Six years after the World Cup, France will not host another major international women’s football competition. The organization of Euro 2025 was indeed awarded on Tuesday to Switzerland by the UEFA executive committee, meeting in Lisbon. The Swiss candidacy was preferred to that of France, but also to that of a Nordic quartet made up of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, as well as that of Poland.
The French defeat can be explained by various factors such as the fiasco of the organization of the final of the Champions League 2022 (May 28 at the Stade de France), which somewhat cooled the European body. The last upheavals at the French Football Federation, which led to the departure of Noël Le Graët and his replacement by an interim president, Philippe Diallo, did not contribute to giving depth to the tricolor file.
“At the heart of Europe”
Sixteen nations will take part in the competition, which will take place in June and July 2025 in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich, St. Gallen, Sion, Lucerne and Thun, according to a press release from the Swiss federation. The Swiss confederation has never hosted a women’s European championship on its soil, unlike Norway (1987, 1997 with Sweden), Denmark (1991), Finland (2009) and Sweden (2013) .
“Our tournament should be a four-week celebration for all of Switzerland and, thanks to our location in the heart of Europe, for the surrounding countries”noted Marion Daube, director of women’s football at the Swiss Football Association and responsible for the candidacy project, in the same press release.
The last European women’s tournament took place in 2022 in England, postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The English won at home by beating Germany. The latter had eliminated Les Bleues in the semi-finals.
France can however console itself with the organization of another major meeting of the calendar of women’s football, this one acquired for a long time: the Olympic tournament, next summer, in France.