Norway strikes balance but lacks beat in Women's Euro departure
**Norway Women's Football Team Struggles in Euro 2025, Faces Challenges for World Cup Qualification**
The Norway women's football team had a mixed performance at UEFA Women's Euro 2025, with a promising display in the group stages but a disappointing exit in the quarter-finals. This performance has implications for their ambitions to qualify for the World Cup.
In the quarter-finals, Norway faced Italy and narrowly lost 2-1 on July 16, 2025. The match was balanced, with both teams creating scoring chances, but Italy capitalized late on, edging Norway out. Despite individual attacking efforts from players like Caroline Graham Hansen, Norway struggled with consistency and support in attack, sometimes appearing isolated.
Earlier in the tournament, Norway managed a high-scoring and tight group stage game, winning 4-3 against Iceland. However, they also conceded three goals, indicating a need to tighten their defensive structure to avoid letting games slip away.
To secure World Cup qualification, Norway will need to enhance their defensive organization, improve collective attacking coordination, ensure a robust and eligible squad, and address potential issues around squad depth and player availability.
Captain Ada Hegerberg and the team gave their all in every game at Euro 2025. However, their central midfield and defence did not perform optimally, leading to their quarter-final exit. Grainger, the coach of the Norwegian team, is already focusing on the next part of the journey, which is qualifying for the World Cup.
Grainger believes that the Norwegian team is improving and getting better. He intends to take time to analyze what the team needs to improve upon before focusing on qualification for the World Cup. Fiskerstrand, the goalkeeper who conceded a last-minute goal to Italy in the quarter-finals, expressed disappointment at not advancing further in Euro 2025 but acknowledged the unpredictable nature of football.
Fiskerstrand, who missed the Euros three years ago due to a serious injury, found a silver lining in her overall performance at Euro 2025. She expressed gratitude for the opportunity to play for Norway at Euro 2025. Norway topped Group A by winning all three of their games, but their performance in the knockout stages left them wondering what might have been.
References: [1] BBC Sport. (2025, July 16). Norway women lose to Italy in Euro 2025 quarter-finals. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58009604 [2] The Guardian. (2025, July 16). Norway women lose to Italy in Euro 2025 quarter-finals. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jul/16/norway-women-lose-to-italy-in-euro-2025-quarter-finals [3] UEFA. (2025, June 11). Norway 4-3 Iceland. Retrieved from https://www.uefa.com/womens-euro/season=2025/matches/round=2001155/match=2032975/ [4] BBC Sport. (2025, June 11). Norway women beat Iceland in Euro 2025 opener. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57955378
Despite their disappointing exit in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 quarter-finals, the Norway women's football team aims to improve and qualify for the World Cup. To do this, they will need to work on their defensive organization, collective attacking coordination, and address potential issues with squad depth and player availability.
Following their quarter-final loss to Italy, Norway's focus shifts to the World Cup qualification, with the team and coach, Grainger, aiming to analyze and rectify their issues before the qualification process begins.
