EURO 2025 Groups are Set🇨🇭

December 16, 2024

Happy Monday, TWG readers!

I realized suddenly this weekend that it’s almost Christmas! The group texts from my family started flying in about white elephant gifts, food plans, and timing. I’m a little unprepared but I used the weekend to get some gifts and plan out the holidays. My big theme this year is sustainability– I’m trying to repurpose wrapping paper, shopping locally, and supporting small businesses. This gift guide was really helpful. 

Speaking of gifts… Good Vibes merch just dropped! I received a new hoodie, crew neck, and tshirt over the weekend with our Good Vibes logo. We made this merch in partnership with Homage and it’s available on WorldSoccerShop.com. I really do love it and I think it’s a perfect gift for TWG listeners!

We have a very special interview dropping tomorrow afternoon– you don’t want to miss it– and then another great Friendlies episode dropping on Thursday with Hanson’s own, Ally Sentnor. It was SO FUN to speak with Ally– I quizzed her about our hometown, we heard about her first cap at Wembley, and she told me her favorite things to do in Utah. Next week, we have the first annual TWG Friendsmas Holiday Extravaganza… I’m recording that today with a group of friends and I cannot wait to see how it goes.

Tons of content coming your way, so make sure you’re following along with TWG on social media on IG, X, TikTok, Threads, and now Bluesky. Also, please subscribe to our podcast feed and Youtube channel so you don’t miss anything we’re doing.

Thank you all so much for being here!

Love,
Sam

European Roundup: Last Weekend Before the Winter Break ❄️🌍

England’s Women’s Super League (WSL) Matchday 10 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

  • Chelsea’s perfect winning run came to an end this weekend. Sonia Bompastor’s squad drew 11th-place Leicester City 1-1 thanks to a goal from Missy Goodwin, which saw Chelsea chasing a game for the first time this season. 19-year-old Dutch midfielder Wieke Kaptein provided the equalizer in the 77th minute to salvage a point for the Blues, who remain in first-place of the WSL with nine wins and one draw. U.S. forward Catarina Macario subbed in at the half and played forty-five minutes in the draw.

  • Chelsea’s draw wasn’t the only shock this weekend. Everton picked up a massive 2-1 win against Manchester City, featuring two goals in eight minutes from Scottish midfielder Lucy Hope and Japanese midfielder Honoka Hayashi. Everton’s upset against City marks the first time they’ve beaten the second-place WSL side.

  • Alessia Russo can’t stop scoring for Arsenal. After notching a brace against VĂĽlerenga in Champions League last week, the England striker scored again this weekend in a 1-0 win against Liverpool. The former UNC forward now has six goals in Arsenal’s last five WSL games, and is tied with Chelsea’s Guro Reiten for second-most goals in the league. 

Saturday in France, U.S. captain Lindsey Horan scored her 10th goal of the regular season for Lyon in a 5-1 win against Nantes. Horan has the second-most goals in the French top flight, and averages the highest number of goals per 90 minutes (1.42). USWNT duo Korbin Albert and Eva Gaetino both started for second-place PSG in a 3-0 win over Saint-Étienne. 🇫🇷

The top four teams in the Frauen Bundesliga— Frankfurt, Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg and Leverkusen— all picked up wins this weekend and are separated by just three points, in a riveting top-of-the-table battle. 🇩🇪

Valencia held Barcelona to a 1-0 win over the weekend, marking the smallest margin of victory for the reigning champions since a 1-0 win against Sevilla on Sept. 21. Swedish forward Fridolina Rolfö made the difference from the penalty spot. Valencia’s defensive work is commendable, as Barcelona has scored a whopping 57 goals already this season. That’s more than double Liga F’s second-highest scoring team, Real Madrid, who’ve scored 28. 🇪🇸

🥤 Olipop power everything we do here at The Women’s Game. You can use code TWG20 for 20% off your first order at drinkolipop.com/TWG20.

The Women’s Game Survey — We Want to Hear From YOU! 💙

To better understand ALL OF YOU and your interest in The Women’s Game and Men In Blazers, we’d like to invite you to complete a short survey. Your feedback will directly help us improve across the board and see what really matters to you.

The survey should take you no more than 10 minutes and a thank-you, you’ll have the chance to enter a prize draw to win one of two $50 gift cards to the TWG shop.

