Denmark and Finland suffered heavy defeats to start their European Championship campaigns and know a win is vital to their hopes of progressing. Beaten finalists in 2017, Denmark were thumped 4-0 by Germany at Brentford while Finland went down 4-1 to Spain at this venue.
France have never quite lived up to expectations on the international stage but head into their Euro 2022 opener with Italy in better spirits. Les Bleues were impressive in qualifying and have rattled off 14 straight wins since losing a friendly to world number one USA 15 months ago.
Belgium and Iceland are the underdogs in Euro 2022 Group D behind France and Italy and a tight tussle is expected when they meet in Manchester. They are evenly matched judged on the latest FIFA rankings, at 19 and 17 respectively, and past meetings have been close encounters.
Northern Ireland showed great spirit in defeat against Norway and can’t be underestimated when facing Austria next up in Euro 2022 Group A. However, Austria took four points off them in World Cup 2023 qualifying via a 3-1 win and a 2-2 draw and may be just too organised.
England beat Norway 3-0 in the 2019 World Cup quarter-finals but we’re expecting their Euro 2022 Group A clash to be much closer. The Scandinavians got off to a smooth start by brushing aside Northern Ireland and the Lionesses looked a touch nervous in beating Austria.
Holders Netherlands take on perennial powerhouses Sweden in the pick of the first round of group-stage fixtures at the Euro 2022 tournament. The Dutch prevailed when they met in the quarter-finals five years ago and shaded a 2019 World Cup semis clash after extra time.
Switzerland go into their Women’s Euro 2022 opener as uneasy favourites to beat Portugal following a worrying run of results. Die Nati have failed to register a win in six outings this year and lost warm-up friendlies versus Germany and England by a combined score of 11-0.
Vancouver will look to continue their impressive home form when entertaining Minnesota this weekend. The Whitecaps have lost only once at BC Place this season and face a United side that are generally proving vulnerable on their travels.
Montreal will be looking to bounce back to top form when they welcome Sporting Kansas City to the Saputo Stadium this weekend. The Impact were hammered 4-0 by Los Angeles Galaxy on Monday night, ending a run of back-to-back wins.
Two struggling sides go head to head when Toronto host San Jose this weekend. Bob Bradley’s side have lost eight of their last 11 MLS games, while the Earthquakes have emerged victorious from only one of their past five matches.
Germany have had some mixed results this year but are still fancied to prove just too strong for Denmark in their Women’s Euro 2022 opener. Die Nationalelf may not have things all their own way, though, as the Red and White always play in a positive manner going forward.
Spain’s Group B clash with Finland is rated the biggest mismatch in the opening round of Euro 2022 fixtures. La Roja, 4.0 favourites to lift the trophy, are unbeaten in 22 matches since losing to the USA at the 2020 SheBelieves Cup and look set for a smooth start.
After previously assessing the draw, we’re taking another look at all eight World Cup 2022 groups and inspecting the 32 nations involved. This includes how they made it to Qatar, their recent records against the other finalists and their likely routes through the tournament.
Norway are hot favourites to begin their quest for a third UEFA Women’s Championship triumph by brushing aside Northern Ireland. These teams were in the same qualifying group for this event and the Scandinavians romped to 6-0 victories in both of their encounters.