UEFA Women's EURO 2025: Leading coaches reflect on the summer's winning tactics and trends
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
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Coaches convene in Zurich to break down the tournament's technical innovations and pay tribute to three-time winner Sarina Wiegman and her England team.
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UEFA Women's EURO 2025 was an unprecedented success, taking the game to new levels and emerging as a global event with top-class football at its centre.
This week, two months after England lifted the trophy, Europe's national team coaches gathered in Zurich to review the standout moments, tactical trends and technical innovations that made the tournament so unforgettable.
Featuring a star-studded cast of speakers, including winning coach Sarina Wiegman, fellow semi-finalists Montse Tomé (ex-Spain), Christian Wück (Germany), Andrea Soncin (Italy), and Pia Sundhage, who guided hosts Switzerland to their first-ever quarter-final appearance, the conference went in-depth to assess how the game has developed since the previous Women's EURO in 2022.
Take a deep dive into the tournament's tactical trends
Nadine Kessler, UEFA's director for women's football, praised the participating coaches for their work, outlining how she hoped it would inspire more women to reach the top of the profession.
"It was a phenomenal tournament and huge credit to all of you who prepared the teams so well," Kessler said. "Women's EURO is the key catalyst for the growth of the game, and one of the priorities of our women's football strategy is to ensure there are pathways for female coaches. It's so important that we have incredible role models for women and girls, and tournaments like this are the ultimate platform to promote that."
Did you know?
UEFA Women's EURO 2025 featured seven female head coaches, more than ever before. Since 1997, every winning team has been coached by a woman!
Olivier Doglia, UEFA chief of football development, added: "It was fantastic to have European football's women's national team coaches together to celebrate the success of UEFA Women's EURO. It was very interesting to hear from some of the game's leading tacticians on their approach to the tournament, while providing a friendly environment to connect and discuss how we can move the game forwards to benefit the entire football family."
Analysing what happened… and how
During the tournament, UEFA's team of technical observers kept a close eye on every kick to help us understand how the game continues to evolve.
Their work is now presented in the tournament's official technical report, shared with coaches and freely available for everyone to analyse in detail, an invaluable tool for the coaching community as we seek to raise the standard of the game even further.
In Zurich, the audience listened to insights into some of the report's finer details from fellow leading coaches and experts, including Anna Signeul (overview of goals), Lluis Cortés (combination play), Tanya Oxtoby (defensive structures) and Martin Sjögren (the end game).
There were also detailed presentations on the evolving role of goalkeepers and the increasing physical outputs of players – outlined in a brand-new Women's EURO 2025 physical analysis report – which highlights a marked increase in intensity from previous editions of the tournament, as well as comparing the demands placed on players in different positions across the course of the game.
More goals than ever before
106 goals were scored at UEFA Women's EURO 2025, at an average of 3.42 per game. That's 11 more than the previous record, set in 2022.
Honouring a remarkable 'threepeat'
England's success secured a third consecutive title for coach Sarina Wiegman, who lifted the trophy with her native Netherlands in 2017 before leading England to their first Women's EURO crown in 2022.
She follows Germany's Tina Theune (1997, 2001, 2005) in winning three straight, and in turn becoming the first-ever coach, male or female, to reach the final of five consecutive major tournaments (including FIFA Women's World Cup finals in 2019 and 2023).
"This tournament was the hardest on the pitch because we were challenged so much," Wiegman explained. "All of the coaches here involved in this tournament should be really proud of ourselves because we brought a product that was really exciting, and the level of the game has increased so much.
"The growth of all the teams was clear, with so many games played at such a high level," she continued. "It was an unforgettable experience. Sometimes it was nerve-wracking, but in the end we got through."
Wiegman considers England's greatest strength this summer to be the team's never-say-die spirit and the willingness of each player to work for the collective good.
"I've been lucky to work with incredible teams, and at a high level, with ambitious players," she reflected. "This team took togetherness to another level, and I think we were the best team in the tournament – there were very good teams – but we had this edge and belief to win it.
"As coaches, we often talk about winning behaviours, and that’s what the team showed – every player wanted to make a difference, and you could feel that. It helped us massively."
The importance of endurance
By playing extra-time in each of their three high-intensity knockout matches, champions England played an additional 90 minutes, or the equivalent of a whole extra match!
This emphasises the importance of physical conditioning aimed at preparing players to cope with demands at top level, and the importance of having substitutes primed to make an impact from the bench.
Leading figures offer insight
Wiegman's fascinating thoughts were matched by her peers Soncin, Sundhage, Tomé and Wück, who discussed their tournament tactics and impressions.
Italy were just moments away from a first final since 1997 before succumbing to an England comeback in the latter stages of the semi-final, and their coach shared his pride at the team's performances and stressed the importance of knowledge-sharing events like this.
"We improved a lot during the tournament and it was a beautiful journey for us in Italy," Soncin said. "We approached the matches with bravery, tried to stay focused, leverage our skills and respect our high-level opponents. It was an incredible experience, and we proved we could play as well.
"I'm so happy to be here in Switzerland to meet my colleagues. Having these exchanges now really helps us grow and allows us to improve our quality," he added.
For first-time qualifiers Poland, just being at Women's EURO 2025 represented a huge milestone on their women's football journey – coach Nina Patalon is determined to continue that progress, using this conference as an important stepping stone.
"We are at a good level, but we need to do a lot to reach the same level as our opponents," she said. "Women's EURO was an amazing experience for me as a coach, and the opportunity be here with fantastic people, who are open and want to share their knowledge and improve the sport at all levels, is very inspiring."
At the end of an action-packed day, coaches and technical directors were able to unwind and discuss the incredible growth of women's football over dinner.
As the great Pia Sundhage said on stage: "Everything in the women's game is getting better and better."
Extending the invitation
Thanks to the UEFA Together programme, which exchanges knowledge and expertise with our sister confederations, national team coaches, technical directors and women's football leaders from around the world were also invited to the event, learning alongside and networking with their European counterparts.