The 14th edition of the European Championship for Women is completely ready to go in Switzerland, where Iceland will include in the opening match in the opening match on Wednesday.
The 16-team tournament will be completed on July 27, with the St Jakob Stadium in Basel set to organize the Summit Clash.
England is the title defender after beating record eight times winner Germany 2-1 in the final of the 2022 edition in Wembley Stadium.
View some of the stars to keep an eye on:
Alessia Russo (England)
File photo: England and Arsenal Vooruit Alessia Russo. | Photoredit: AP
File photo: England and Arsenal Vooruit Alessia Russo. | Photoredit: AP
England -striker Alessia Russo comes in the tournament on the back of a surprise UEFA Women’s Champions League Final Triumph with Arsenal. Last season she scored 35 goals, including eight in the Champions League, while the Gunners defeated Barcelona to ever achieve their second European title.
The Arsenal player this season was also the joint top scorer in the Women’s Super League with Khadija Shaw from Manchester City, while Arsenal finished second.
Back in the 2022 edition of the European Championship, she came from the bank in all six games and took four goals. This time she is one of the senior members of the group and will be an essential part of the title defense of coach Sarina Wiegman.
Ewas of the Mountain (Prots)
File photo: Poland and Barcelona Vooruit Ewa Pajor. | Photocredit: Charles McQuillan
File photo: Poland and Barcelona Vooruit Ewa Pajor. | Photocredit: Charles McQuillan
For Poland, which makes his debut in the competition, the goals in the shoulders of in-form striker Ewa Pajor will largely rest. The 28-year-old was an important part of Barcelona’s success this season, after a move from Wolfsburg last year.
She scored 43 goals and made 14 assists in 46 performances last season when Barcelona lifted the Liga F and Spanish Cup titles. Her versions also made her a competition for the Ballon d’Or Feminin this year.
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In international colors after making her debut in 2013, she played 101 games and played 68 times in that period.
Aitana Bonmati (Spain)
While Aitana Bonmati arrived at the Spain team after treatment for viral meningitis, its presence will certainly give the ruling world champion a big boost. Although it had a disappointing end of the season with Barcelona, on a personal level, the double balloon d’Or Féminin winner was sharp for the goal, and found the back of the Net 15 times and also assisted six times in 37 games.
Although it is unlikely that the 27-year-old will appear against Portugal in his opening match, Spain will hope that she can play a major role in the later stages. Head coach Montse Tome also repeated her interest prior to the start of the tournament and said: «Bossi is so important to us and we will wait for her, whatever happens, until the end.»
Klara Buhl (Germany)
File photo: Germany and Bayern Munich Vooruit Klara Buhl. | Photocredit: Getty images
File photo: Germany and Bayern Munich Vooruit Klara Buhl. | Photocredit: Getty images
The beatenibled finalists of the last edition, Germany, will go one step further this time and cancel a ninth title, and their attack will be led by the young but experienced Klara Buhl. Bayern Munich attacker will look for repayment after she was excluded from the final of 2022 against England after testing positive on COVID-19.
This time she is in good shape and played an important role in Bayern’s Maiden Interior Double Triumph (Frauen-Bundesliga and DFB Cup), and had the most target contributions in the competition with seven goals and 14 assists in 22 games.
Although it is only 24 years old, Klara has made 67 performances for the national team and at that time he gained 28 goals.
Alexia Putellas (Spain)
This list would not be complete without calling Alexia Putellas, one of the greatest female football players of all time.
Putellas, who became the first player who won Ballon d’Or Fémininis twice (2021 and 2022), is also the most covered player in the history of the Spanish women’s football team (130). She represents Spain in five major tournaments since her debut in 2013.
However, she missed the last edition of the European Championship in 2022 after having sustained an ACL injury just before the tournament started and will be happy to lead to a first title.
The selection of the 31-year-old in the team is supported by a successful season with Barcelona, where she recorded 22 goals and three assists in 39 games in all competitions.
