Switzerland 1-2 Norway highlights: Comeback stuns hosts on opening night of Women's EURO 2025
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
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Switzerland led 1-0 after a dominant first half but Norway turned the game with two goals in four minutes.
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Norway came from behind to spoil UEFA Women's EURO hosts Switzerland's night on opening night in Basel.
Switzerland were on track for all three Group A points when Nadine Riesen gave them a deserved half-time lead. But Ada Hegerberg's bullet header, her 50th Norway goal, levelled the scores. And an own goal four minutes later sealed the points for Norway despite Hegeberg missing a penalty.
Key moments
24' Reuteler smashes shot against bar
28' Riesen strikes for hosts
54' Hegerberg heads Norway level
58' Own goal puts Norway in front
70' Hegerberg misses penalty
90' Beney denied by Engen block
What happened?
Lia Wälti was passed fit for Switzerland but pre-match doubt Sydney Schertenleib was only on the bench, Riola Xhemaili combined with Géraldine Reuteler in attack. The home crowd, suitably fired up by the Opening Ceremony, gave a huge roar at kick-off and their team responded with some dangerous early attacks, wing-backs Nadine Riesen and Iman Beney both looking to get forward whenever possible, keeping up the energy on the humid Basel evening.
Caroline Graham Hansen and Ada Hegerberg, combining for Norway at a fourth Women's EURO, were at the heart of their attacking play, but the ball was largely up the other end. And in the 24th minute Reuteler, who in 2018 scored twice against Norway when Switzerland hosted Women's Under-19 EURO, smashed a shot against the crossbar.
The breakthrough arrived four minutes later through Riesen, who had begun the move with her latest foray down the left. She found Smilla Vallotto, who was denied a shot but the loose ball fell to Riesen, whose shot went in off the post as the collective crescendo of anticipation turned into a mighty roar.
On the other flank, Beney teed up Reuteler but her shot was over and Switzerland remained in the ascendancy for the rest of the first half and seemed to have begun the second in similar fashion. But Norway won a 54th-minute corner and Vilde Bøe Risa's delivery was met by a powerful Hegerberg header.
Four minutes later, Norway led. Graham Hansen advanced into the box on the left and played in a low ball that was turned into her own net by Julia Stierli with Hegerberg lurking. Hegerberg then forced a save from Livia Peng and Pia Sundhage made immediate changes, introducing Schertenleib, and Reuteler soon forced a stop from Cecilie Fiskerstrand that perked up the shell-shocked home crowd.
However, straight down the other end Norway won a penalty, but Hegerberg dragged the kick wide. Reuteler once again had a decent effort blocked as Switzerland made a final push to equalise but at the other end substitute Celin Bizet Ildhusøy saw her dink go only just wide. In the 90th minute Beney seemed set to earn the hosts a point, only for Ingrid Engen to make a point-blank block.
Player of the Match: Géraldine Reuteler (Switzerland)
"She was involved in multiple goalscoring opportunities and ranked first for multiple attacking statistics for Switzerland. She made a lot of ball recoveries when possession was lost and, in general, had a massive positive impact for the Swiss."
UEFA Technical Observer panel
Reaction
Gemma Grainger, Norway coach: "Switzerland started better than us. I have huge respect for them; I was not surprised. It was a strong talk at half-time – we have high standards in this team. We changed some things tactically, as we thought we could exploit Switzerland, and all credit to the players.
"In football, you make your own luck. The games will be tight in this championship. Sometimes you want a perfect world where you perform and win; sometimes you perform and don’t win. I thought Switzerland were fabulous, but it was a game of two halves, and we came out the better in the second half."
Pia Sundhage, Switzerland coach: "This was a fairly good game for the way we attacked, the way we played and created chances. We didn’t win the game because of set pieces and the own goal – such a small difference between being successful and not successful.
"I am very disappointed, but it is important tomorrow to look at the performance. There are many things we can talk about boosting the players, team confidence, individual confidence, and then look at Iceland, who did not play the way Norway did."
Vilde Bøe Risa, Norway midfielder: "Oh, it's a really good feeling; it's a bit of a relief. It was a bit of a tough start in the first half, but then we made some adjustments. We managed to come out in the second half and score two goals quite early."
[On the equaliser] "I'm really happy that we scored from a set-piece, we've been working hard on the set-piece. I've been practising a lot on what area to put them in. I was thinking before the goal to kick it a bit longer outside of the goalkeeper's area, and hopefully someone would just run it in if I put power to it. Then Ada comes there and heads it in!"
Géraldine Reuteler, Player of the Match: "It is difficult to answer why [we lost]. In the first half we played a very good match. In the second half, we conceded two undeserved goals in 12 minutes; it was annoying. I still had a chance to equalise; the game would have looked different. It is bitter."
[On the Basel atmosphere] "It was a goosebump moment; everyone had Swiss jerseys on. Everyone was just smiling, just beaming; it was so much pleasure to play here for the fans – they made a great atmosphere. I really had goosebumps."
Lia Wälti, Switzerland captain: "I think it was a very even game. I think we almost had more chances than Norway. We would have, in my opinion, deserved a little bit more tonight, as we already experienced in the games before against Norway this year [in the UEFA Women's Nations League]. So it's unlucky for us, but I think we got carried by the fans today. It was an unbelievable experience playing in front of a home crowd. I'm proud of the performance, but it's unlucky with the result.
"[The noise for the Switzerland goal] Incredible. I think these are the moments we're all playing football for. Already while we were singing the national anthem, I had tears in my eyes. It was something we said that we're only going to experience once in our lives, and we have to enjoy it. And I think today we did enjoy it over the 90 minutes."
Key stats
- Norway are the first team to win against a Women's EURO host in their opening match since the group stage was introduced in 1997.
- Switzerland started with 18-year-olds Beney and Noemi Ivelj; the last time a team started a Women's EURO finals match with two players aged 18 and under was Norway in 2013 when they fielded Hegerberg and Graham Hansen.
- Ada Hegerberg's 50th Norway goal was also her first at a Women's EURO goal since putting Norway 3-0 up against Spain in 2013 (which was her maiden senior competitive international strike).
- The 34,063 crowd is a record for a women's game in Switzerland.
Nadine Riesen (Switzerland) – 7 points
Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway) – 6
Géraldine Reuteler (Switzerland) – 6
Vilde Bøe Risa (Norway) – 6
Line-ups
Switzerland: Peng; Beney, Calligaris, Stierli (Crnogorčević 87), Maritz, Riesen; Ivelj (Pilgrim 63), Wälti, Vallotto; Reuteler, Xhemaili (Schertenlieb 63)
Norway: Fiskerstrand; Bratberg Lund, T Hansen, Mjelde (Harviken 64), Bjelde; Engen, Graham Hansen (Jensen 90+2), Bøe Risa (Naalsund 64); Maanum (Ildhusøy 75), Hegerberg (Terland 75), Reiten