Switzerland captain Lia Wälti says she hopes her side can “inspire the nation” ahead of the first matchday of Women’s Euro 2025.
The tournament kicks off today, July 2, as host nation Switzerland take on Norway at St. Jakob Park in Basel. The 23rd-ranked nation will be hoping to put on a show for the home fans, something that Swiss captain and Arsenal midfielder Lia Wälti expressed with thoughtfulness.
“It’s incredible, it’s something that when I started my national team career I was never picturing, I never thought that we would host a major tournament. Now I’m sitting here in Basel, just one day before the first day of a European Championship. So, it’s extremely special for all of us,” Wälti said at the MD-1 press conference in Basel.
“Women’s football is growing world wide, extremely fast as well here in Swizterland, but we still have a lot of steps to go here and we want to use this tournament to be positive role models, and inspire the nation. [We want] to make sure that we can also be really successful in Switzerland in the future.”
Host nation Switzerland up for the challenge at Euro 2025
Drawn into Group A alongside Iceland, Finland and Norway, Switzerland will be hungry to show what they are made of on the biggest stage in Europe. Euro 2025 will be Switzerland’s third appearance at the Women’s Euros, after falling out of the group stage in both 2017 and 2022.
First up, Switzerland will face Norway in Basel to kick off their tournament campaign. Norway, who have struggled to gain momentum over the last handful of major tournaments, boast an impressive calibre of talent- including Women’s Super League stars Frida Maanum, Guro Reiten and Celin Bizet, as well as Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg, and Barcelona dynamo Caroline Graham Hansen.
The Swiss will certainly have a mountain to climb if they are to dislodge the Norweigans, but if there is anything we have learnt about host nations at a Women’s Euros, it’s that the home support certainly makes a difference. Both Netherlands in 2017 and England in 2022 went on to win the tournament as hosts.
You can read all of the latest news, analysis and opinion at Euro 2025 on The Halfway Line.
