The European Championship, the last barrier for Spanish women's football

Spain, the world champion, returns to action. The lights of the Nations League and the shadows of the Paris Olympic Games, which marked the year 2024, the aftermath of the historic 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, are now behind.

Switzerland hosts a European Championship that the team led by Montse Tomé sees as the best possible opportunity to consolidate its dominance in women's football, to inaugurate its record in the top championship of the Old Continent, and thus secure an unprecedented treble after the World Cup and the Nations League.

Spain has reasons for optimism. With a consistent squad from the World Cup and the Olympic Games, despite the controversial absence of Jenni Hermoso, the all-time top scorer, and the uncertainty surrounding Aitana Bonmatí, it leads all forecasts and predictions ahead of the Swiss championship. The challenge is to dethrone the reigning European champion, England, the second favorite and rival in the 2023 World Cup final. Germany and France complete the list of major contenders.

Behind them, the Nordic teams, far from their former dominance but always competitive, and Italy, a team improving with the professionalization of the women's Serie A. The Azzurra will be the main obstacle for Spain in Group B, which also includes Belgium and Portugal.

The team led by Montse Tomé, which has established its headquarters in Lausanne, will debut on July 3 in Bern against the Portuguese team, which it has defeated in their three previous encounters. Subsequently, they will play on July 7 in Thun against the Belgian team, which they beat 0-7 in Leuven and 2-0 in La Coruña on the way to this European Championship.

On July 11, again in Bern, Spain will close the group stage against Italy, whom they faced in October and December 2023 in the Nations League group stage, which they won in Seville in February 2024. The Italian team defeated the Spanish team in Pontevedra (2-3), although they lost in Salerno (0-1), and both teams met again in October last year, drawing 1-1 in a friendly match held in the Italian town of Vicenza.

If the Spanish team achieves its first goal by qualifying for the quarter-finals, fortune seems to favor them with a relatively easy crossover against one of the two qualifiers from Group A, consisting of host Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Finland. Thus, they avoid facing Germany, which is likely to be a rival in the semi-finals, England, France, and other dangerous opponents like the Netherlands or Sweden until the semi-finals.

To face the challenge of the triple crown, Spain once again presents the recognizable squad that has taken them to the highest level of women's football in the last two years. It includes Cata Coll, a consolidated goalkeeper, the leadership of captain Irene Paredes in the defense, and a truly luxurious attack thanks to the threat of Mariona Caldentey, European champion with Arsenal, the rising youth of Salma Paralluelo, or the scoring ability of Claudia Pina, the ultimate game-changer who has played a leading role in Barça's national treble this season. However, they will have to wait for the recovery of the two-time Ballon d'Or winner, Aitana Bonmatí, affected by viral meningitis, whose participation in the European Championship is in doubt.

England, the reigning European champion and Spain's quarter-final nemesis in the 2022 tournament held on home soil, is considered the other major favorite. The team led by Sarina Wiegman no longer features recent era figures like Mary Earps, Fran Kirby, and Millie Bright, who have left the team, but boasts a forward line with Beth Mead and Alessia Russo, Champions League winners with Arsenal, and Lauren James from Chelsea.

The double encounter between the Lionesses and Spain in the group stage of the last Nations League, with an English victory at Wembley (1-0) and a Spanish win in Cornellà (2-1), exemplifies the parity of this recent classic, which could be repeated in the final if both teams secure the top spot in their group, something the English will find challenging against France, the Netherlands, and Wales.

Indeed, the French team is another strong contender for everything in the European Championship. It has never reigned in the Old Continent, nor has it even reached the tournament final, despite its potential in recent times. However, it boasts a generation of talents led by Kadidiatou Diani, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, and captain Wendie Renard. Their setback in the Paris Games, where they fell to Brazil in the quarter-finals, marked a new era under Laurent Bonadei as coach, and the French have been unstoppable in the Nations League, with a perfect record in the group stage.

England and France undoubtedly start as favorites in Group D, which will cross in the quarter-finals with the top two from Group C, consisting of Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland. The German team, a traditional hegemonic power with eight crowns in thirteen editions of the Women's European Championship, is also among the top contenders. Alexandra Popp, a reliable scorer, is no longer there, but the German squad showcases a solid and rejuvenated block capable of snatching the bronze medal from Spain in the Paris Games.