Finland v Switzerland, Norway v Iceland

By Gethin Thurlow (11/07/2025)

Above: Switzerland celebrate a historic achievement. Photo: Alessandra Tarantino / AP.

Finland 1 – 1 Switzerland

Above: Switzerland celebrate. Photo: Liawaelti on X.

Team news and context:

It all came down to this. Finland v Switzerland, plucky underdogs v the free-flowing Swiss for a place in the quarter finals. Both were sat on three points in a straight up fight for second place in the group. With the superior goal difference, Switzerland had the huge advantage of knowing a draw would be enough to see them through. In some ways though, this benefitted Finland. They knew only a win was acceptable so could go all out for victory, while the tournament hosts would have to balance between playing out a draw and ensuring it with a win. Given the success of both teams so far, it was no surprise to see both teams unchanged.

Scorers: Kuikka 1-0 (79′), Xhemaili 1-1 (90+2′)

Highlights:

It was a very open start to the match, with Switzerland controlling the ball more and attacking with some nice passing moves, while Finland responded with fast counter attacking moves. As both sides calmed down from that initial rush, it was Finland who started to keep the ball more, and something they will rue so far is not taking enough of their chances when they are in the driving seat of games. They would be hoping to change that in Geneva.

By half time, this was not the case, although it was down to a wonderful tackle by Nadine Riesen and a great reactive save by Peng rather than poor play by Finland. With key player Geraldine Reuteler picking up a yellow card on an aggressive tackle and some other Swiss players flying into some tackles it was a very nervous atmosphere in Geneva, despite the result going the hosts way at that point.

Clearly unhappy with that first half, Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic was brought on to add some defensive experience, while up front it was Wandeler who got the nod to try and push for that Swiss goal. You could instantly see the tactical changes made by Finland, Koivisto and Kosola as wing backs essentially gave up any defensive duties and transitioned to full on wingers.

As Finland started to get more desperate, space opened up for Switzerland and some passes/moves were rushed by Finland – hence the quality dropped too. This worked out well for Switzerland, deploying the classic mantra: ‘the best form of defence is attack’. Ath this point regardless of the match situation, it was the Swiss who were occupying the opponents half – often finding themselves in attacking overlaps and you just wondered what Fingland had left. #

That was until, during a rare Finnish attack that looked like it was going nowhere, Koivisto was brought down for a slam dunk penalty and Kuikka subsequently converted it coolly. The Switzerland kept response would show what they were about. They had 12 minutes and injury, they needed ti find a goal out of somewhere to get them through, keeping calm and composed would be essential to this, but could they handle the pressure? It was none other than Geraldine Reuteler who stepped again and put the hosts on her back, putting in a scintillating low cross, which Xhemaili couldn’t miss. They had done it, Switzerland were through.

Player of the match: Geraldine Reuteler

Yes we have given it to her the last two games, and yes, we are doing it again. She totally ran the show for Switzerland and once more was at the heart of everything good for them, most substantially providing that crucial assist to get them through, proving she is a big moment player.

What next for the teams:

For Switzerland, it is pure delight for a few days as the country celebrates getting into the knockout stages for the first time. This is before they start to look ahead to a quarter final almost certainly against Spain, not quite what you want, but after tonight who knows what they can pull off. Finland can take so much heart from their performances, having really dominated for long periods all games. They totally played a level above their rankings, but if you have that possession and those chances and fail to them, football is going to punish and unfortunately those last two games did just slip out of their grasp. It is a fantastic sign for the future of Finnish football though.

Norway 4-3 Iceland

Above: Norway’s Celin Bizet battles. Photo: Optus Sport.

Team news and context:

In total opposition to the last game, this was the pure definition of a dead rubber. Norway were guaranteed to finish top, whilst Iceland were locked into 4th place. Given this, it made sense that Norway rested a lot of their top players, meaning starts for stars such as Bizet, Terland, Naalsund and Gaupset. For Iceland, it was a return for Antonsdottir in the place of Brynjarsdottir after what has been a disappointing campaign so far, without scoring at all yet.

