Euro 2022: The favorites

Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s squad is packed with players from Europe’s elite clubs. Germany will count on the combination between young and experienced women, with the DFB's target being the semifinals at least. Sara Däbritz, who recently joined European champions Lyon, will look to win Germany’s first big title since 2013. But the record title winners will miss Dzsenifer Marozsan, due to injury.

After the disappointment of getting knocked out in the group stages of Euro 2017, Norway will look to restore their good record in the competition, having won it twice and reached the final in 2013. Ada Hegerberg, the winner of the first ever Ballon d’Or to be awarded to a female player in 2018, has returned to the setup after a five year absence in protest at inequality in the Norwegian FA.

After underwhelming at their home World Cup in 2019, Corinne Diacre’s side will want to reassert themselves. This might be difficult due to the absence of influential players such as Amandine Henry and Eugenie Le Sommer, who have been left out of the squad. Experienced defender Wendie Renard, of reigning Champions League winners Lyon, leads a side with plenty of winning experience at club level.

The reigning European champions will look to defend their title in England, this time with Englishman Mark Parsons at the helm. Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema, the star attacker who is the Dutch national team’s most prolific goalscorer ever, is expected to lead the side into the latter stages of the competition.

The tournament’s hosts see themselves as being among the top contenders. The squad is built largely from players from the rapidly growing Women’s Super League, as well as a smattering of Europe’s top clubs. Attacking fullback Lucy Bronze has played for several of the elite, and will be looking to secure a first major title for England after agreeing a deal to play for Barcelona next term.

With a squad made almost entirely of La Liga talent, Jorge Vilda’s players will look to secure the country’s first ever European title. However, Spain suffered a major blow on the eve of the tournament, when Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas (left), considered by many as the best player in the world, suffered a knee injury in training that has ruled her out of Euro 2022.

With many of their players decorating Europe’s top clubs and a strong history, Sweden is one of the teams to watch at the Euros. The silver medalists from the Beijing Olympics will look to win a major trophy for their country for the first time since winning the 1984 Euros. Fridolina Rolfö’s good form from Barcelona could help them in achieving their goal.