The UEFA Women's Euro 2022 tournament is all set to get going and under the auspice of the #LetGirlsPlay programme - a campaign to drive influence and change perceptions, showing that football can and should be played by girls. The Championship starts tomorrow (July 6) when host nation England take on Austria in front of a 71,300 sell-out crowd at Old Trafford.

 

With Southampton’s St Mary's Stadium, Brighton’s Amex Stadium, Milton Keynes’ Stadium MK, the Brentford Community Stadium; the Leigh Sports Village, Bramall Lane, in Sheffield Manchester City’s Academy Stadium and the New York Stadium, in Rotherham, ready to welcome some of the world’s greatest stars, in a galaxy of sporting entertainment, the likes of which was not witnessed in Britain - since the men’s Euros of 1996 – sixteen teams will be battling it out for a spot in a final that will be played at Wembley Stadium, in from of an already expected 88,000 sell-out crowd.

Holders the Netherlands are again amongst the favourites this time round, with Northern Ireland making their debut in the showcase for the women’s game. More than 500,000 tickets for the tournament have already been sold, to date, with all 31 matches to be shown live on TV.

On what to expect, UEFA’s head of women’s football, Nadine Kessler, says: “I expect a visible difference to 2017. I felt this already when I watch some domestic football, but also throughout the Champions League season”.

It is the second time the whole tournament has been held in England. The groups for Euro ’22 are as follows:

Group A: England, Austria, Norway, Northern Ireland. Venues: Manchester (Old Trafford), Southampton, Brighton.

Group B: Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland. Venues: Milton Keynes, Brentford.

Group C: Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal. Venues: Leigh, Sheffield (Bramall Lane).

Group D: France, Italy, Belgium, Iceland. Venues: Manchester (Academy Stadium), Rotherham.