Euro 2025: What to know about the Women's European Championship

Spain’s star-packed squad is bidding to follow up on its World Cup success with a first triumph at the Women’s European Championship. Defending champion England is aiming to retain its continental crown, and Germany is hoping for a record-extending ninth title.

Euro 2025 kicks off on Wednesday of next week with the first two of 31 matches to be staged across eight cities in Switzerland.

Here's a look at what you need to know leading up to tournament:

The Euros kick off on July 2 with a match between Iceland and Finland in Thun before host Switzerland plays Norway at Basel.

The final will be on July 27 at St. Jakob-Park in Basel.

World Cup finalists Spain and England are widely considered the favorites. England secured its first major title since the men’s team won the 1966 World Cup when the women's team triumphed at the last Euros, which was postponed to 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Lionesses then made it all the way to the final at the 2023 World Cup but were beaten by Spain. Germany, which lost to England after extra time in the 2022 final, won six straight editions of the women's Euros from 1995 to 2013 and has lifted the trophy in eight of the 13 finals overall. The German women's team has also won two World Cup titles.

The tournament begins with four groups of four teams in a round-robin format. The top two teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record, followed by overall goal difference and then goals scored. From the quarterfinals the tournament becomes a straight knockout competition through the semifinals and final to determine the champion.

Group A: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Finland

Group B: Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy

Group C: Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden

Group D: France, England, Wales, Netherlands

St. Jakob-Park, Basel (34,250)

Stadion Wankdorf, Bern (29,800)

Stade de Genève, Geneva (26,750)

Stadion Letzigrund, Zurich (22,700)

Arena St. Gallen, St. Gallen (16,300)

Allmend Stadion Luzern, Lucerne (14,350)

Arena Thun, Thun (8,100)

Stade de Tourbillon, Sion (7,750)

Germany has won the women's Euros eight times. The only other multiple winner is Norway with two.

England, Netherlands and Sweden — inaugural champions in 1984 — have one title each.

Poland and Wales have qualified for the first time.

The last Euros, in England, smashed all records with more than 87,000 people attending the final at Wembley Stadium and a total of nearly 575,000 fans attending the 31 matches — more than double the previous record. As of last month, more than 550,000 tickets had been sold for Euro 2025. There will also be a record 41 million euros ($47 million) in prize money, more than doubling the 16 million euros ($18.3 million) received by national associations in 2022.

— In the U.S.: FOX Sports, ViX. TSN will show it in Canada.

— Other countries are listed here.

Spain and Barcelona duo Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas headline the list of star players. Bonmatí has won the last two Ballon d’Or titles, following in the footsteps of her teammate Putellas, who also won back-to-back awards for the world’s best female soccer player. Their Barcelona teammate Caroline Graham Hansen finished second in the Ballon d’Or voting last year and the Norway winger will also be among the players to watch. Euro 2022 player of the tournament Beth Mead will be back for England, and Spain teenager Vicky López will be hoping to have a Lamine Yamal-style impact.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - The tournament groups are displayed on the video wall at the end of the UEFA Euro 2025 European women's soccer championship final draw at the Swiss Tech Convention Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, file)

FILE - Spain's Vicky Lopez, centre, challenges for the ball with Portugal's Andreia Norton, left, and Portugal's Andreia Jacinto during the Women's Nations League Group A3 soccer match between Spain and Portugal at the Balaidos stadium in Vigo, Spain, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Lalo Villar, File)

FILE - The tournament trophy is on display at the end of the UEFA Euro 2025 European women's soccer championship final draw at the Swiss Tech Convention Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)

FILE - Spain's Alexia Putellas, Jennifer Hermoso and Irene Paredes, from left, celebrate with the trophy at the end of the Women's World Cup soccer final between Spain and England at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia, Aug. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)

FILE - England's Leah Williamson, center left, and Millie Bright lift the trophy after winning the Women's Euro 2022 final soccer match between England and Germany at Wembley stadium in London, July 31, 2022. England won 2-1. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

The United States pulled off a daring rescue of two aviators whose fighter jet was shot down by Iran, plucking the pilot from behind enemy lines before setting off a complicated extraction of the second service member who hid deep in the mountains as Tehran called for Iranians to help capture him.

The CIA looked to throw off Iran’s government before the crew member was found, launching a deception campaign to spread word inside the Islamic Republic that it had already located him.

Even as President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials described an almost cinematic mission, rescuers faced major obstacles, including two Black Hawk helicopters coming under fire and problems with two transport planes that forced the U.S. military to blow them up.

“This is the first time in military memory that two U.S. Pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in Enemy Territory,” Trump wrote early Sunday on his Truth Social platform. “WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND!”

In a pair of social media posts, Trump said the operation over the weekend required the U.S. to remain completely silent to avoid jeopardizing the effort, even as the president and top members of his administration continuously monitored the airman’s location.

The White House and the Pentagon refused to publicly discuss details about the downed fighter jet for well over 24 hours after the initial crash, particularly about the first crew member rescued from the F-15E Strike Eagle— an effort that Trump later said took seven hours in broad daylight over Iran.

The United States and Iran's government then were both racing to find the second crew member, a weapons systems officer, whose location neither side knew.

The CIA spread word that the U.S. had found him and were moving him by ground to get him out of Iran, according to a senior Trump administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.

The confusion allowed the CIA to uncover the location of the service member, who was hiding in a mountain crevice, the official said. The intelligence agency sent the coordinates to the Pentagon and the White House, where Trump ordered a rescue operation.

Meanwhile, an anchor on a channel affiliated with Iranian state television had been urging residents in the mountainous region of southwest Iran where the fighter jet went down to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police and promised a reward for anyone who did.

Trump said the American aviator was being “hunted down” by enemies who were “getting closer and closer by the hour.” The United States was monitoring his location continuously, he said.

At the right moment, Trump said, he directed the military to send dozens of heavily armed aircraft to rescue the crew member, who the president said is “seriously wounded” but will recover.

Iranian state media reported that airstrikes in southwestern Iran on Saturday killed at least three people and wounded others, in the same area where the missing American crew member was believed to be.

The American rescue mission ran into major challenges behind enemy lines. Iran’s joint military command claimed it struck two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters taking part in the operation.

A person familiar with the situation said the two helicopters were able to navigate to safe airspace, although it’s unclear if they landed or if crew members were injured. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive information.

Two American transport planes also encountered a technical malfunction and additional aircraft were brought in to complete the rescue, according to a regional intelligence official briefed on the mission. The U.S. military blew up the transport planes, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the covert mission.

Iran’s state television on Sunday aired a video showing what it claimed were parts of a U.S. aircraft shot down by Iranian forces, along with a photo of thick, black smoke rising. The broadcaster said Iran had shot down a transport plane and two helicopters that were part of the rescue operation.

Iran’s joint military command said the destroyed aircraft included two C-130 military transport aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters in the province of Isfahan, where the rescue took place.

“The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” Trump said on social media.

Trump, however, did not mention that a second military jet also went down the same day as the F-15E.

Iranian state media said Friday that a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed after being struck by Iran’s defense forces.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation, confirmed a second U.S. Air Force combat aircraft went down in the Middle East on Friday. The official provided no other details on what happened and no information on the status of the crew.

Kim and Lee reported from Washington, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Farnoush Amiri in New York and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, black smoke rises into the air at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site where an American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation were shot down, in Isfahan province, Iran, April, 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)

In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan province, Iran, April, 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)

In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan province, Iran, April, 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)