UEFA European Women's Championship 2013: Preview for Tournament

The 11th edition of the UEFA Women’s Championship will begin on July 10 in Sweden, but it will be the last incarnation of the tournament with just 12 teams.

Beginning in 2017, the tournament will feature 16 international squads, making the chase for a trophy even more challenging.

But this year’s tournament won’t be each. The finals feature some terrific talent and a bevy of capable teams in search of an international title, including Germany, which has won each of the last five Women’s Euro Championships and seven of the last eight.

Will anyone keep Germany from winning its eighth title in nine attempts? We’ll find out soon enough.

Let’s take a look at the teams participating in the event this year and highlight two squads with the best chances of taking down international giant Germany in its quest for another trophy.

Group A

Team	Qualification	Prior Appearances
Denmark	Group 7 Winner	7
Finland	Group 5 Winner	2
Italy	Group 1 Winner	9
Sweden	Host	8

Group B

Team	Qualification	Prior Appearances
Germany	Group 2 Winner	8
Iceland	Play-In	1
Netherlands	Best Runner-Up	1
Norway	Group 3 Winner	9

Group C

Team	Qualification	Prior Appearances
England	Group 6 Winner	6
France	Group 4 Winner	4
Russia	Play-In	3
Spain	Play-In	1

*Groups and tables can also be found at UEFA.com.

Italy

As well as Germany played in the preliminary and qualification stages of the tournament, no team was as stout defensively as Italy—and that’s an understatement.

Italy won nine of its 10 qualifying stage matches, but more impressively, it didn’t allow a single goal in any of those competitions. With 35 goals scored in 10 matches and no real resistance to speak of, the Italians should be considered a very capable threat to take down Germany in this year’s tournament.

The Italian side will compete in Group A along with Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Sweden got an automatic bid as the tournament host, but both Finland and Denmark have also been impressive throughout the tournament.

Look for Italy to escape the finals group stage with at least six points and a lot of momentum ahead of the final round.

 

France

Like Italy, France has been an incredibly impressive team in the defensive third throughout the tournament. In the qualifying stage, the French side won all eight matches by a scoring margin of 32-2, leading Group 4 with a perfect 24 points.

France also holds an advantage in not playing in Germany’s group for the finals, giving it a clearer shot of advancing to the final round. England, Russia and Spain all posted impressive totals in the qualifying stage, but none were quite as stifling as the French side.

Forward Eugenie Le Sommer will be an exciting player to watch as France sets out for a title this year. In eight caps in the qualifying stage, the 24-year-old netted seven goals and terrorized opposing defenders—especially Ireland and Scotland, which each conceded two goals to Le Sommer.