Roundup of the opening round of Group Stage matches as 2022 UEFA Women’s Euro in England got underway.
Across five days, all 16 teams involved in the tournament got their campaigns up and running across the country as various pieces of history were made on and off the pitch.
England entered their home tournament with high expectations whilst all eyes were also on Germany, France, Netherlands, Sweden and favourites – Spain plus others to see how their title credentials stacked up in their opening group matches.
Now, here is a full roundup of all eight matches in the opening matchday of the Group Stage which saw 29 goals in total.
Group A
Tournament hosts, England got off to a dream start with a scrappy 1-0 winner over Austria at Old Trafford, Manchester, as Beth Mead smashed in a 16th minute close-range strike in front of a UEFA Women’s Euro record crowd of 68,871 fans.
Norway however top the group following a dominant 4-1 win against Northern Ireland in Southampton as Julie Blackstad, Frida Maanum, Caroline Graham Hansen and Guro Reiten all found the net, whilst Julie Nelson headed in Northern Ireland’s first major tournament goal in the 49th minute.
| Position | Team | Points | Goal Difference |
| 1 | Norway | 3 | +3 |
| 2 | England | 3 | +1 |
| 3 | Austria | 0 | -1 |
| 4 | Northern Ireland | 0 | -3 |
Group B
Lina Magull provided a goal and assist as Germany thrashed ten-women Denmark 4-0 at Brentford Community Stadium, London, to top Group B as Lea Schuller, Lena Lattwein and Alexandra Popp also scored before Katherine Kuhl was red carded in injury time for the Danes.
Spain sit second after recovering from a first minute conceded goal through Linda Sallstrom to beat Finland 4-1, as Irene Paredes, Aitana Bonmati, Lucia Garcia and Maria Caldentey all netted for La Roja to complete their comeback at Stadium MK, Milton Keynes.
| Position | Team | Points | Goal Difference |
| 1 | Germany | 3 | +4 |
| 2 | Spain | 3 | +3 |
| 3 | Finland | 0 | -3 |
| 4 | Denmark | 0 | -4 |
Group C
Two goals in seven minute from Diana Gomes and Jessica Silva saw Portugal recover to draw 2-2 against Switzerland, after the Swiss had scored twice in the opening five minutes through Coumba Sow and Rahel Kiwic.
Jill Roord’s 52nd minute strike cancelled out Jonna Anderson’s 36th minute opener as reigning champions, Netherlands scrapped their way to a 1-1 draw against Olympics silver medallists, Sweden at Bramall Lane in front of 21,342 fans setting a new record attendance for a group match not involving the hosts.
Portugal and Switzerland consequently sit in the two knockout qualification spots with the Portuguese top by virtue of their better disciplinary record, whilst Netherlands are third in the group ahead of Sweden purely on their UEFA coefficient ranking.
| Position | Team | Points | Goal Difference |
| 1 | Portugal | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Sweden | 1 | 0 |
Group D
Grace Geyoro netted a first-half hattrick as France thrashed Italy 5-1 at New York Stadium, Rotherham, with Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Delphine Cascarino also on the scoresheet for Les Bleues in the first-half, prior to Martina Piemonte’s 76th consolatory headed goal for the Italians.
Iceland sit second ahead of Belgium on virtue of their better disciplinary record with no yellow cards to Belgium’s two bookings, after Berglind Thorvaldsdottir’s 50th minute header was cancelled out by a 67th minute penalty from the Belgian Red Flame’s Justine Vanhaevermaet.
| Position | Team | Points | Goal Difference |
| 1 | France | 3 | +4 |
| 2 | Iceland | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Belgium | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Italy | 0 | -4 |
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