Archive July 21, 2025

Four teams are within touching distance of winning Euro 2025, including holders England, but who will make it to the final at St Jakob-Park in Basel on 27 July?

The Lionesses take on Italy on Tuesday, while the other semi-final sees world champions Spain face Germany on Wednesday.

BBC Sport football expert Rachel Brown-Finnis is predicting the outcome of all 31 games in Switzerland.

She picked all four winners of the quarter-finals, meaning she has been right about 20 of the 28 (71%) matches so far.

You were wrong about two of the last-eight ties, Italy’s victory over Norway and Germany getting the better of France. Only 26% of you saw that last one coming, meaning your overall total is 18/28 (64%).

There are only three games to go, so can you catch Rachel in the semi-finals? You can make your own predictions below.

Live commentary on Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

The quarter-finals served up an absolute whirlwind of drama and I am expecting both semi-finals to be just as exciting.

Whoever gets through each tie, it will not just come down to who is the best team – so many other factors will help decide the winner and all four of the remaining sides have already shown their different qualities and characteristics.

One of England’s is resilience and another is courage. I said during my commentary that when Lucy Bronze stuck away the winning penalty against Sweden, it was like Stuart Pearce’s spot-kick in the shoot-out against Spain at Euro 96.

I’d love to say this game will be much more straightforward for England and that they will sail through but I think we’ve already learned that it won’t be that easy.

If you had offered England a semi-final against Italy before these Euros started, they would have taken it. Also, if I was predicting a game between the two teams back then, I would have been very confident and said I could only see a Lionesses win.

Now, however, it is a very different scenario. We have seen Italy grow as this tournament has gone on, including their self-belief. They will think they can beat England and they are going to be very dangerous opponents.

They deserved to beat Norway in the quarter-finals and their one defeat so far came against Spain in their final group game, after they went toe to toe with them at first.

They took their foot off the gas against the world champions in the second half but I think that was only because of the circumstances in the Portugal-Belgium game and Italy knowing they were still going through as long as they did not lose too heavily.

I don’t expect them to hold back at all here. They will probably come absolutely flying out of the blocks after seeing how Sweden’s fast start opened up Sarina Wiegman’s side. I do think England will be better defensively than they were against Sweden, but they will have to be.

Wiegman will have a different gameplan for this tie anyhow, in terms of how she sets her side up, but what she really needs is a performance for 90 minutes at the level we know England can produce rather than them just getting going in the second half, the way they did against Sweden.

So, how they start this game is hugely important. England have to play no-risk football in the opening few minutes so they can feel their way into the game and get through the first 10 or 15 minutes unscathed.

They can’t leave the door open the way they did early on against Sweden or give Italy’s attack any encouragement whatsoever. By that, I mean they must avoid playing themselves into trouble if they are under pressure when they play out from the back.

This is Italy’s first semi-final at a major finals since 1997 but they will feel they belong on this stage as much as England do and they certainly won’t care that they are facing the holders. Going ahead would only boost their confidence further and I want to see England start on the front foot this time.

Ultimately, Italy would probably be happy if this goes into extra-time, knowing England have more minutes in their legs, but I don’t think this tie will get that far.

It is going to be a very tough 90 minutes for all Lionesses fans as well as the players on the pitch but I am backing England to get the job done in normal time.

Watch live on BBC One, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website; live commentary on Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

I had a feeling Germany would get the better of France somehow, and I was right, but what an amazing battle that quarter-final was.

As a goalkeeper, I particularly enjoyed Ann-Katrin Berger’s performance to help Germany get through. Her save to keep out team-mate Janina Minge’s backward header was absolutely outstanding.

All the aspects of it are so hard to execute – Berger was at full stretch, moving backwards and trying to push off. She was able to use her athleticism and long frame but also drew on her determination to just about keep the ball out of the net.

Overall, it was the kind of team performance that epitomised Germany’s progress in Switzerland, where they have packed a lot into their four games so far – good and bad. Very little has gone exactly to plan but against France they still found a way of winning.

The way they responded after Kathrin Hendrich was sent off, you would not have known France had an extra player. That’s credit to their manager Christian Wuck for instantly reorganising his team and also the resolve of their players.

Just like England, Germany have shown they know how to get through games and they definitely know it is not always about winning pretty.

Spain are the world champions and the only team to have won all their games to get this far. They have also scored 16 goals in four matches and dominated possession each time but I still think they look vulnerable on the transition.

Switzerland used their pace to get behind Spain’s high line early in their quarter-final and Germany will feel they can get at them too.

It will be interesting to see who starts up top for Germany and whether it is Giovanna Hoffman who leads their line again or if they come up with a different plan. They definitely won’t have more of the ball than Spain but they are pretty clinical when they do get a sight of goal so they know they can still hurt them.

