Women’s EURO 2025: Germany breezes past Poland with a 2-0 win; Sweden beats Denmark

Germany forward Jule Brand scored one goal and made another as her side battled to a 2-0 win over tournament debutantes Poland in their Group C opener at the Women’s Euros in St. Gallen on Friday, but the Germans suffered a blow when captain Giulia Gwinn left the field injured.

Gwinn, who has suffered two anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries previously in her career, was helped from the field in tears in the 40th minute after twisting her knee while making a last-ditch tackle to prevent Poland captain Ewa Pajor from scoring.

“Giulia is a very important player for us on the pitch, with her performance and her mentality. I think we’ve all noticed a little bit of a twist — now, the most important thing is that hopefully it doesn’t look too bad,” goal-scorer Brand said after the game.

Eight-time champion Germany has not lifted the trophy since winning in Sweden in 2013, but after an ineffective first half, it went up a gear in the second to beat a Polish team that played with pride and passion but came up short on the night.

After dominating much of the scoreless opening 45 minutes, the Germans finally made the breakthrough seven minutes into the second half when Brand cut inside before firing a soaring, curling left-foot shot into the top-left corner of the Polish goal past the despairing dive of Kinga Szemik.

Sjoeke Nuesken and Klara Buehl both should have scored with headers before Lea Schueller finally got the second in the 66th minute, expertly exploiting a sliver of space in Poland’s offside line to steal in behind and score with a header from Brand’s cross.

The lively Pajor represented Poland’s best chance of scoring on the night, and she had several good chances, but Ann-Katrin Berger pulled off a string of fine saves in the German goal to keep her clean sheet intact.

With Sweden having beaten Denmark 1-0 earlier, the Germans go into their game against the Danes in Basel on Tuesday on top of Group C ahead of the second-placed Swedes, who face Poland in Lucerne later the same evening.

Angeldahl scores again as Sweden beats Denmark 1-0

Midfielder Filippa Angeldahl scored for Sweden in a third straight game as her second-half strike secured a 1-0 win over neighbour Denmark in the opening game of Group C at the Women’s European Championship on Friday.

Real Madrid’s Angeldahl, who scored in friendlies against Denmark and Norway last month, played a one-two with Kosovare Asllani as she entered the box from the right and netted a right-footed shot near the far post in the 55th minute after a tight first half.

“There are so many nerves when you start a tournament, so it was a wonderful feeling to score that first goal,” player of the match Angeldahl said.

“It’s really important to win the first match and give you a platform for the rest of the finals.”

Real Madrid’s Angeldahl, who scored in friendlies against Denmark and Norway last month, played a one-two with Kosovare Asllani and netted a right-footed shot near the far post in the 55th minute.
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Denmark had fought hard to stay in the game as Sweden dominated possession, with Katrine Veje’s tackle denying Stina Blackstenius in the 17th minute and ‘keeper Maja Bay Ostergaard tipping over Angeldahl’s free kick near the top corner just before the break.

Blackstenius almost scored Sweden’s second goal shortly after the hour mark, but her shot from close range was saved on the line by Frederikke Thogersen, leading to a groan from the more than 17,000 spectators in attendance.

Denmark, which had only 10 attempts in the game, almost half of Sweden’s, came dramatically close to equalising in the 81st minute when Thogersen found Pernille Harder with a quick pass on the right, but the Danish captain’s thundering drive hit the crossbar.

“It’s hard that we didn’t get a point from here today, but we can take how we played today, how good we were, how good (we defended)… into the next game against Germany,” Denmark defender Stine Ballisager said.

Denmark faces eight-time champion Germany on Tuesday, while Sweden plays Poland.