July 16 – Tonight Norway kick off the quarterfinals of Euro 2025 against Italy, dreaming of a spot in the last four and restoring their glory of old.
Their 4-3 win over Iceland has left manager Gemma Grainger with a selection dilemma: will 20-year-old Signe Gaupset (pictured) start or not? NRK reported that the Brann player will make the starting XI. On Tuesday, Grainger said: “With Signe, the Iceland performance, that wasn’t so much of a surprise to any of us. We see Signe training every day and that’s how she is.”
“With the rest of the team, the competitiveness has been really high and for me as a manager that’s exactly the position that I want to be in, and it’s a position that I want to team to be in also.”
Norway have not won a major tournament since 2000, but Euro 2025 presents the Scandinavians with the opportunity to reach the last four after a benign group phase. They enjoyed the perfect group stages: they were the first team to confirm their place in the last eight and defeat Switzerland, Finland and Iceland to get a 100% record at a Women’s Euros for the first time in their history.
And yet unease remains about a team that is perceived to be underperforming. The Norwegians have attacking talent featuring Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg, Barcelona’s Caroline Graham Hansen, Arsenal’s Frida Maanum and Chelsea’s Guro Reiten, but they had to come from behind to defeat the hosts, benefited from an own goal against Finland and conceded three times against Iceland.
Two years ago, Norway were eliminated in the last 16 of the 2023 World Cup after an acrimonious campaign with Hansen saying she felt bypassed.
“It’s an incredibly big moment for us. We have had a very good energy, the whole team,” said Hegerberg, who was rested against Iceland. “We want to have a good match tomorrow, we want to grab the opportunity to be in the top four in Europe, that would be incredible.”
Italy progressed from Group B as runners-up behind world champions Spain. While they impressed, the Italians have struggled for goals. They last reached the semi-finals of a major tournament in 1997.
“They’re a good team and they’ve developed their women’s game there a lot in the last few years,” said Hegerberg. “It’ll be very cool to play such an important football nation.”
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