Germany’s intensity and resolve will help them here too and I would not be surprised if Berger produces another similar performance to keep them in this game – one way or another they are going to push Spain all the way.

I am co-commentating on this game and I am already thinking it could go to penalties but when it comes to making a prediction, then I have to back Spain to do something special again to win the game beforehand. We know they are capable of it.

Four teams are within touching distance of winning Euro 2025, including holders England, but who will make it to the final at St Jakob-Park in Basel on 27 July?

The Lionesses take on Italy on Tuesday, while the other semi-final sees world champions Spain face Germany on Wednesday.

BBC Sport football expert Rachel Brown-Finnis is predicting the outcome of all 31 games in Switzerland.

She picked all four winners of the quarter-finals, meaning she has been right about 20 of the 28 (71%) matches so far.

You were wrong about two of the last-eight ties, Italy’s victory over Norway and Germany getting the better of France. Only 26% of you saw that last one coming, meaning your overall total is 18/28 (64%).

There are only three games to go, so can you catch Rachel in the semi-finals? You can make your own predictions below.

Live commentary on Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

The quarter-finals served up an absolute whirlwind of drama and I am expecting both semi-finals to be just as exciting.

Whoever gets through each tie, it will not just come down to who is the best team – so many other factors will help decide the winner and all four of the remaining sides have already shown their different qualities and characteristics.

One of England’s is resilience and another is courage. I said during my commentary that when Lucy Bronze stuck away the winning penalty against Sweden, it was like Stuart Pearce’s spot-kick in the shoot-out against Spain at Euro 96.

I’d love to say this game will be much more straightforward for England and that they will sail through but I think we’ve already learned that it won’t be that easy.

If you had offered England a semi-final against Italy before these Euros started, they would have taken it. Also, if I was predicting a game between the two teams back then, I would have been very confident and said I could only see a Lionesses win.

Now, however, it is a very different scenario. We have seen Italy grow as this tournament has gone on, including their self-belief. They will think they can beat England and they are going to be very dangerous opponents.

They deserved to beat Norway in the quarter-finals and their one defeat so far came against Spain in their final group game, after they went toe to toe with them at first.

They took their foot off the gas against the world champions in the second half but I think that was only because of the circumstances in the Portugal-Belgium game and Italy knowing they were still going through as long as they did not lose too heavily.

I don’t expect them to hold back at all here. They will probably come absolutely flying out of the blocks after seeing how Sweden’s fast start opened up Sarina Wiegman’s side. I do think England will be better defensively than they were against Sweden, but they will have to be.

Wiegman will have a different gameplan for this tie anyhow, in terms of how she sets her side up, but what she really needs is a performance for 90 minutes at the level we know England can produce rather than them just getting going in the second half, the way they did against Sweden.

So, how they start this game is hugely important. England have to play no-risk football in the opening few minutes so they can feel their way into the game and get through the first 10 or 15 minutes unscathed.

They can’t leave the door open the way they did early on against Sweden or give Italy’s attack any encouragement whatsoever. By that, I mean they must avoid playing themselves into trouble if they are under pressure when they play out from the back.

This is Italy’s first semi-final at a major finals since 1997 but they will feel they belong on this stage as much as England do and they certainly won’t care that they are facing the holders. Going ahead would only boost their confidence further and I want to see England start on the front foot this time.

Ultimately, Italy would probably be happy if this goes into extra-time, knowing England have more minutes in their legs, but I don’t think this tie will get that far.

It is going to be a very tough 90 minutes for all Lionesses fans as well as the players on the pitch but I am backing England to get the job done in normal time.

Watch live on BBC One, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website; live commentary on Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

I had a feeling Germany would get the better of France somehow, and I was right, but what an amazing battle that quarter-final was.

As a goalkeeper, I particularly enjoyed Ann-Katrin Berger’s performance to help Germany get through. Her save to keep out team-mate Janina Minge’s backward header was absolutely outstanding.

All the aspects of it are so hard to execute – Berger was at full stretch, moving backwards and trying to push off. She was able to use her athleticism and long frame but also drew on her determination to just about keep the ball out of the net.

Overall, it was the kind of team performance that epitomised Germany’s progress in Switzerland, where they have packed a lot into their four games so far – good and bad. Very little has gone exactly to plan but against France they still found a way of winning.

The way they responded after Kathrin Hendrich was sent off, you would not have known France had an extra player. That’s credit to their manager Christian Wuck for instantly reorganising his team and also the resolve of their players.

Just like England, Germany have shown they know how to get through games and they definitely know it is not always about winning pretty.

Spain are the world champions and the only team to have won all their games to get this far. They have also scored 16 goals in four matches and dominated possession each time but I still think they look vulnerable on the transition.

