England’s Chances at the Women’s Euros 2022

As England host the Women’s Euros up and down the country, The Lionesses will be looking to finally bring the trophy home, especially with the Final being held at Wembley.

England reached the Semi-final last time out, with a strong showing at the tournament, being unbeaten in their group and beating France in the Quarter-final. However, a 3 - 0 loss to eventual winners and hosts The Netherlands prevented a Final appearance for The Lionesses.

The Lionesses have reached the Women's Euros Final twice before. Their first appearance came in the inaugural tournament in 1984, where the Final was played over two legs, with both England and Sweden winning each leg 1 - 0, with no extra time played, Sweden won 4 - 3 on penalties.

The other Final appearance, coming in 2009, was more memorable, but for the wrong reasons as The Lionesses lost 6 - 2 to a dominant German side despite a strong tournament.

In 2022, England have been drawn into Group A where they’ll face Austria, Norway and Northern Ireland.

The England side for the 2022 Euros is full to the brim with talent, both youthful and experienced. Alongside the squad, England will be entering their first tournament with new manager Sarina Wiegmann. Wiegmann has valuable experience in the competition, winning it back in 2017 with the Dutch team.

Lauren Hemp is a current stand-out in the England team, the 21-year-old also starring in a stacked Manchester City team. The winger has also won the PFA Young Player of the Year four times, three of those times coming back-to-back. Hemp scored 21 goals and registered 10 assists for City in the 2021/22 season, along with impressive performances for England, including scoring four goals in a single game against Latvia.

Ellen White is always an important figure in the England side, the Manchester City player being The Lionesses’ all-time scorer with 50 goals in 107 appearances. White is also England’s all-time top Women’s World Cup scorer, largely thanks to her Golden Boot win at the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

Beth Mead had a more than impressive season with Arsenal, scoring 11 goals as The Gunners lost out on the title by just one point. Mead is also a key figure in the England attack, having scored 22 goals in her 38 appearances for The Lionesses. Her most recent show of excellence being her brace in a 5 - 1 friendly win against the Netherlands.

Lucy Bronze recently completed a move to Barcelona, but still has an important role in the England squad. Bronze has made 90 appearances for England, and has kept a clean sheet in 13 of the 20 games she played in the 2021/22 season.

Millie Bright is one of the main focal points of the English defense. In her title-winning season with Chelsea in the WSL, Bright kept 17 clean sheets and only conceded 19 goals in 28 games. In her England career, Bright has made 48 appearances with The Lionesses, scoring four goals.

The main competition for The Lionesses at this year’s Euros are Spain, France and the Netherlands.

Spain have been highlighted as early frontrunners for Euros glory, despite having never made it past the Semi-finals - and that last four appearance coming in 1997. However, this time Spain enter the competition with a team largely composed of Barcelona players who have gone completely unbeaten in Primera Division and reached a successive Women’s Champions League Final. The Spanish team can be described with one single player, Alexis Putellas, who has 26 goals for La Roja and won the 2021/22 Ballon d’Or Feminin.

France also has a strong team, mainly hailing from PSG and Lyon, though there is a small smattering of WSL and Primera Division players. France have never made it past the Quarter-final stage of the competition, being knocked out by England at that stage at the 2017 Euros. One of their stand-out players is Wendie Renard, a center-back for Lyon. Renard is the current France captain and has 131 appearances and 33 goals for her country.

The Netherlands could be another roadblock for England to beat for Euros glory this summer. The reigning champions will be looking to win the first back-to-back Women’s Euros winners since Germany won six in a row from 1995 to 2013. The Netherlands also made it to the Final of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, where they lost out 2 - 0 to the United States. The big star of the Netherlands team is Vivianne Miedema, who is the Netherlands all-time top scorer, with 94 goals in just 111 appearances. Miedema also has an impressive record in club football, scoring 74 goals in 89 Arsenal appearances, 52 goals in 78 Bayern Munich appearances and 83 goals in 74 Heerenveen appearances.