Rachel Corsie: Italy could make more history at Euro 2025
England should be careful not to underestimate brave Italians
From 16 teams to just four. After weeks of high energy and sometimes chaotic football, we’ve made it to the semi-final stage of Euro 2025.
There are some familiar teams that have made it to this final push of the tournament. We could be set for a repeat of the Euro 2022 or 2023 Women’s World Cup final come next Sunday in Basel.
Or perhaps, the real dark horse Italy will pull off a stunning result and reach a first final in 28 years.
The quarter-finals offered up a little bit of a mixed bag. The four clashes were very different affairs and, for me, the only side I felt that executed their game plan as they desired were the Italians.
They’ve been a team I have grown fond of through the competition. They play with an authentic flair that feels like it’s driven through their patriotic charisma. The football reflects a nation that has the sport at its very heart.
At times, it doesn’t always look the most pleasing on the eye, and their technical execution does let them down on occasion. However, they play with that freedom that enables players to make decisions in the game as they see and feel.
They carry the typical discipline of a defensive Italian side, yet are not constricted by the tactical Xs and Os we now often see across the global game. I’ve enjoyed seeing them grow as the competition has.
Andrea Soncin has shown he will make assertive decisions on both team selection and his tactics. The sorcery of Martina Piemonte’s selection versus Spain almost worked perfectly. The rest for Cristiana Girelli left her fresh enough to turn hero in their 2-1 win against Norway.
Competition for places has spurred them on even further, perfectly showcased by the efforts of Elisabetta Oliviero and Barbara Bonansea, who earned a starting spot after the opening match that I suspect will continue. Inevitably, we’ll see a tweak in personnel in some form on Tuesday night, enough to keep England alert and give them reason to feel slightly uneasy.
England have once again bumbled along. They’ve followed on from their World Cup style – whereby they’ve spent several games on the back foot and second best – yet they always seem to find a way.
There is something irritating, yet remarkably impressive, about that capacity to just see off the opposition. Arguably, nobody has a mentality like it here in Europe – it might only be the USA who have shown such an inborn and relentless winning ability in the past.
Again, the substitutions took deserved glory in that shootout win against Sweden. I wanted to be annoyed by Chloe Kelly’s sass, yet found myself actually admiring it with a wry smile.
Sweden certainly made a mess of the winning positions they put themselves in – but in hindsight, it had that feeling of inevitability about it when Lucy Bronze flicked the winning switch as she clawed the first goal back.
They are huge favourites for their clash with Italy, which is a position they’re comfortable with, but it could become precarious if their footballing performances continue with the same untidiness in some areas on the pitch.
The other match will see Spain take on Germany, with the Spaniards benefiting from an extra day’s rest ahead of it. That will be compounded by the 120 minutes Germany endured while playing with 10. The added time in the game came to nearly 14 minutes – essentially cancelling out the opening 10 minutes in which it was still 11v11 against France. A match that has undoubtedly been the game of the tournament so far.
The best bet for the few remaining fit and available German players might be to soak in the Swiss lakes as they try to recover their worn bodies however they can. A combination of suspensions and injuries to key players is a dampener on the heavyweight clash. Yet remarkable performances from some of their lesser-known players mean you still can’t think of writing them off. Elisa Senß, Franziska Kett, Sophia Kleinherne and Janina Minge were sensational. Giovanna Hoffmann, who surprisingly led the line, was relentless – her physical output at times seeming superhuman, given the uphill task.
It seems likely the same effort and discipline will be required again in this match-up – and the game might just come around too soon for us to truly see a German side capable of offering a genuine competitive test.
Spain made fairly steady work of overcoming a spirited-looking Switzerland. They never looked threatened, really, but it took a fair bit of huffing and puffing to break the deadlock. In the end, 2–0 was enough, without looking particularly inspiring.
At the beginning it did feel like Spain had a wealth of talent at their disposal. Yet, respectfully, looking at that bench, Leila Ouahabi, Athenea Del Castillo and Vicky López are probably where their true cutting edge has been limited to in what we’ve seen so far this summer.
They are still my favourites to win it, but their performance against Switzerland offered a tiny glimmer of hope that there may be a chink in that armour. You will certainly get chances – but can you capitalise on enough of them to outscore the best attack in the game?
Ironically, Spain were named as having the ‘easy’ group, yet I’m going for both finalists to emerge from Group B in the end.
My prediction: Italy and Spain in the final come Sunday.