Your preview of the Women’s Euro semi-finals, explained

The semi-finals of the Women’s Euro will get underway tomorrow morning (AEST) as England take on Italy.

24 hours later, Germany will play Spain for the other spot in the final.

Here’s what you need to know.

England v Italy

England are the defending champions, but their road to the semi-final hasn’t been as smooth as they would have hoped.

The Lionesses lost their opening group stage match to France, and then beat the Netherlands and Wales to finish runner-up in Group A

In the quarter-final, they scraped by Sweden in a penalty shootout.

Italy came through the group stage with a win against Belgium, a draw with Portugal and a loss to Spain.

In the quarter-final, they beat Norway 2-1 courtesy of a last-gasp goal from their captain Cristiana Girelli.

Italy have never won the Euro but finished runner-up in 1993 and 1997.

The last five matches between these two sides have been friendlies, all of which England has won.

In their most recent meeting in February 2024, England beat Italy 5-1.

Germany v Spain

Spain has gone from strength to strength in recent years.

Victories at the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Women’s Nations League tournament have made them favourites for this year’s Euro.

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As Spain seeks their first women’s Euro title, they face the daunting task of eight-time Euro champions Germany in the semi-final.

Spain are the only team in the semi-finals to have won all four of their matches so far.

In the group stage, they produced dominant displays against Portugal, Belgium, and Italy.

In the quarter-final, Spain beat tournament hosts Switzerland 2-0.

Germany have been less consistent. The 2022 Euro runner-ups were beaten 4-1 by Sweden in their final group stage match after beating Poland and Denmark.

In the quarter-final, they defeated France in a penalty shootout thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.

Racism

England’s preparations for their semi-final against Italy have been overshadowed by online racist abuse of defender Jess Carter.

The Football Association (FA), the governing body for the sport in England, has contacted UK Police, who are investigating the matter.

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino also condemned the abuse, saying: “No player should be discriminated against in any way, they should be free to be at their very best on the pitch.”