Iceland 0-1 Finland highlights: Katariina Kosola strikes winner in first game of UEFA Women's EURO 2025

Finland earned a 1-0 win over Iceland as the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 kicked off, Katariina Kosola scoring an excellent winner in a close-fought match.

What happened?

The first half of football at the 2025 Women's EURO ended goalless, though both teams showed attacking promise: Katariina Kosola coming close for Finland while a sharp Anna Koivunen save and a sliding Emma Koivisto block foiled Iceland's Glódís Viggósdóttir and Sandra Jessen later in the half.

Iceland carried that positive momentum into the second half and saw efforts from Ingibjörg Sigurdardóttir and Alexandra Jóhannsdóttir blocked, but they were then reduced to ten players as Hildur Antonsdóttir received a second yellow card.

Finland took advantage and scored the opening goal of the 2025 Women's EURO in the 70th minute, Kosola cutting in from the left and finding the far top corner with a confident right-footed finish.

That goal proved the decider, Iceland unable to find the answer despite applying some late pressure.

Katariina Kosola scores the winner for FinlandGetty Images

Player of the Match: Katariina Kosola (Finland)
"She was extremely dangerous in attack, but she also showed huge effort in defence. On top of that, she scored a beautiful goal."
UEFA Technical Observer panel

UEFA via Getty Images

Reaction

Marko Saloranta, Finland head coach: "It's been 16 years since Finland last won at a major tournament, when the Women's EURO was played in Finland in 2009. Since then, we've had no victories at the 2013 and 2022 tournaments. I'm very satisfied to start with three points."

Katariina Kosola, Finland's match winner: "I had a couple of chances in the first half. I'm good at finishing and try to shoot a lot. It was the kind of goal I have been practising a lot. The result is important for our confidence - we need to enjoy this and then turn our attention to the next game."

Þorsteinn Halldórsson, Iceland head coach: "It's terrible to lose and we feel frustrated, but that's how it is. It is an even group and we knew Finland were good, but our first half wasn't good enough. We played well in the second half, even though we were a player down for a big part of it – we played with courage under a lot of pressure, created a lot of chances and were unlucky not to score."

Glódís Viggósdóttir, Iceland captain: "It’s incredibly disappointing. We came here to win and go away with zero points. But we still have the same goals and we can still reach our goals. So we have to recover fast and be ready for the next games." 

Reporters' views

Andri Yrkill Valsson, Iceland reporter
A start to forget for Iceland, who suffer defeat in their first game, lose a player to a red card and had to replace captain Glódís Viggósdóttir through illness at half-time. Hopefully, they will be able to regroup and come out even stronger in the next match. If there is something Iceland are known for, it’s their unity and strong will.

Mikael Erävuori, Finland reporter
Finland could scarcely have wished for a better start to the tournament. Iceland had their chances and the red card affected the game, but Finland played their best match of this calendar year and nothing less would have been sufficient. Some problems in the attacking play still remain but their defence was solid. The three points are something to build on – and most of all, they provide a huge boost of confidence.

Key stats

• Finland were winless in their previous eight Women's EURO finals matches (D2 L6) before today.
• This is only the second time they have won their Women's EURO opener. They have also drawn one and lost two previously.
• Marko Saloranta's side kept clean sheets in their final four matches in qualifying and continued that streak here.
• At 36 years and 354 days old, Linda Sällström becomes the oldest player to make a Women's EURO final tournament appearance for her country. The Finland captain beat the previous mark set by Tinja-Riikka Korpela against Denmark in 2022 (36 years and 68 days old).
• This was the first Women's EURO final tournament match between these two nations. They met twice in qualifying all the way back in August 1983, Finland winning home and away.

Fantasy star performers

Katariina Kosola (Finland) – 11 points
Eva Nyström (Finland) – 8
Natalia Kuikka (Finland) – 8

Line-ups

Iceland: Rúnarsdóttir; Árnadóttir, Viggósdóttir (Heidarsdóttir 46), Sigurdardóttir, Arnardóttir; Jóhannsdóttir, Vilhjálmsdóttir (Tryggvadóttir 84), Antonsdóttir; Eiríksdóttir (Albertsdóttir 54), Jessen (Brynjarsdóttir 62), Jónsdóttir

Finland: Koivunen; Koivisto (Lehtola 78), Kuikka, Nyström, Tynnilä; Kosola, Öling (Koivisto 90+5), Summanen (Roth 90+5), Siren; Sällström (Rantala 78); Franssi (Sevenius 66)