Women's EURO 2025: Players to watch in the quarter-finals – Delphine Cascarino, Patri Guijarro, Frida Maanum, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd

The UEFA Women's EURO 2025 quarter-finals run between Wednesday and Saturday as the knockout action gets under way in Switzerland.

We look at four players hoping to continue their form from the group stage and move their teams a step closer to the Basel final.

Delphine Cascarino (France)

France were placed in a group with the last two champions, England and the Netherlands, and duly finished top with maximum points. Against both England (a 2-1 win) and the Netherlands (a 5-2 victory), Cascarino was the key down the right wing. Versus the Lionesses, she turned the game around after a difficult start as she started to run at Jess Carter and set up the Marie-Antoinette Katoto goal that put France in control.

Then against the Netherlands, with France trailing and still not certain of progress, Cascarino had a devastating seven-minute spell just past the hour as she set up Katoto with a surging run and then scored twice herself, the first of them particularly superb. Germany are next in Basel on Saturday and Cascarino will be a huge threat again, nine years on from getting the only goal (another stunner) against that very nation in the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Papua New Guinea.

Patri Guijarro (Spain)

It is a truism to say that when two or three are gathered in the name of women's football, someone will say that midfield anchor Patri is the real unsung hero in the all-star Spain and Barcelona teams. But in Switzerland, Patri has given Spain fans plenty to sing about on her own account.

That was demonstrated in the Matchday 3 defeat of Italy that sealed first place in Group C and ensured a Friday return to Bern to face Switzerland, an all-action display in which she made it 2-1 just after half-time (her first goal at a major tournament) and controlled the midfield with composure and bursts of energy. Those qualities will be vital for Spain as they take on Switzerland and the fervent support of the home Stadion Wankdorf crowd.

Frida Maanum (Norway)

Only 12 players, all Germans, have won UEFA's premier club and national-team competitions in the same year but Maanum could become the 13th on 27 July if Norway claim their third Women's EURO title. Maanum played a crucial part in Arsenal claiming the UEFA Women's Champions League crown, not least with her goalscoring role in the 4-0 group win away to a Juventus team containing seven of Italy's squad in Switzerland.

The Azzurre are Norway's opponents in Geneva on Wednesday, the former world and Olympic champions having secured maximum Group A points with a thrilling 4-3 defeat of Iceland in which Maanum scored twice. Norway have plenty of midfield and attacking options, like Caroline Graham Hansen, Ada Hegerberg, Guro Reiten and the other double goalscorer versus Iceland, Signe Gaupset, but Maanum's combination of athleticism, skill and football intelligence mean she has a vital role to play if they are to end their 25-year wait for a fifth major title.

Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (Sweden)

It has been an even longer wait, 41 years in fact, since Sweden's sole tournament success, in the first Women's EURO. Defeating Denmark, Poland and, most impressively, Germany in their group this time around, Sweden have reason to feel that in their 23rd major knockout phase since that 1984 triumph this, at last, is their year. England, who they lost to in the 2022 semi-finals, are up next in Zurich on Thursday and will need no introduction for Rytting Kaneryd, whose surges down the wing were decisive in undoing Germany 4-1.

Not only has she met the Lionesses several times, including the 2022 semi and their two qualifying draws last year, but she plays with several of her likely opponents at Chelsea. Rytting Kaneryd's thrilling displays for club and country won her Sweden's prestigious Diamantbollen in 2024 and on Thursday she could make her 2025 even more memorable.