Switzerland used their pace to get behind Spain’s high line early in their quarter-final and Germany will feel they can get at them too.

It will be interesting to see who starts up top for Germany and whether it is Giovanna Hoffman who leads their line again or if they come up with a different plan. They definitely won’t have more of the ball than Spain but they are pretty clinical when they do get a sight of goal so they know they can still hurt them.

Germany’s intensity and resolve will help them here too and I would not be surprised if Berger produces another similar performance to keep them in this game – one way or another they are going to push Spain all the way.

I am co-commentating on this game and I am already thinking it could go to penalties but when it comes to making a prediction, then I have to back Spain to do something special again to win the game beforehand. We know they are capable of it.

Former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey was the subject of multiple rape counts against him, according to manager Mikel Arteta, who claims he is “100%” certain the club followed the right procedures when handling the situation.

The 32-year-old Ghana midfielder left Arsenal on June 30th, and was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault a day later.

According to a statement released on July 4th, the Metropolitan Police said the crimes were reported to have occurred in 2021 and 2022.

The accusations relate to three different women, with one rape count involving a single woman, the other three rape counts involving a second woman, and one sexual assault count involving a third woman.

After receiving a report of rape for the first time in February of this year, detectives launched an investigation.

Arsenal’s pre-season tour stops in Singapore. Before moving to Hong Kong to play Tottenham, they play AC Milan and Newcastle.

Before their Wednesday game against Milan, Arteta was asked about the situation with Partey during a press conference.

Arteta stated that the club’s statement was “very clear.” I am unable to comment on any of the legal matters that are particularly complicated.

The club’s handling of the situation was questioned by him before he was questioned: “Many fans have questions about how it was handled. Do you have confidence and confidence that the club “went through all the necessary steps”?

Arteta answered: “100%, yes”.

On August 5, Partey is scheduled to appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

In October 2020, he left Atletico Madrid for £45 million.

He made 35 Premier League starts for Arsenal, finishing second overall.

Only the Open Championship could make a small, seaside town in Northern Ireland feel like the centre of the sporting universe.

While an overwhelming majority of the huge crowds were willing home favourite Rory McIlroy to victory, that it was the world number one who denied the story its fairytale ending still felt wholly fitting.

Other events of this size are played out in cities of similar stature, but the sight of superstar Scottie Scheffler hoisting the Claret Jug on the 18th green of a brilliant, yet remote, course tucked away on the north coast of the island of Ireland summed up what is unique about this championship.

There have been plenty of similarly seemingly incongruous scenes over the past seven days.

Whether it be multi-millionaires getting their morning coffee in establishments where an Ulster fry would set you back less than £7, a former Open winner becoming a repeat customer at a small pie shop on the main street or the defending champion sinking a stout round the corner, The Open did not just come to town, it became a part of it for the duration of its stay.

Australian Cameron Smith, who won his Claret Jug at St Andrews in 2022, could hardly have paid Portrush a bigger compliment than comparing it to the home of golf.

“It seems like there’s a lot of Opens where the course is great but the town doesn’t really get involved, whereas this one kind of seems like everyone in town is happy to have you here and gets around the whole tournament,” he said.

In a week that began with the eventual winner questioning the meaning of it all, there was great purpose in the way the first arriving fans flooded through the gates and on to the course after word spread that McIlroy had snuck out for a practice round at the earliest available opportunity.

Those first holes on Monday, and his stints watching chunks of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer between rounds, must have felt like the briefest slices of quiet for the most recent member of golf’s Grand Slam club.

At all other points around Royal Portrush, galleries thronged around the Holywood star, the roars that greeted each of his made putts reverberating across the links.

While his walk off the 18th green was without the Claret Jug, the love for the returning hero – playing at home for the first time since his Masters victory – was a far more fitting conclusion to his week than the tearful missed cut back in 2019.

But it was not just McIlroy who sparked adoration. Americans Bryson DeChambeau and Jordan Spieth, as well as England’s Tommy Fleetwood, were among other huge draws obliging as many requests for selfies and autographs as time allowed.

The thump of children’s feet along grandstands as players neared with golf balls sounded like the promised thunder.

So keen were others to take home a souvenir of their week by more conventional means, queues for the merchandise tent snaked round multiple sets of barriers with one visitor reportedly spending £13,000 in one transaction.

Others were content with more transitory pleasures. On Padraig Harrington’s insistence that Royal Portrush had the best ice creams on The Open rota, there seemed general agreement after what was surely a record number of 99s consumed up and down the links.

A more uniquely Northern Irish staple – the ‘fifteen’ traybake – proved more divisive in the media centre.

