Iceland vs Finland UEFA Women's EURO 2025 Group A preview: Where to watch, kick-off time, predicted line-ups

Iceland and Finland kick off UEFA Women's EURO 2025 with their first competitive encounter since 1983, with past encounters favouring the Finns in Thun.

Where to watch Iceland vs Finland on TV

Fans can find their local UEFA Women's EURO 2025 broadcast partner(s) here.

What do you need to know?

The opening ceremony for Women's EURO 2025 will not take place until Switzerland meet Norway in the second fixture of the tournament, with this encounter in Thun paving the way for the hosts' curtain-raiser. The sides have not played competitively since qualifying for the 1984 Women's EURO, when Finland won 3-0 at home and 2-0 in Iceland, with their only other encounter a 2023 friendly, which the Finns won 2-1 in Reykjavik.

However, if the form guide does not favour Iceland, Thorsteinn Halldórsson's side can take plenty of encouragement from a decent qualifying campaign (including a 3-0 win against Germany), and an honourable display at Women's EURO 2022, when they bowed out at the end of the group stage after drawing all of their games 1-1. Finland, by contrast, lost all three matches at the finals in England.

Starting line-ups

Iceland: Rúnarsdóttir; Árnadóttir, Viggósdóttir, Sigurdardóttir, Arnardóttir; Jóhannsdóttir, Vilhjálmsdóttir, Antonsdóttir; Eiríksdóttir, Jessen, Jónsdóttir

Finland: Koivunen; Koivisto, Kuikka, Nyström, Tynnilä; Kosola, Öling, Summanen, Siren; Sällström; Franssi

Reporters' views

Andri Valsson, Iceland reporter
Iceland are in optimistic mood heading into their fifth EURO in a row. Many of the players gained their first major tournament experience three years ago and come to Switzerland with added responsibility on their shoulders. They are likely to start off on the front foot, an approach which earned them two early goals in their last friendly before the tournament. With that aggression, unity and good organisation, they eagerly want to celebrate a win at the EUROs – for the first time since 2013.

Mikael Erävuori, Finland reporter
The atmosphere in the Finland camp has been enthusiastic and focused, yet also relaxed. The players are full of positive vibes ahead of the opening game and have been boosted by the return from injury of a number of key players. They remain underdogs in this group, however, so how they begin will be crucial – they need a fast start, and they need to be at their best in order to make one.

What the coaches say

Thorsteinn Halldórsson, Iceland coach: "We are ready and excited. There is of course anticipation for this all to begin, but I'm just feeling good. There has been good intensity in training, the players are all fit and eager to get started. We have been going through their strengths and looking for their weaknesses. We know what they have been doing in the past and are prepared for that. But it's a new game tomorrow and they can come up with something new, but we try to prepare as well as possible for every situation."

Marko Saloranta, Finland coach: "All the players are in good shape and everything is looking good. Iceland are 15th in the FIFA rankings and therefore favourites. We're ranked lowest in our group, and that suits us, but we're not going to bow to others; we'll challenge Iceland, the favourites. We have good spirit in the camp. The players are expectant, but I wouldn't call them excited; rather focused, and clear about what we're aiming to do here in Switzerland."