Who to watch out for at the Women’s Euro 2022 Finals

Sixteen teams have qualified for the prestigious European international tournament, UEFA Women’s Euro, which will be hosted in England in July 2022. Originally the competition was set to take place this year but was postponed because of the global pandemic. Instead, this year, it will be the men’s edition of this competition that takes the centre stage which you can follow along on the best Euro 2021 betting sites. The rescheduled tournament gets underway in June 2021 in Rome and runs through to Sunday July 11, where the final will take place at Wembley Stadium, London.

Next year it will be the women’s game in the spotlight as the current holders Netherlands will defend their title against the successful qualified UEFA Women’s EURO 2020 nations Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Northern Ireland, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the host country England.
But which of the teams should we be looking out for at the Women’s Euro 2022 Finals?

Netherlands

The 2017 Champions and hosts of that year’s competition, the Netherlands have continued to pose a threat on the global game since they lifted the European trophy in front of their home fans. Notably reaching the Final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019, but was denied victory by the powerhouse USA.

It was announced in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Rankings published last month that Netherlands had climbed to the third spot! They sit below Germany in second place and the USWNT in first position. The Netherlands boast an impressive squad of world class players including Vivianne Miedema, one of the key players of the English Women’s Super League right now and Lieke Martens who continues her successful stint with FC Barcelona in the Spanish Liga Iberdrola.

The Women’s Euro 2022 tournament will see the Netherlands compete without the guidance of Sarina Wiegman who is due to take over as the England Women’s National Team head coach.

England (hosts)

The England Lionesses form has been questionable over the recent months as they are in a transitional period between coaches following the departure of Phil Neville, Hege Riise has stepped in as interim coach before the FIFA World Coach of the Year Sarina Wiegman takes over as the England manager. England has suffered a few defeats in their recent International friendly matches including against Canada and France.

However, things are set to improve as Wiegman will take over officially as England Women’s National Team head coach following her role leading the Netherlands at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which will now take place this year in 2021. Bringing with her a bundle of international experience and success at the highest level.

Will there be enough preparation time for the new coaching staff and the squad ahead of the tournament? That is yet to be seen. But what is known is England is full of quality players, notably Lucy Bronze, Fran Kirby and Jordan Nobbs and the Lionesses are always seen as a threat at international tournaments – They are former finalists at this competition in 2009 but were defeated 6-2 by Germany.

Another factor to consider is the home advantage for England… Although this may not look like previous campaigns as the inclusion of fans will be determined by status of the Covid-19 pandemic and the rules about the amount of people gathering at sporting events.

Germany

Of course, you can’t leave out the most successful nation at the UEFA Women’s EURO to date. They’ve dominated this competition until 2017 when the Netherlands ended their 22-year reign as Champions.

Germany is ranked second in the Women’s World Rankings and has consistently been a dominant force on the European stage. They’ve earned the most titles in this tournament with eight – Norway is the second highest with two!
Sweden

Sweden has been European finalists twice in this competition, once in 2001 where they were defeated by Germany 1-0 after extra time with the golden goal rule and in 1995 where again they were defeated by Germany, this time 3-2.
Sweden has looked impressive in their Olympic preparation friendly matches including against the World Champions USA where they drew 1-1 but could easily have earned the victory if not for an incorrect penalty decision in the final stages of the game.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland made history to reach the Euro 2022 Finals – they secured their place by beating Ukraine 4-1 on aggregate in the play-off match.

Northern Ireland were ranked 32nd out of the record 47 teams who took part in the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 qualifying groups – 15 qualified to join hosts England in the finals from 6 to 31 July 2022.

Will the debutants rise to the occasion at the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022?