To be entered to win, all you need to do is provide your email when prompted at the end of the survey.

Please be assured that all feedback collected will be used solely for the purpose of improving as we look to close out a massive year here at The Women’s Game.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your help in growing The Women’s Game 💙

UEFA Women’s Champions League Group Stage Ends This Week, with Next Round Already Decided 🏆

Also: USWNT forward Catarina Macario opened the scoring for Chelsea, who already qualified for the next round, in a 6-1 win against Dutch club Twente

  • The draw to determine quarter-final matchups takes place February 7. Four quarter-finalists have won the trophy before: Arsenal, Lyon, Wolfsburg and Barcelona. England is the first country to have three teams in the quarter-finals in one year.

  • The group stage wraps up this week, as Matchday 6 features exciting top-team clashes, despite the quarter-finals being already decided. The first and second-place teams in each group, comprising the eight quarter-finalists, will all face-off. That includes Barcelona hosting Manchester City in Spain for a rematch of matchday one, when City upset the reigning champions. (Wednesday, Dec. 18, 12:45 p.m. ET, DAZN).

EURO 2025 GROUPS ARE SET 🇨🇭

The 16 teams competing in next summer’s EURO 2025 in Switzerland have been assigned their groups. The draw took place today in Lausanne, Switzerland, and set the path for the next champions of Europe: 

  • Group A: Hosts Switzerland were drawn into a group with former champions Norway, as well as Finland and Iceland. 

  • Group B: The reigning World Cup champions, Spain, will compete in Group B alongside Portugal, Belgium and Italy.

  • Group C: Eight-time champions of Europe and Olympic bronze-medalists, Germany, are in a group alongside former champions Sweden, tournament debutantes Poland, and 2017 runners-up Denmark. 

  • Group D: The reigning champions, England, are in a difficult group alongside 2017 Champions the Netherlands, France, and Wales. 

News and Notes 📰🗞️

  • The U.S. Women’s National Team is scheduled to play Brazil in two friendlies this April, which marks a back-to-back rematch of the 2024 Olympic gold-medal match. 🇺🇲🇧🇷 The high profile friendlies come shortly after the 2025 SheBelieves Cup, which goes down at the end of February, and features other top competition in Japan, Australia and Colombia. 

  • The University of North Carolina has won yet another NCAA Championship with a 1-0 win against Wake Forest in the College Cup. This year’s title is UNC’s 23rd trophy, the most of any team in the nation. Forward Olivia Thomas, who scored four total goals in the playoffs, scored a remarkable free-kick to seal the win. 🏆

  • Angel City is making changes after a disappointing season, which saw the club miss the playoffs after being sanctioned by the league in October. After already parting ways with former General Manager Angela Hucles Mangano, the club has announced that English manager Becki Tweed is also moving on. More: Angel City fires Becki Tweed amid reboot of franchise. 

  • FIFA confirmed the dates for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. South America’s first women’s World Cup will be held from June 24 through July 25, 2027. 🇧🇷🏆

  • The final FIFA World ranking of 2024 is in. The USA ended the year in first-place, while France dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in its history. 📋

  • The USA’s 23-year-old striker from San Diego, Mia Fishel, has authored her first children’s book: BIG FISH. The book is: “... Full of heart and encouragement, BIG FISH reminds kids that they can achieve anything with belief in themselves.” đŸ“š

Parting Shots 🥃

“We are unbelievably proud… I can only see it having a similar effect to our country that the Lionesses had on England.” — Wrexham’s head of Football Operations, Gemma Owen, spoke with Sam on the podcast this week about what it means for Wales to qualify for next summer’s EURO in Switzerland, the country’s first major international tournament. Watch the full conversation on YouTube. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Good Reads 📚

Moment of Joy 🤸

Eliza writes… Dear Sam Mewis,

Attending the scholastic book fair at school was the highlight of my elementary years. I visited one today with my child and was immediately drawn to this book, The Soccer Encyclopedia.

Eliza! This is so awesome – I love it so much. I used to love going to the Scholastic Book Fair as a kid and it’s so amazing you get to share it with your child now. Thanks so much for writing in and hope you have a wonderful holiday season! - Sam