The four group-stage winners at the UEFA Women’s Euro prevailed in their  quarterfinals to set up a pair of intriguing semifinal matchups.

Host England will take on Sweden on Tuesday at Bramall Lane, while Germany will face off against France on Wednesday at Stadium MK.

All four teams have fielded impressive performances so far, and each semifinalist can make its case as the favorite heading into the final week of competition.

Why each semifinalist could win the Euros

England

Playing on home soil, England is eager to bring home a trophy in front of a friendly crowd. Acting as hosts has benefits and drawbacks, with the Lionesses enjoying overwhelming support but also facing a great deal of pressure.

While England showed its vulnerabilities in the team’s 2-1 quarterfinal win over Spain, the comeback victory should give the Lionesses confidence heading into the semifinals. The squad’s grit and proven ability to pull out a win against the run of play will likely buoy the English side as the hosts gear up to face Sweden.

England boasts impressive attacking depth, with Beth Mead leading the tournament’s scorers, logging five goals and three assists.

Alessia Russo has also been stellar off the bench for the Lionesses, notching three goals as relief for starter Ellen White. With attacking threats all over the pitch, including Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp and Fran Kirby, England has a range of options in the final third.

England has also been dangerous off the bench, with Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly joining Russo on an impressive reserve lineup.

Organized under coach Sarina Wiegman, England has the talent and home-field advantage to secure its most consequential trophy in decades.

Take a bow, @StanwayGeorgia! pic.twitter.com/BgGJBYIKBu

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) July 20, 2022

Sweden

Sweden is out for redemption after a heartbreaking silver-medal run during last summer’s Olympics.

Despite a slow start to the Euros, the Swedes dug deep to secure a 1-0 quarterfinal win behind a thrilling stoppage-time goal.

With key defenders Hanna Glas, Emma Kullberg and Jonna Andersson out of the quarterfinal due to positive COVID-19 tests, Sweden persevered despite being short-sided. Should the squad get its defensive lineup back in full ahead of the semifinal, Sweden will be in a much better position to halt England’s humming offense.

Most of Sweden’s Euro matchups to date have featured compact backlines, with the squad tasked with breaking down a variety of low-to-mid blocks. England, however, will be on the attack, presenting Sweden with an opportunity to get out in transition and find space in the final third.

Germany

Germany enters its semifinal against France with a clean sheet as the only remaining team yet to concede a goal.

With 11 total goals, Germany’s offense is also firing on all cylinders behind a commanding showing from Alexandra Popp. The 31-year-old has logged four goals through four matchups, while midfielder Lina Magull pulls the strings at the center of the pitch.

Germany has never lost to semifinal opponent France in a major tournament and has taken home the Euro trophy in seven of the last nine editions of the tournament.

Adept on both sides of the ball, Germany looks to be the most well-rounded squad heading into the home stretch.

Germany find their footing through Magull to take a 1-0 lead 💫 pic.twitter.com/mVJgSpRrL9

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 21, 2022

France

France has forged ahead despite losing marquee player Marie-Antoinette Katoto to injury during the team’s group-stage match against Belgium.

Kadidiatou Diani has stepped up in Katoto’s absence, putting opponents’ backline under sweltering pressure. While Les Bleus have faced adversity, the team is motivated to overcome its obstacles. The 2022 tournament marks France’s Euro semifinal debut, where Le Bleus will face Germany, a team they have yet to beat in four major contests.

With its reserves fielding stellar performances, France may just have the tenacity to pull off the win.

The NWSL has made a decision, as the league officially moves forward with its new "High Impact Player" rule despite stated opposition from the players union.

Announced last week, the rule change allows clubs to exceed to the NWSL salary cap by up to $1 million to attract or retain players that meet one of eight qualifying metrics set by the league.

Those metrics include major media award rankings like the 30-player Ballon d'Or shortlist and ESPN FC's Top 50 Football Players, as well as marketing power, top USWNT minutes, and end-of-year NWSL awards.

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Developed with Washington Spirit superstar — and current free agent — Trinity Rodman and her potential contract in mind, the "High Impact Player" rule will not go into effect until July 1st, 2026.

