Belgium Women's Euro 2022 group contains France, Iceland, and Italy. Belgium will be making their second appearance at the Euros, having exited at the group stage back in 2017. Group D is probably on paper the easiest group at the tournament but Belgium are the lowest ranked team in it.
Belgium Women's Euro 2022 group: Iceland
10th July
Belgium kick off their European Championships against Iceland, a potential dark horse in the competition. Despite being only ranked 18th in the world, they have had a range of impressive performances over the past few months. They came second at the SheBelieves Cup, losing only to the United States and they are also top of their World Cup Qualifying group, ahead of the Netherlands.
Their midfield is particularly strong, with Lyon’s Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir, West Ham’s Dagny Brynjarsdóttir and Orlando Pride’s Gunnhildur Yrsa Jónsdóttir all featuring. Meanwhile, people will be keeping an eye on the highly talented 20 year old Wolfsburg attacker Sveindis Jane Jónsdottir, who impressed in the latter stages of the Champions League this season.
Belgium Women's Euro 2022 group: France
14th July
Belgium will play against neighbours France in their second game of the group stage. France will be looking to bounce back from a slightly disappointing home World Cup in 2019 where they exited at the quarter-final stage to eventual winners, the United States. The French national team has not been short of drama for the past couple of years, with manager Corinne Diacre publicly falling out with a number of her star players. For that reason, they will likely be without Lyon players Eugenie LeSommer and Amandine Henry.
However, there is still plenty of optimism around this talented crop of French players. The Paris St-Germain front three will be transposed into the national team with Sandy Baltimore, Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani likely to be a threat to any defence in the competition. Meanwhile left-back Selma Bacha was recently awarded the Champions League young player of the season award.
Belgium Women's Euro 2022 group: Italy
18th July
Belgium’s final group game comes against Italy. Italy were once one of the leading lights of women’s football, but in the past couple of decades they have struggled to make an impact at the highest level. However, their squad has risen from a historic low ranking of 19th up to 14th over the past couple of years, and they could be a surprise package at the tournament.
Domestically, Italian football has shown its growth through Juventus’ successes in the Champions League, with the Italian champions progressing from a group that contained both Chelsea and Wolfsburg. Many of those players are also part of the Italian national team with Cristiana Girelli and Barbara Bonansea being two ones to watch. With both of them now in their 30s, this might be one of their last opportunities to make a real impact on an international tournament.