The coconut-based treat was not all that failed to gain universal popularity. Jason Day was left confounded by local weather forecasts as the week proved true the old cliche about Northern Ireland featuring all four seasons in one day, while marathon rounds on Thursday left a few players grumbling about bottlenecks on the course.

Those that took the time to look around as they waited, though, were rewarded with the spectacular views that make Portrush such a memorable course for the hacker and world’s best player alike.

“It’s one of the coolest views that I’ve seen in the game of golf, to be honest with you,” said Scheffler of the course’s signature hole Calamity Corner.

Even Shane Lowry, who had the best golf day of his life here six years ago when winning the 148th Open Championship, cut a wholly frustrated figure at points during a weekend when he was handed a two-shot penalty on Friday and struggled with illness in his third round.

Still, after a brilliant closing 66 on Sunday, Royal Portrush had clearly redeemed itself in the Offaly man’s eyes when all was said and done.

Asked by BBC Sport NI when would he like to see The Open be back here for its fourth staging, he replied: “How about next year?”

Before joining the Italian side on loan, Brighton striker Evan Ferguson will undergo a medical at Roma.

Ferguson’s career is attempting to resurrect after suffering from injury and poor form caused him to drop down the Seagulls pecking order.

He signed for West Ham on loan for the second half of the previous season, but he only made eight starts and made just one start for the club.

After signing Tammy Abraham from the Republic of Ireland on loan at Turkish club Besiktas, Roma have been in talks with Brighton.

Ferguson met Roma fans and signed autographs before moving to the Serie A side, according to a photo he shared on social media.

Following a stellar 2022-23 campaign, which included nine goals and his senior international debut, the 20-year-old was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

Before he became my India team-mate, I faced Jasprit Bumrah in a club game when he was just a teenager.

Even though there were other bowlers in the game who had played first-class cricket, he was completely different.

He is a complete bowler these days, as we have seen with the most recent Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, but his prior prowess were mostly attributed to his pace. He was quick.

People questioned whether or not he would be able to swing the red ball or whether or not he had the consistency and control needed for the longer format. His action was special.

He may have only taken four wickets in the first Test, but he completely answered all of those queries.

I can remember Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli standing next to me in second place at the first slip. We were all complaining about how it felt in a way that no other bowler’s did.

In that game, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, and Mohammed Shami each played for different reasons. Bumrah was quicker than Shimrah, but Shiva was quicker.

In my career, I frequently stood at first slip. It was entirely original.

There is much discussion about how difficult it is for batters to play his position wide on the crease and how difficult it is for slip fielders as well.

The wicketkeeper must stand almost behind the stumps against right-handers because of the angles he uses. To close the gap, I had to move further over.

We made a joke with him, but he never yelled at a slip fielder because he is too kind for that.

Jasprit is an introvert off the field. He spends a lot of time in his room. Not in a negative way, either. He simply enjoys being around.

We used to play Fifa on the PlayStation while on tour, including Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, and former wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, and it was difficult for him to get there when we invited him.

We ended up laughing that we wouldn’t let him bowl if he didn’t arrive.

As a gamer, Bumrah is not very good at it, but he needed a good partner to play for him when he first visited England in 2018. In that case, he added another level of skill as a bowler.

By the time we returned to Australia the following winter, we realized he would be our wild card and would be a very long-term player for India. He played a key role in our first Australian victory.

I would have spent ages humming along and talking about it if I had bowled a ball like that to Jennings. Jasprit never boasted, but he kept his cool.

He simply moves on to the following delivery.

He frequently watches the game in the dressing room. The majority of fast bowlers get up and unwind. He can relax, but he is always watching the field.

Before India appointed Shubman Gill, he was always regarded as a candidate for captain because he would always be influencing what our batters or the opposition could be doing differently when I used to sit next to him.

Bumrah’s ball-handling, angle, or action are frequently discussed, but his greatest strength is frequently overlooked.

He was a part of the IPL when he had a brilliant cricket brain. He has developed the abilities to outsmart a batter while working with people like Lasith Malinga, a former Sri Lankan bowler.

His first instinct is to bowl his best ball, but he is aware of both a batter’s advantages and disadvantages if one comes in. He has developed his entire Test-bowling abilities from white-ball cricket.

When Jasprit assisted me in scoring a century in the first innings on that England tour in 2018, one of my favorites moments was in Southampton.

I must admit that when he came out at number 11, I did not anticipate getting there, but he said, “I will defend. I’m not sure if I’ll survive, but I’m going to try my best.

As we put on 46 for the final wicket, I came in with 132 not out.

He excels as a cricketer, whether he bats or bowls, because of his extreme competitiveness.

No matter what the circumstances of the game, he consistently wants and believes he can get a wicket when bowling.

In the end, he makes a fantastic teammate.