Italy set sights on bigger goals in Norway showdown at Women’s Euro 2025

ZURICH – Italy are putting the euphoria of making the knockout stages of the Women’s European Championship for the first time since 2013 to one side, aiming for even greater heights when they take on Norway in the quarter-finals in Geneva on July 16. 

The Italians lost their final Women’s Euro 2025 Group B game to Spain, but managed to go through in second place – thanks to a 1-0 win over Belgium and a 1-1 draw with Portugal – to set up a meeting with the Norwegians, who won Group A with three wins out of three. 

“The fact that we qualified in the quarter-finals gave us a lot of positive energy, (but) we immediately got back to work and we are preparing the game as we have prepared the others, taking care of every detail,” Italy forward Sofia Cantore said on July 14. 

“Once you reach a small goal like this, you think about doing your best to reach another, so let’s say there is maximum concentration for the next game. Beyond tactics, I think we should put in everything we have in our hearts.”

After making it to the last four in six of the first seven Women’s Euro, Italy have since struggled. 

But Emma Hayes, the former long-time Chelsea manager and current coach of the top-ranked United States, has called the Azzurre a team “on the rise”.

“They (Norway) are a great team, they have very important personalities, and it will be important to be perfect tactically and then to hurt them where they will give us the space to hurt them,” Cantore said. 

“We have already shown during the whole competition... we have character as a team. It’s important to show our character in these games, I think we have a lot of it and we’ll show it,” she added.

Italy coach Andrea Soncin, too, pointed to the team’s character, saying there is a “magical spirit” in his squad.

He said: “There’s a magical spirit in this group, and the girls are mature – they know exactly how hard they fought in the past to earn their place, and how much we had to battle even to reach this small milestone.”

“We’ll approach the next match the same way, because we want to keep chasing our dream. We know Norway well, and we believe we can keep moving forward by making the most of the resources we have – while also enjoying the moment,” he added.

The last time the 13th-ranked Azzurre reached the last four was in 1997, when they finished runners-up to Germany.

Norway are two-time champions and have reached the final six times, most recently in 2013, when they also lost to Germany in the final.

But they have since slumped to 16th in the Fifa rankings after successive group-stage exits at the last two European Championships and a last-16 loss at the most recent World Cup in 2023.

This despite having attacking players such as inaugural 2018 Ballon d’Or Feminin winner Ada Hegerberg, 2024 runner-up Caroline Graham Hansen as well as Frida Maanum and Guro Reiten.

But a favourable group and a kind draw, which will see them avoid world champions Spain and an on-form France till the final, offer Norway a chance to improve on recent fortunes.

Hegerberg and Graham Hansen, both 30, were youngsters during the 1-0 final loss to Germany in 2013.

“Me and Caro (Graham Hansen), we haven’t talked a lot about that game when we were younger... But we talk about it today and we’re like, damn it, we were one goal away from winning a Euro,” Hegerberg said on July 15.

“It was an incredible experience... Football has changed a lot, but, yeah, it’s starting to become a long, long time ago, and we’ve experienced a whole deal after that.”

Meanwhile, Switzerland’s preparations for their quarter-final clash with Spain on July 18 were thrown into disarray when the team had to cancel a training session on July 15 due to sickness within the squad.

Less than half an hour before the session was due to begin, the Swiss football association messaged media covering the team on WhatsApp to say that it had been cancelled.

“Today’s planned training session has been postponed until tomorrow. The background: In the past few days, some players have felt the symptoms of a cold,” the message said. REUTERS