Meanwhile, the NWSLPA has spoken out against the mechanism, proposing instead to up the salary cap by $1 million without league-imposed spending regulations.

"Under federal labor law, changes to compensation under the salary cap are a mandatory subject of bargaining — not a matter of unilateral discretion," the union wrote on Wednesday.

Additionally, per The Athletic, NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke expressed concerns that the rule ties top athlete pay, in part, to player valuations in third party publications — a move that externally defines who a club can consider "high impact."

Led by six Kansas City athletes and five from Gotham FC, just 27 current NWSL players across 10 of the 16 clubs in the expanded 2026 season meet the new HIP qualifying criteria — though all teams could use the mechanism to attract a new athlete to the league.

In a growing global market, the NWSL could be falling into a trap of half-measures, as the union pushes back with league parity potentially on the line.

The Kansas City Current have apparently found a new manager, with ESPN reporting last week that the 2025 NWSL Shield-winners will bring on former MLS head coach Chris Armas to lead the team in 2026.

Armas built his career in the MLS, coaching the New York Red Bulls from 2018 to 2020 before taking over Toronto FC in 2021, then spending the last three years heading up the Colorado Rapids.

The ex-USMNT player also has experience in the women's game at the college level, leading the Division II Adelphi University women's soccer team from 2011 to 2014.

Despite their many victories in 2025, the Current found themselves without a coach after third-year boss Vlatko Andonovski moved into a sporting director role with the club in November.

ESPN reported that Kansas City chose Armas over internal candidates like assistants Milan Ivanovic and ex-Angel City and Gotham manager Freya Coombe.

"I want my staff and people I've worked with to become successful coaches. These are things I'm very passionate about and want to be able to execute," Andonovski told ESPN last month.

Armas would be the first former MLS coach to make the leap to the NWSL, with the winds of change in Kansas City blowing stronger than anticipated.

With the 2026 Winter Olympics fast approaching, US skiing icon Mikaela Shiffrin has started the 2025/26 FIS World Cup cycle in top form — particularly in her favored slalom event.

Closing out last season with a victory, Shiffrin is currently on a multi-event winning streak, earning her sixth straight slalom title in Semmering, Austria, on Sunday.

"It was a really hard day today, tough conditions, a really big fight, and the pressure's on… I did my best, best possible run," Shiffrin said afterwards.

Momentum is on her side, with Shiffrin set to enter the 2026 Winter Games in Italy as the winningest skier in World Cup history, surpassing Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark's 86 wins in March 2023 and becoming the first skier to reach 100 World Cup victories earlier this year.

Sunday's race marked the 30-year-old's 106th career World Cup title, with Shiffrin looking to add to her ever-growing historic record with three more slalom events scheduled before the Olympic women's Alpine skiing events kick off on February 8th.

The 2014 Olympic slalom champion and 2018 Winter Games giant slalom gold medalist is aiming to return to the podium after failing to medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Shiffrin will likely hit the slopes again next weekend, when the women's FIS World Cup lands in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, for a giant slalom and slalom competition.

South Carolina basketball is stocking up, as top-ranked high school senior Jerzy Robinson announced her commitment to join the head coach Dawn Staley and the No. 3 Gamecocks last Tuesday.

"I chose South Carolina because I had a sense of peace when it came down to the decision for me," Robinson told ESPN. "When I visited South Carolina, I was already home. I was already valued there.... I felt like this was where I needed to be for the next four years."

A 6-foot-2 guard who averaged 27 points and 10.2 rebounds in her junior season at Los Angeles's Sierra Canyon High School, Robinson is now the highest-ranked Class of 2026 recruit heading to South Carolina — as well as the final Top 5 player to make a college decision after also visiting No. 1 UConn and No. 5 LSU.

Robinson first made a name for herself at the youth level, winning three gold medals and the 2025 U-19 FIBA World Cup with Team USA.

The young talent also inked one of the first-ever shoe sponsorships for a high school player, signing an NIL deal with Nike in November 2024.

"Basketball has always been my love and my passion," she said. "To see it pay off and the hard work and the hours pay off, in the sense of I get to play for one of the best universities in the country, I just have so much gratitude."