A 92nd-minute equaliser from hosts Switzerland knocked Eva Nyström and Oona Siren’s Finland out of UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 in the cruelest fashion at Stade de Genève.
Finland knew they had to beat the home nation of the 14th edition of the tournament to qualify for the final eight from Group A, and, with both West Ham United women’s team players starting, were handed a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 79th minute.
Following a reckless challenge from Viola Calligaris, Natalia Kuikka made no mistake from the penalty spot to send the Finland fans behind the goal in Lancy into dreamland.
But in the second of seven minutes added on, Riola Xhemaili found herself in the right place at the right time to sweep the ball home from close range and break Finland's hearts.
The result means Finland, agonisingly, finished third on goal difference with four points, with Switzerland joining Norway in the quarter-finals.
Although Norway knew they were safely through to the final eight ahead of their last group-stage match with Dagný Brynjarsdóttir’s Iceland, they still claimed three points, but were made to work for it after a seven-goal thriller at Stockhorn Arena.
Despite Sveindís Jónsdóttir's sixth-minute opener in Thun, a first-half brace from Signe Gaupset gave Norway the lead at half-time. Their advantage was soon stretched to two when Frida Maanum struck four minutes after the restart before our No10 entered proceedings just before the hour.
Maanum then notched her second and Norway’s fourth with a low shot on 76 before Iceland staged a late resurgence. First, Hlín Eiríksdóttir found the net with six minutes to go and then captain Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir made no mistake from 12 yards in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
But Iceland didn’t have enough time to conjure up an equaliser, as they fell to their third defeat of the group stage.
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