The women’s Euro 2022 Finals has been a feast of football since the tournament kicked off a couple of weeks ago and after an exciting and record-breaking group stage of the tournament, we now know the eight teams that have made it through to contest the quarterfinals beginning on Wednesday evening.
In this article, we are going to take a look at how the Group Stage turned out, looking at some of the teams and players that caught the eye, as well as those that failed to shine.
We’ll also revisit the latest betting on who will win the tournament with bet365 Sport, and there has certainly been plenty of movement in the markets since the tournament began.
So, let’s begin with a roundup of the Group Stages of the tournament.
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Women’s Euro 2022 – Group Stage Roundup
Group A
Results
England 1-0 AustriaNorway 4-1 Northern IrelandAustria 2-0 Northern IrelandEngland 8-0 NorwayNorthern Ireland 0-5 EnglandAustria 1-0 Norway
Final Table (Goal Difference In Brackets)
England – 9 (14-0)Austria – 6 (3-1)Norway – 3 (4-10)Northern Ireland – 0 (1-11)
Despite eventually dominating the group, England struggled in their opener against Austria when it came to converting the numerous chances that they created. However, they had no such problems in their record-breaking win over Norway and their final group game against Northern Irelan.
It was always likely to be a battle between Norway and Austria for the second qualifying spot in the group and surprisingly perhaps, it was Austria that clinched it with a 1-0 win in their deciding game with Norway being more than enough to progress.
For Northern Ireland, it may have been three defeats but they did score in their first major tournament appearance and they have a strong foundation on which to build for the future.
Group B
Results
Spain 4-1 FinlandGermany 4-0 DenmarkDenmark 1-0 FinlandGermany 2-0 SpainFinland 0-3 GermanyDenmark 0-1 Spain
Final Table (Goal Difference In Brackets)
Germany – 9 (9-0)Spain – 6 (5-3)Denmark – 3 (1-5)Finland – 0 (1-8)
Germany romped home with unexpected ease in this group as Spain, who suffered through the loss of Alexia Putellas at the start of the tournament, struggled to turn their possession into goals in their opening two games, one of which was a 2-0 loss to the Germans.
The battle therefore was for second spot and that led to a final game showdown with Denmark and Spain. The Danes needed to win the game to pip the Spanish into the quarterfinals but as they pushed forward late on, they were caught in injury time with a sucker-punch winner for the Spaniards ensuring the pre-tournament co-favourites went through with Germany.
It was a disappointing tournament for the Danes, who reached the final in 2017, while Finland will take heart from some good performances, but a lack of cutting edge cost them at key moments.
Group C
Results
Portugal 2-2 SwitzerlandNetherlands 1-1 SwedenSweden 2-1 SwitzerlandNetherlands 3-2 PortugalSwitzerland 1-4 NetherlandsSweden 5-0 Portugal
Final Table (Goal Difference In Brackets)
Sweden – 7 (8-2)Netherlands – 7 (8-4)Switzerland – 1 (4-8)Portugal – 1 (4-10)
The two expected teams qualified from his group, with Sweden and the Netherlands sharing the points in their first game in the tournament between them, then both beat their other group opponents to finish on seven points.
The Swedes topped the group due to a better goal difference meaning they will face an easier quarter final opponent than the Dutch.
For Switzerland and Portugal there were some positives from their campaigns and both were a little unfortunate to lose their last game so heavily.
Group D
Results
Belgium 1-1 IcelandFrance 5-1 ItalyItaly 1-1 IcelandFrance 2-1 BelgiumIceland 1-1 FranceItaly 0-1 Belgium
Final Table (Goal Difference In Brackets)
France – 7 (8-3)Belgium – 4 (3-3)Iceland – 3 (3-3)Italy – 1 (2-7)
France were dominant in their opening two games to ensure that they topped the group, but I think it is fair to say that Italy really disappointed with a poor showing.
Iceland did not lose but also did not win a game and their three 1-1 draws were not enough to qualify in second with Belgium defeating Italy in their final game to ensure that they took the second place spot behind the dangerous French team.
Other Tournament Stats
Leading Goalscorer
5 Goals – Beth Mead (England)3 Goals – Alexandra Popp (Germany), Alessia Russo (England), Grace Geyoro (France)2 Goals – Domee Leuchter (Netherlands), Filippa Angeldahl (Sweden), Ellen White (England),
Leading Assists
3 Assists – Fran Kirby (England)2 Assists – Kosovare Asllani (Sweden), Sakina Karchaoui (France), Beth Mead (England)
Records Broken
The attendance record for a Women’s Euro Finals game was broken in the first game of the tournament between England and Austria at Old Trafford with 68,871 people in attendance. This eclipsed the previous record of 41,301, set in the 2013 final in Stockholm between Germany and Norway. There is also every chance the record will be broken once again with the final at Wembley already sold out.England’s record of three wins, 14 goals scored and none conceded in the group stages is the best ever performance at a European Championship Finals Group Stage by any team, male or female, in the tournament’s history.England’s 8-0 win over Norway in their second game was the first time any team has scored more than six goals in a European Championship group stage game in either the men’s or women’s tournament.
Women’s Euro 2022 Quarter Finals Preview, Odds & Tips
The four quarter finals as decided by teams finishing position in the group stage are outlined below. All games kick off at 8pm UK Time.
Wednesday 20th July
England v Spain (Falmer Stadium)
England’s superb start to the tournament compared with Spain’s somewhat more modest performances mean that despite being the two co-favourites for the tournament at the start, England are now the clear favourites to land the win here.
I agree with that assessment with the Lionesses playing some fantastic attacking football and not really being taxed in defence in any of their three games.
Spain will have more possession and England may need to be patient, but if they can take their chances as well as they have against Norway and Northern Ireland, I am backing England to land the win here.
Bet365 are offering a Bet Boost on England to win 3-1 from 16/1 to 20/1 and I think that is the best option to back here.
Thursday 21st July
Germany v Austria (Brentford Community Stadium)
These neighbours have not played each other too often in the women’s game, but it is Germany that have the real pedigree in this tournament and in truth, I cannot see any way that Austria are going to trouble them in this game.
The Germans are too strong all-round the field and I would be hugely surprised if they did not land a win by a relatively comfortable margin here, although the Austrian defence should stop it from being a rout.
A 3-0 win for Germany is a 7/1 chance with bet365 and that is a slot option for this match.
Friday 22nd July
Sweden v Belgium (Leigh Sports Village)
After a relatively slow start to their campaign, Sweden hit top gear in their final group game smashing five goals past Portugal to top their group ahead of the Dutch and as a result of that, they have the much easier task of taking on the weakest of the eight teams left in the competition, Belgium.
The Belgians did well to qualify from their group behind France, but there is going to be a big step up in quality in the quarterfinals and this young and inexperienced Belgian side at this level will find that going tough.
As such, I think the Swedes will win this one relatively comfortably and a 4-1 Sweden win at 18/1 is a solid looking bet in my view.
Saturday 23rd July
France v Netherlands (New York Stadium)
For me, along with the England v Spain game, this is the most appealing and evenly balanced of the quarterfinal ties, with France perhaps the slight favourites given their solid form in the Group Stage.
However, it is worth noting the Dutch matches the French’s seven points and they were in a tougher group than the French and with Miediema hopefully back for this game, they should be able to cause that French defence plenty of problems.
I can see an open, attacking game here with plenty of chances as both side are better in attack than defending. As such, I am going for France to win a classic by a 3-2 scoreline which is a 22/1 chance with bet365.
Those tips would leave us with England v Sweden in one semi-final and France v Germany in the other, which is certainly enough to whet the appetite of any football fan!
