Euro 2022 semi-finalists England, Sweden, Germany and France make the perfect final four
So here we are: the 2022 Women’s European Championship is about to reach its climax and you can only be excited by what you are going to see.
It’s not often that the top four teams – in this case England, Sweden, Germany and France – make the last four together in a major tournament. Often you have surprises, disappointments, overachievers, minnows and so on. Not this time. This time we have what we’ve all been waiting for since the draw for the tournament: the four group winners face each other in a dream pair of semi-finals that will lead to a marquee final, regardless of who makes it to Wembley on July 31.
But let’s not get too carried away. First let’s enjoy our two main courses before our dessert: England vs. Sweden on Tuesday (LIVE 3pm ET on ESPN2, ESPN+) and France v Germany on Wednesday (LIVE 3pm ET on ESPN2, ESPN+). The top four teams in Europe and the top four teams in this tournament without a doubt.
– Euro 2022: News & Features | Console & Schedule | LIVE on ESPN
– Stream ESPN FC daily on ESPN+ (US only)
– You don’t have ESPN? Get instant access
Imagine the Wimbledon semi-finals with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray at their best. Imagine the final NCCA March Madness Final Four with top four seeds Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke and Villanova. Imagine two laps remaining in a Formula 1 Grand Prix with Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso all still vying for the checkered flag. That’s what we’re talking about here. Football excellence, the game at its best, with the season’s biggest prize at stake.
And the stories are also perfect. The drama, suspense and plot lines are there for us to enjoy. England, at home, are closing in, finally, on a first major triumph since the 1966 men’s World Cup. Sweden, the best losing side of the 2000s, always in the last four but never winners. Germany, eight-time winners of this tournament, are trying to get back to winning ways with some old heads and a talented new generation. And France, finally broke the curse of the last eight. It is difficult to predict. It is full of quality. It’s exciting to look forward to.
The fact that England are there with the best group of players and the best manager they have ever had as well as an incredible home support means that anything less than reaching this stage would have been a failure. Now it is their biggest test for a very long time because they are in a position where they could, and should, beat Sweden.
The Scandinavians want Euro 2022 to finally be the one when they come home with the trophy after, to name but a few recent heartbreaks, losing back-to-back finals at the last two Olympics and a World Cup semi-final in 2019. Peter Gerhardsson has made a great job since taking over as coach in 2017; now he just needs the final push.
For Germany, it is finally a return to the big time. Since their Olympic gold in Rio 2016, they failed in 2017 and 2019. Now they have the chance, with an incredible first three of Alexandra Popp, Klara Buhl and Svenja Huth.
And then there is France. After five consecutive tournaments where their campaign ended in the quarter-finals, they have finally taken the next step. Now they will have the freedom for the talents of Delphine Cascarino and Kadidiatou Diani up front to take off the handbrake and rely on the experience of Wendie Renard and Pauline Peyraud-Magnin at the back.
These four countries have provided us with the best stories of the tournament so far. There is redemption for German striker Popp, 31 years old and taking part in her first Euros after missing the last two through injury, having not scored for her country in 972 days before this tournament. There is a miracle for Fran Kirby, the England forward, who not long ago was unsure if she would ever be able to walk again, let alone play football, after suffering pericarditis and then extreme fatigue. There has been grief for French goalkeeper Peyraud-Magnin, who lost his ex-girlfriend with whom she was still very close just before the start of the tournament. And there has been resilience for Caroline Seger, 37, Sweden’s captain and most experienced player, who missed a penalty that could have won her country Olympic gold in Tokyo and is still here for this European Championship, probably her last tournament.
These four teams and these two matches offer everything we need and everything we want. There will be talent, entertainment, experience, spectacle, speed, fun, passion. There will be goals, there will be tension, there will be drama. We can guarantee that it will not be dull or boring as all four teams like to play and to attack.
It’s the perfect line-up at the perfect time, in the home of football with full stadiums and great atmosphere. We only have a couple of days left to wait.