analysis
The German women’s national team will face two teams from the extended circle of favorites at the 2025 European Championship. The Danish Pernille Harder could be the biggest problem.
After the draw for the 2025 Women’s European Championship, there was widespread agreement in the German camp. “This is a very challenging group. It could have been worse, but we have to be very careful”said national coach Christian Wück, because the DFB team, for example, was spared the English women. Sports director Nia Künzer said: “This is certainly a strong group, we approach every game with humility and respect.”
Denmark, Sweden and Poland will be the opponents in the preliminary round. You have to overcome two of them to reach the quarter-finals – and at least the two Scandinavian national teams have their senses particularly sharpened. Because both the Danes and the Swedes are among the teams that can have a lot of confidence in this tournament. Sweden caused a sensation by finishing third at the World Cup last year, while Denmark narrowly failed in the round of 16 to hosts and eventual finalists Australia.
Neuendorf: “It will be challenging to assert yourself”
“Two Scandinavian teams – we know it will be very difficult. Women’s football is very strong in Scandinavia and very good work has been done there for decades. It will be challenging to assert ourselves.”said DFB President Bernd Neuendorf. “But we have a good chance of getting through the group. That has to be the first goal.”
The last two meetings with Denmark in the Nations League took place around a year ago. The first leg went to Denmark 2-0 and the second leg went to the DFB team 3-0. A possible explanation for the differences in the two games: in the second game Denmark had to make do without its undisputed superstar.
Titles and goals – Harder shines in the Bundesliga
Pernille Harder is the linchpin in Swedish coach Andrée Jeglertz’s team. She is captain, her country’s all-time record goalscorer – and well known to the German players. The offensive all-rounder has been under contract with FC Bayern Munich since the 2023/24 season and has already scored twelve goals in 17 competitive games this season.
Harder had previously collected titles en masse at VfL Wolfsburg from 2017 to 2020 – there she won the double four times in a row and was top scorer twice. Your impressive overall record in the Bundesliga: 102 games, 83 goals.
Will Sweden’s Ilestedt come back to the European Championships?
And the Swedes are anything but strangers to the DFB team. Captain Magdalena Eriksson is Harder’s teammate at FC Bayern – and her partner. Linda Sembrant and Julia Zigiotti Olme are also under contract in Munich, and Rebecka Blomqvist plays for VfL Wolfsburg. But the biggest star of last year’s World Cup is the big unknown in the team – for a very nice reason.
As a defender, Amanda Ilestedt was one of the top scorers at last year’s World Cup with four goals – and she embodied the Swedes’ great strength: set pieces. Almost all of the goals resulted from dead balls and Ilestedt was almost always the target. However, the 31-year-old gave birth to a daughter in September, she played her last international match at the end of 2023 and was still in action for Arsenal FC in February 2024.
Poland has recently “made things difficult” for DFB women
But what can we expect from the Polish women? They were already Germany’s opponents in the European Championship qualification and are therefore no longer unknown. The results (3:1 and 4:1) sound like a clear thing, but in both cases things weren’t looking nearly as good at half time. Once Poland even led 1-0, once it was 1-1 after the German team went behind.
“You made it difficult for us”said Künzer. And national coach Wück is giving Poland special attention because it will be the start for his team. “The first game against Poland will be very important to start the tournament well and gain self-confidence. Starting with a win is the clear goal, and then we have to see what happens next.” This group will be a tough test for the DFB team.