{"id":3204,"date":"2025-06-19T10:11:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T10:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/?p=3204"},"modified":"2025-06-18T11:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T11:19:10","slug":"the-quiet-contender-of-switzerland-hosts-euro-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/?p=3204","title":{"rendered":"The quiet contender of Switzerland hosts Euro 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Dr Helen Owton<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the 2025 Euro Championships coming up, this article explores this year’s tournament and who to watch out for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Find out more about The Open University’s\u00a0Sport and Fitness courses and qualifications<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As women\u2019s football continues its rapid global rise, in 2025 all eyes turn to an unexpected yet compelling stage: Switzerland (UEFA, 2025<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>). Long considered a quiet contender in the sport due to its slow comparative progress, the Alpine nation now finds itself in a leading role as it prepares to host the UEFA Women\u2019s Euro 2025 where global TV audiences could exceed 500 million (Gardner, 2024\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>).<\/p>\n

While there were earlier attempts to recognise the women\u2019s game in Switzerland, formal engagement with women\u2019s football began late, with official recognition by the Swiss Football Association only in the 1970s (UEFA, 2022\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>). For decades, the Swiss Women\u2019s Super League (formally named Nationalliga A) remained semi-professional, limiting domestic opportunities for female athletes (Le Low, 2025\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>). While, the country is steadily investing in its football infrastructure, player development, and opportunities for women on and off the pitch,\u00a0progress is slow.\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the pitch<\/h2>\n

Crucially, the game plays a powerful role off the field. In a country where over 25 per cent of the population is made up of foreign nationals, football has become a vital tool for social integration; helping foster community, develop language skills, and build connections, especially among immigrant women (Zwahlen\u00a0et al<\/em>., 2018\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>;\u00a0Bartosik, 2018\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>).<\/p>\n

Euro 2025, then, is more than just a tournament. It\u2019s planning to be a platform for promoting inclusion, belonging and civic engagement (UEFA, 2025\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>).<\/p>\n

To reflect this inclusive vision, matches will be held across eight cities including Zurich, Basel, Bern, Geneva and Sion (UEFA, 2025\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span>Stade de Tourbillion, Sion<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Organisers have intentionally structured the matches into regional clusters to ease travel for fans and players; encouraging national engagement and local pride while minimising regional disparities (UEFA, 2025\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>). The tournament will not only increase the sport\u2019s visibility domestically but is already driving investments in infrastructure, grassroots programs and media attention \u2013 setting the stage for a lasting legacy (UEFA, 2025\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>).<\/p>\n

Hosting Euro 2025: a national milestone<\/h2>\n

The Swiss national team qualified for their first FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup in 2015, reaching the Round of 16, and repeated this success in 2023 (FIFA, 2023\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>). They have also participated in consecutive UEFA Women\u2019s Euros (2017 and 2022), albeit exiting in the group stages (UEFA, 2024\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>). With the home crowd behind them, cultural momentum on their side, and football\u2019s broader social impact in focus, how far can Switzerland go?<\/p>\n

Switzerland\u2019s chances at Euro 2025<\/h2>\n

Under the leadership of experienced coach, Pia Sundhage, Switzerland has shown glimpses of potential with a hard-fought\u00a01-1 draw against Australia<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0in a friendly. Switzerland enters Euro 2025 as the host and automatic qualifier, placed in Group A alongside Norway, Iceland and Finland (UEFA, 2024\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>). It\u2019s a group filled with balanced yet formidable competition, but Switzerland have their work cut out after they were relegated in the UEFA Women\u2019s National League finishing with just 2 points (Shelat, 2025\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>).\u00a0Euro 2025 power rankings\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0rank Switzerland as thirteenth.<\/p>\n

Teenager\u00a0<\/span>Sydney Schertenleib\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0(18 years old) remains one to watch on the Swiss team \u2013 she plays as a midfielder for Primera Federaci\u00f3n club FC Barcelona. Too many of their experienced core of players, such as\u00a0<\/span>Luana B\u00fchler\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0(defender for Women\u2019s Super League club Tottenham Hotspur),\u00a0<\/span>are injured\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0might not recover in time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Norway (ranked eighth) poses the greatest threat, while Iceland (ranked twelfth) and Finland (ranked fifteenth) are the weaker teams which make for an unpredictable group stage.<\/p>\n

\u2018Home advantage\u2019<\/h2>\n

Switzerland is placed as an \u2018outsider\u2019, but several factors could tip the balance in their favour \u2013 chief among them:\u00a0home advantage<\/span><\/a><\/span>.\u00a0Home advantage\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0is a phenomenon which has been a hotly debated contentious issue but appears to be very real.\u00a0<\/span>Research\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0suggests that home teams in sport competitions win over 50 per cent of games played under a balanced home and away schedule.<\/span><\/p>\n

Playing on\u00a0familiar soil<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0in front of home crowds across cities like Basel, Geneva and Bern could prove crucial. The emotional lift from local supporters, coupled with minimal travel demands and familiarity with the venues, offers a\u00a0tangible boost<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>. Historically,\u00a0host nations<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0in major tournaments often outperform expectations, and Switzerland will hope to draw on that energy to fuel a deep tournament run. With the country rallying around the team and national pride at stake, Euro 2025 may well be Switzerland\u2019s moment to exceed expectations if momentum builds and inspire the next generation of players and fans.<\/p>\n

England and Wales<\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, England are ranked third\u00a0and are in a\u00a0tough group<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0with France, the Netherlands and Wales. Despite losing three high profile England players \u2013 Millie Bright (defender), Fran Kirby (midfielder) and Mary Earps (goalkeeper)\u00a0\u2013 Sarina Wiegman is feeling \u2018good\u2019 about their chances at the Euros. For Wales, 2025 marks their\u00a0first ever appearance<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0in a major international football tournament. This reflects years of growth and investment in the sport and is expected to inspire future generations and elevate the profile of women\u2019s football in\u00a0Wales<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>. England and Wales will compete against each other on 13\u00a0July 2025 and all games in the UK will be aired on either\u00a0BBC or ITV<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Take a look at\u00a0who plays where and when\u00a0<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr Helen Owton With the 2025 Euro Championships coming up, this article explores this year’s tournament and who to watch out for. Find out more about The Open University’s\u00a0Sport and Fitness courses and qualifications. As women\u2019s football continues its rapid global rise, in 2025 all eyes turn to an unexpected yet compelling stage: Switzerland […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3205,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204\/revisions\/3205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}