Scorers: Jonsdottir 0-1 (6′), Gaupset 1-1 (15′), Gaupset, 2-1 (26′), 3-1 Maanum (49′), 4-1 Maanum (76′), 4-2 Eiriksdottir (84′), 4-3 Viggosdottir (90+5′)

Highlights:

Taking advantage of a Norwegian team that hadn’t quite gelled yet, Iceland took control early – pushing forward, winning corners and pushing the goal. After a good save by Fiskerstrand, Jonsdottir was the first to pounce and finally got Iceland on the board at the Euros. This seemed to spring Norway into life, and they hit right back at Iceland, as Gaupset put them level from a corner. This seemed to settle down the Norwegians and they played a more measured game from this point, dominating possession, snuffing out any Icelandic resistance.

It was Gaupset once more who struck for Norway, this time with a beautiful left footed strike from outside the box right into the bottom left corner and past Runnarsdottir. As Norway continued to dominate, it was Frida Maanum who made it three, featuring a lovely one-two with Signe Gaupset. In a match that looked dead and buried, with Norway easily managing the pace and flow of football; it didn’t feel like that was going to be one to keep your eyes on. However this a Norway game after all so you can never count our your opponent, so after Maanum and Gaupset linked up once more to provide a fourth – all hell broke lose.

A beautifully worked counter attack saw Jonsdottir and Eiriksddottir through together facing only the keeper, and it was the Leicester striker that converted well. In another needless moment for Norway, they gave a penalty away in injury time as Marit Lund pulled Eiriksdottir down in the box, landing her a yellow card and Iceland a third goal. This just shows that Norway are never as in control as they seem and therefore teams should never give up against them.

Player of the match: Signe Gaupset

With two brilliant goals and an assist, this decision was already made for me by half time. As part of what was ultimately a ‘B’ team in this game, she gave Gemma Granger a lot to think about for the group stages. Although it is not easy of course to break into an attack of Reiten, Graham Hansen and Hegerberg.

What next for the teams:

For Norway, well the overall game was their first dominant performance, there was still some concern in how they had fallen apart at the end. Given the mass changes and how they seemingly helped, there will be a lot of decisions for Gemma Grainger to make in terms of team selection ahead of a quarter final which looks like it will be more winnable for them.

For Iceland they will look towards a rebuild, having not picked up a single point. Given the favourable draw, they would have hoped to advance to the knockout stages, let alone fail to pick up a point. This is a big blow for a country that seemed to have been making positive progress over the last decade.

Moment/player of the day

After what was quite a scrappy game lacking quality and excitement, a 78th minute penalty sparked the Switzerland Finland game into life, and those last 10 minutes were incredible to watch, as were the celebrations from the hosts and all their fans across the country.

Group standings:

Norway- 9pts – +3 GD

Switzerland – 4pts – +1GD

Finland – 3pts – 0GD

Iceland – 0pts – -4GD

Find the rest of our Euros catch-ups here:

Group A Gameday 1: https://impetusfootball.org/2025/07/02/weuro-2025-group-a-gameday-1-review/

Group A Gameday 2: https://impetusfootball.org/2025/07/06/womens-euros-group-a-norway-v-finland-switzerland-v-iceland/?_thumbnail_id=78026

Group B Gameday 1: https://impetusfootball.org/2025/07/03/womens-euros-group-b-belgium-v-italy-spain-v-portugal/

Group B Gameday 2: https://impetusfootball.org/2025/07/07/womens-euros-group-b-spain-v-belgium-portugal-v-italy/

Group C Gameday 1: https://impetusfootball.org/2025/07/04/womens-euros-group-c-sweden-v-denmark-germany-v-poland/

Group C Gameday 2: https://impetusfootball.org/2025/07/08/womens-euros-group-c-germany-v-denmark-poland-v-sweden/