts for something. It certainly makes Group B the toughest on paper, as one of Germany, Spain or dark horses Denmark face packing their bags early. The 2017 runners-up missed the World Cup due to a pay dispute with the Danish federation. Pernille Harder, the in-form Chelsea striker, gives Lars Sondergaard’s side a fighting chance of sneaking into the quarter-finals.
Sweden are the ones to watch after a third-place finish three years ago and only losing the Olympics final on penalties to Canada. Stina Blackstenius will meet her Arsenal strike partner in Group C. And though reigning champions the Netherlands have suffered from the loss of Wiegman, if they have Vivianne Miedema, they have a chance. France, meanwhile, should find it relatively straightforward to come through Group D, though internal tensions between coach Corinne Diacre and her squad could put a ceiling on their ambitions.
And so, although there is a band of favourites, the field is open and the competition among them is strong. That should only attract more eyeballs, generate greater interest and sustain the growth that women's football has witnessed in the years since the previous Euros. This tournament will be very different from the last, though, not least because of the progress already made. This is a game that has come far, and still has further to go, but has nothing to prove to anyone.
