Norway Stuns Switzerland 2-1 in Women’s Euro 2025: Hegerberg Leads Comeback

In a packed Basel crowd, the host nation, Switzerland, begins their Women’s European Championship adventure against 2 time winners, Norway. The venue was St. Jakobs-Park, home of FC Basel and the largest football venue in Switzerland. Swiss women’s soccer has continued to be on the rise. Swiss captain Lia Wälti discussed how amazing the growth of women’s soccer is in Switzerland. “It’s incredible. It’s something I’ve never thought it could happen. The sport is growing quickly!” said Wälti. Wälti also talked about how important it is for this team to continue the growth of the sport and needing to push the boundaries. “… We want to continue growing our program and be successful here in Switzerland.”, stated Wälti.

Norway had one thing on their mind for this matchup against the host nation. Norway wanted to have a good start in this tournament. The last time these 2 nations squared off was during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in a goalless draw in Hamilton, New Zealand. And for Norway they want to make a run to win this competition for the first time since 1993. Norwegian captain and superstar Ada Hegerberg states that Norway must be focused on the task lays ahead for them. “First of all, I don’t live in the past, I live in the future. I live in the present and I look into the future.”, Hegerberg stated in the pre-match press conference. “What we’ve learned and to remember to enjoy and fight for a win and make our country proud.”, Hegerberg continues to preach.

The match begins very well for the host nation. A wonderful strike from Swiss forward, Géraldine Reuteler, that kisses the crossbar gave the Swiss belief. The Swiss managed to take the first advantage of the match at the 28th minute. Switzerland’s Nadine Riesen dribbles the ball on the left wing and passes to Smilla Vallotto in the box. Vallotto tries to take a shot which gets deflected off by two Norwegian defenders and happens to find Riesen’s boot. Riesen takes a low shot that hits the post and sneaks past Norway’s Cecilie Fiskerstrand for the 1-0 lead. Advantage Switzerland going into halftime. A perfect start for the host nation.

The second half was a different story for the Swiss. In the 54th minute, Norway was awarded a corner, and Vilde Bøe Risa put in a wonderful cross that found Ada Hegerberg’s head. Hegerberg jumped with such strength and force to head it past Switzerland goalkeeper Livia Peng for the equalizer. It is Hegerberg’s 50th goal with the Norwegian national team. Switzerland looked very frustrated with the set-piece marking and allowing Norway back into the game. The frustration continued for La Nati as Norway was able to complete the comeback. Norway’s Caroline Graham Hansen makes a perfect run from a wonderful long pass from Tuva Hansen. Caroline Graham Hansen gets the ball and makes a cross towards the box. The cross was heading towards once again the dangerous Ada Hegerberg, but Swiss defender Julia Stierli, who tried to stop the cross, deflects the pass and goes past Livia Peng for the 2-1 lead.

Romanian referee Alina Pesu was busy in the second half. In the 67th minute, Norway’s Marit Bratberg Lund takes the corner and once again, a perfect cross in the box. Switzerland’s Géraldine Reuteler tries to defend against Ada Hegerberg, but it deflects off Reuteler’s arm. Pesu makes the call for a penalty kick for Norway, and up comes the captain, Ada Hegerberg. She takes the kick but misses it wide. The momentum is now officially back to the Swiss after a horrible start to the second half. Then, moments after the missed PK, Norwegian defender Mathilde Harviken was called for a foul on Switzerland’s Nadine Riesen in the box for a penalty kick. Harviken was seen very frustrated as she barely touched Riesen for the called foul. VAR was called in for Alina Pesu to take a look at the play, and evidence was shown that the contact on Riesen wasn’t enough to be called a penalty. VAR overturned the call from Pesu and was called offside. In the VAR footage, Switzerland’s Alayah Pilgrim was in an offside position on the buildup of the power, which cancels out the play that lead to the penalty kick call. A very frustrating evening for the host nation as the match ends with a 2-1 come-from-behind win for the Gresshoppene.

Norway is off to a winning start and will continue this momentum against Finland on Sunday, July 6th at Stade Tourbillon. The host nation, Switzerland, will look to bounce back against Iceland on Sunday, July 6th at Wankdorf Stadium.