UEFA Technical Observers at UEFA Women's EURO 2025
Friday, July 4, 2025
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Everything you need to know about UEFA's Technical Observers and the role they will play at the finals in Switzerland.
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UEFA's Technical Observers will be monitoring UEFA Women's EURO 2025 in depth, with stats and video assistance enabling them to deliver detailed reports on the latest developments in coaching, which are shared on UEFA.com and among the footballing community to give a dynamic account of the state of the game.
Who are the UEFA Technical Observers at Women's EURO 2025?
Britta Carlson – A technically gifted midfielder, Carlson represented Germany at international level and played for top Frauen-Bundesliga clubs including Turbine Potsdam and Wolfsburg. Following her playing days, she moved into coaching and became assistant to Germany’s national team before her current role in charge of Köln.
Lluís Cortés – A sharp tactical mind, Cortés led Barcelona to unprecedented success, including a UEFA Women's Champions League title in 2021. He has since continued to make his mark internationally as a progressive and sought-after coach and is currently in charge of the Saudi Arabia women's national team.
Irene Fuhrmann – A former Austria international, Fuhrmann transitioned smoothly into coaching and steadily rose through the national team set-up. She became Austria's first female head coach and guided the team to the quarter-finals of UEFA Women's EURO 2022.
Jayne Ludlow – A fine box-to-box midfielder who spent nearly her playing career at Arsenal, winning multiple domestic and European honours, Ludlow can also count herself among Wales's finest-ever players. She went on to coach her country for seven years.
Ioan Lupescu – A composed and intelligent midfielder, Lupescu enjoyed a successful career in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen and was a key figure in Romania's revered 1990s generation. After retiring, he transitioned into football administration, serving with UEFA for many years.
Tanya Oxtoby – An Australian defender known for her leadership and composure, Oxtoby played both in her homeland and in the UK before moving into coaching. She has held prominent roles in English women's football and internationally, including assistant coaching duties with Scotland and Chelsea. She is now in charge of the Northern Ireland women's national team.
Anna Signeul – Signeul is a pioneering figure in European women's football, having led Sweden at youth level before transforming the Scotland national team during a 12-year tenure. She later took charge of Finland, continuing her legacy as a strategic and forward-thinking coach.
Martin Sjögren – Sjögren built a strong reputation in Sweden's domestic league before taking charge of Norway's women's team, guiding them to multiple major tournaments while promoting a dynamic playing style. Last season led Hammarby to the Women's Champions League group stage on debut.
What do UEFA Technical Observers do?
During every game, the Technical Observers analyse the proceedings from a coaching perspective, with the Technical Observers at Women's EURO 2025 additionally charged with selecting the Player of the Match for each game. They also come together to decide the Team, Player and Young Player and Goals of the Tournament.
After each game, the responsible Technical Observer will compile a report on the match, using video and data to illustrate intriguing technical and tactical features. They have access to multiple camera angles – broadcast images, tactical and behind-goals footage – which can be injected into the report. Video clips can then be enhanced with state-of-the-art visualisation tools to add support to the points the observer wants to highlight.
Match data – from numbers of passes, shots or crosses to more advanced data on distances covered, maximum speeds or average positional locations on the field of play – adds further depth in assessing topics like analysis of playing systems, goalscoring patterns, set plays, goalkeeping, counterattacking, roles of full-backs and change-footed wingers.
During a high-intensity tournament like Women's EURO 2025, rapid access to video and data will open up more time for tactical analysis, debate and trends in comparison to past tournaments, offering a more complete picture to coaches and coach educators.
How do UEFA Technical Observers choose Player of the Match?
The UEFA Technical Observers will select the Player of the Match at each fixture in Switzerland. When making their selections, they must consider which players have made an outstanding contribution in some or all of the following ways:
- Playing with exceptional skill in attack or defence;
- Playing a part in decisive actions in attack or defence;
- Displaying tactical maturity and efficiency;
- Playing with a positive and respectful attitude.
As well as the Player of the Match awards, the match observers will also contribute to the decision-making process for the individual Player of the Tournament and Young Player of the Tournament awards as well as the Team of the Tournament. For each of the two individual awards, they will look for the best-performing player throughout EURO, with the Young Player award open to any player aged 23 or under (that is, born on or after 1 January 2003).
Why does UEFA compile technical reports on its competitions?
Cascading information from the top to the bottom of the game is the raison d'être of the technical report. By providing detailed, reasoned explanations of current trends, UEFA enhances understanding of the game at every level.
When UEFA conducted a survey among national associations at a Coach Education Conference in Belfast in 2017, UEFA's technical reports received a rating of 82/100, and significant improvements in the quality of data have occurred since then.
When did UEFA start compiling technical reports?
Although members of the Technical Committee had previously contributed to tournament reviews, UEFA technical reports really kicked off at EURO '96 when UEFA deployed a team of five observers: Gérard Houllier, Daniel Jeandupeux, Rinus Michels, Tommy Svensson and Roy Hodgson.
Reports were regularly compiled on UEFA's youth, women's and futsal tournaments and then expanded into the club competitions, with the 1999 Champions League final between Manchester United and Bayern München the first club game to get the full Technical Observer treatment.
UEFA now has a significant library of reports and data from past tournaments, adding up to a detailed account of the evolution of tactics at every level of the European game, which will be as valuable to historians as it is to modern coaches.
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What qualifications do UEFA technical observers need?
Technical Observers are chosen for their expertise and experience of coaching and their detailed understanding of the game.
Who uses the material produced by the UEFA Technical Observer Group?
Content made by UEFA's Technical Observer Panel is shared with all national associations and clubs within the UEFA territory on a weekly basis. Content is tailored for practitioners working in grassroot, elite youth development or elite football.
How is the Women's EURO top scorer decided?
The top scorer at Women's EURO 2025 will be decided purely on the number of goals scored, with no tie-breaker (such as assists or minutes played) in the event that more than one player finishes on the same number of goals. In that scenario, the leading scorer title will be shared.
How do Technical Observers explain their role?
Anna Signeul, UEFA Technical Observer: "Now we have immediate videos, analysis breakdowns, trends. It's fantastic and that's because of the advanced technology that UEFA use. I think this is key for the development of the game. For me as a coach it's always been the most important thing to understand what high performance is."
Gemma Grainger, Norway coach: "As a coach you want to make sure you're ahead of the game tactically, you can stay up to date with the trends and the data really helps to support that. It's up to date, it's forward-thinking in terms of the content. That helps support the development of coaches and teams."