Glorious football traditions, determined by the achievements of the men’s national team, do not mean at all that local women will be able to match the level. A good example is Spain: the local Furia Roja won the Euro three times, won the World Cup and League of Nations once, and has a bunch of smaller but still significant achievements. On the other hand, the Spanish women could not boast of a single title until recently. However, in 2023, the situation changed dramatically: the Pyrenees managed to win the World Cup! Is it necessary to say that now the girls are expected to achieve outstanding results at the continental tournament?
Skeptics believe that the victory of the Spanish women, although very loud, is episodic. Як би не було, ці жінки довели: попри тривале перебування в тіні співвітчизників-чоловіків, без жодних для того передумов можна зібратися й показати найвищий результат. Be that as it may, these women proved that despite a long stay in the shadow of their male compatriots, one can gather and show the highest result without any prerequisites. When one big success is achieved, the second one is only a matter of time. If you are worried about the Spaniards, go to the Melbet апп, and we will look at how they became the favorites for the next Euro.
A Difficult Path to the Top
As a rule, any team with great success can boast of certain previous achievements. At least, the winner in team sports rarely appears out of nowhere – you need traditions of player education and regular participation in large-scale competitions. The Spanish women’s national soccer team, first formed in 1980, is an exception to this rule, and here’s why.
- Euro. The debut in the final part of the continental tournament took place only in 1997 – then the Spaniards sensationally won bronze (still an unsurpassed achievement), and the next three forums were missed due to the inability to pass the selection. The Pyrenees won the European Championships in 2013, 2017, and 2022, but with a more modest result – each time they stopped in the quarterfinals.
- World championships. Out of nine draws, the Spaniards managed to get through only the last three. There, they showed amazingly stable progress: 2015 – relegation from the group, 2019 – ⅛, 2023 – trophy!
In the quartet at the World Cup, the Spanish became only the second, ahead of Japan. In the ⅛, mediocre Swiss women were knocked out, but then the path to the title was quite difficult – Dutch, Swedish, English women. Having overcome such powerful opponents, the Pyrenees should already have put the critics to shame. In order to have an additional argument in favor of their claims and for continental hegemony, in February 2024 they also won the first ever women’s League of Nations draw – Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden suffered again, and Italy and France were also affected.
What do we have as of now? The Spanish women are the current world and League of Nations champions, logically, the first team in the women’s ranking of FIFA, which, in addition, also made it to the Olympic Games for the first time in history. By the way, the team cannot be criticized for being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the previous Euro – it lost only in extra time, and even then – to England, the hosts of the tournament, who will win the trophy.
So it is not surprising that the Spanish national team is one of the main contenders for the title of Euro-2025.
Qualifications First
Euro-2025 will take place in Switzerland, so the Swiss have received a pass as hosts; however, even they will formally play qualifying matches, and the Spanish women, despite the above-described regalia, will be ready. But the world champions should not be afraid of their opponents in the selection – especially since group A2 does not look very dangerous.
Right now, the Danes are the 13th team in the world ranking, but the best times of this team were in the distant 90s of the last century. At the previous World Cup, they left the group, only to be eliminated from the Australians in the ⅛. At Euro-2022, these girls did not even make it out of the quartet, and Euro-2017, when Denmark took silver (the greatest achievement in the history of the national team), is no longer relevant for our time.
The Belgians are 18th, and they have never played at the World Championships. At Euro 2022, Belgium reached their peak, reaching the quarter-finals for the first time, but there they ran into a much more experienced Sweden.
Finally, there are Czechs. Their position in the FIFA ranking is 28, and this is a team that has never (even like Czechoslovakia) reached either the World Cup or the Euros.
Agree, for a team in the status of the current world champion, such opposition looks almost non-existent. In addition, the format of division A, which the Spaniards are selected for, fully contributes to their exit to the final part of the European forum. Having taken the first or second (already a sensation!) place, the national team from the Iberian Peninsula qualifies for the continental championship. At the same time, the favorites of the quartet can afford to relax, and even lose all the matches – then there will be an additional playoff, but in the status of a seeded team, with relatively easy opponents. In a word, there are practically no options for Spain not joining the Euro.
How Realistic is Winning the Trophy?
Bookmakers are not yet ready to name specific numbers – a lot depends on the composition of the Spanish national team and its potential rivals who will reach the main part of the continental forum. What you can definitely not doubt is the motivation of the Spanish women – they now feel their own strength and are very eager to conquer a new, previously unattainable peak. The qualification group also allows them to experiment with performers and tactical schemes in order to understand who from the nearest reserve is able to strengthen the “base”.
When the quotes become available, there can be no doubt that the Spanish women will be on the list of the main contenders for the title – together with the English women (reigning champions of the continent and silver medalists of the World Cup), the French women (made an unexpectedly strong run), the Germans (the most successful team in Europe, won the silver of the preliminary draw) and the Swedish women (bronze of the last World Cup and the continental semi-finals). For Spain, it is very important to remember the main thing: the girls already know how to win when they don’t really believe in you – now you just have to continue the winning streak.
