Ada Hegerberg scored and missed a penalty as Norway came from behind to beat hosts Switzerland on the opening evening of Euro 2025.
After a fun opening ceremony at a sold-out St Jakob-Park, and buoyed by the home crowd, the persistence of Pia Sundhage’s Swiss side paid off when they took a deserved lead as Nadine Riesen pounced on a loose ball and finished from close range with an effort that went in off the post.
Two-time former European champions Norway looked disjointed and unable to click, failing to register a shot on goal in the first half.
But for all of their first-half momentum, Switzerland conceded twice in five second-half minutes and were unable to recover.
Hegerberg rose highest to head past Livia Peng from a corner, before Swiss defender Julia Stierli sliced a clearance into her own net.
Norway’s revival rocked the hosts and Hegerberg had the chance to score a third goal, but she sent a 67th-minute penalty wide of the left post.
Switzerland thought they would have a chance to draw level with a penalty of their own moments later when Riesen went down in the box, but the spot-kick decision was overturned by the video assistant referee after an offside was spotted.
The result ended the trend of host teams winning 12 consecutive games at the Women’s Euros, following tournament triumphs for the Netherlands in 2017 and England in 2022.
What was the main talking point?
Much talk heading into Euro 2025 concerned whether this was the tournament where Norway could do something special and get closer to winning a third European crown.
After going out in the group stages at the past two Euros, Norway were tipped by many as the dark horses of Euro 2025 with a frightening squad on paper.
With a world-class attacking line-up featuring Hegerberg, Frida Maanum, Guro Reiten and Caroline Graham Hansen, Norway were expected to fly out of the blocks.
Yet for a while a recently familiar story of underachievement was playing out.
They were far from their best, but Gemma Grainger’s side showed they have what it takes to grind out a result and win ugly, which could be what they will need to go far in this competition.
Which players stood out?
Geraldine Reuteler was Switzerland’s bright spark in the first half and had more shots than any other player. She hit the woodwork just before Riesen’s opener and showed huge promise for the hosts.
The Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder had a huge chance in the second half to draw Switzerland level but misjudged her lob as it sailed over the crossbar.
None of Norway’s star attackers had particularly impressive games, with just three shots on target between them.
Captain Hegerberg had two of those and showed her experience and led the team in both attack and defence, but her penalty was a unusually poor strike.
The standout stats
- Switzerland are the first host team to lose their opening game of a Women’s European Championship, with all 12 previous designated hosts avoiding defeat.
- Norway are unbeaten in each of their past five games against Switzerland across all competitions and have beaten them three times in five months, with two Nations League victories before their Euro 2025 win.
What next for these teams?
Switzerland host Iceland in their second Group A game at 20:00 BST in Bern on Sunday, 6 July, while Norway face Finland at 17:00 BST that day in Sion.
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