France Women's Euro 2022 group contains Belgium, Iceland, and Italy. France will be hoping to use the Euros to make up for the disappointment of a quarter-final exit at their home World Cup in 2019. However, they are yet to make the semi-finals of a European Championship, despite this being their seventh entry to the competition.
France Women’s Euro 2022 group: Italy
10th July
France will kick off their Euro 2022 with probably their hardest game in the group 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.
France Women's Euro 2022 group: Belgium
14th July
France will play their second group game against neighbours Belgium. The Red Flames are featuring at their second ever European Championships, having qualified for the first time in 2017. Whilst they exited at the group stage then, a 2-0 win over Norway showed they were no pushovers. They are however probably the weakest team in Group D.
Janice Cayman is probably Belgium’s most high profile player, now plying her trade at Lyon, as well as being their highest capped player. They will also have former Manchester City striker, Tessa Wullaert who with 65 goals in 106 games is their all-time top scorer.
France Women's Euro 2022 group: Iceland
18th July
France’s final group game will come against Iceland, another team who could be dark horses of this 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.
