Big emotions, young heroines, a hairy foul – what remains of the European Championship

Numerous women have shared a strange experience in recent weeks: they suddenly found themselves crying. Not just Lia Wälti , the Swiss captain, who repeatedly had tears in her eyes because many of her dreams were finally coming true. But also women who were in a stadium for the first time. For many of them, football had been a men's game, a turf that didn't belong to them, a party they weren't invited to. And now, suddenly, there were women everywhere: players, referees, coaches, TV commentators, spectators. This moved many.

Suddenly having access is powerful. And it gave hope at a time when many women feel socially held back. "The peak of emotions" remains a trite PR slogan. But for once, it had some truth. The last four weeks have been a storm of emotions. And it had nothing to do with victory or defeat.

No one can complain about a lack of entertainment. 104 goals were scored in 30 matches at this European Championship, which is 3.47 goals per game. Three years ago, before the final, the number was 92, which translates to an average of 3.066 goals per game.

Does this mean that the strikers have gotten so much better? Or are the defenses sluggish? What we can say is that the players have improved physically and technically – and are better at scoring goals from virtually any situation. The teams have also matured tactically, although this has less of an impact on defense. That's the interesting difference to men's football: There, all teams were able to defend well at some point. On the other hand, the attacking side often suffers from a lull. The opposite is better.

If a fan march was announced before the European Championship, the police would immediately take up their positions. Fan marches were considered a gathering of violent club supporters who would then riot and move towards the stadium. Now the fan march has also become established at the Women's European Championship. And it is suddenly considered popular folklore: Joyful crowds marched peacefully to the stadium, singing cheerful songs and adding a touch of color to the cities. The Swiss record-breaking march was particularly celebrated: 25,000 people marched from Bundesplatz to Wankdorf before the quarter-final against Spain. There were actually media outlets covering the event via live feeds.

As absurd as it may seem, the reinterpretation of the fan march is exemplary of the positive experience of football in recent weeks. The Women's European Championship has shown how differently the sport and its rituals can be interpreted: more joyfully, more peacefully, more communally. One hopes that this will rub off when the men's Super League season begins these days.

The beginning of a wonderful friendship instead of a summer fling? That could be true for Switzerland and women's football – in keeping with the legacy motto "Here to stay." Because the Swiss suddenly associate the emotions of this tournament with faces and names they were previously unfamiliar with. Suddenly, more than just insiders are interested in the beautiful goals Sydney Schertenleib scores in Barcelona, how Iman Beney is doing at Manchester City, or what Riola Xhemaili has to say. Without the tournament in Switzerland with its omnipresent national team players, this interest would not have arisen.

The association has also reached the next level with women's football . Naturally, it allocated additional funds for the European Championship in its own country, investing five million in projects related to the tournament and its legacy. Now, even after the European Championship, it must demonstrate how serious it is about supporting the event.

One indicator of this could be the appointment of national coach Pia Sundhage. The former world champion coach is considering extending her tenure in Switzerland. However, as she told SRF, one thing would have to be in place for this to happen: that her two assistants are hired permanently—which is also a question of price.

To dispel the misconception that hair-pulling is a typical female foul, one need only look at a scene from the Club World Cup final. PSG player João Neves was sent off after pulling Chelsea's Marc Cucurella's hair. The same thing happened to the long-haired Cucurella in the English Premier League.

So, German Kathrin Hendrich wasn't alone in grabbing the hair of Frenchwoman Griedge Mbock Bathy. Her defense, however, was particularly embarrassing: she claimed her hand got caught in her hair. Really?

It's obvious that certain annoyances from men's football have found their way into the women's game: Just look at the time-wasting Norway's team did in their first group match against Switzerland. That's part of football, said coach Gemma Grainger. That's the argument of cynics.

National coach Pia Sundhage said after the match: "I'm an old bag who likes fair play." The spectators might also reflect on that for a moment: Never before has a women's tournament been booed so persistently. It's unimaginative.

A number regularly flashed up on the screens in Swiss stadiums, each time representing a record: first, the highest combined attendance in a European Championship group stage, then the highest in the quarterfinals. Even before the final, the overall record from England 2022 had been broken: 623,088 people attended the 30 matches so far, resulting in a record average of 20,769 spectators per game. However, the goal of a sold-out tournament was not quite achieved – an average of around 460 spectators per match was missed.

Never before have so many people watched women's football on Swiss television. On SRF, up to 956,000 viewers watched Switzerland's quarterfinal against Spain, corresponding to a market share of 76.5 percent.

The tournament is also enjoying great popularity in Germany, which is bidding to host the next European Championship in 2029. The semifinal defeat to Spain was watched by an average of 14.261 million viewers on ARD. This represents a market share of 57.6 percent and second place in the all-time women's football rankings on German television. The record is held by the 2022 European Championship final between Germany and England, with almost 18 million viewers.

An article from the « NZZ am Sonntag »