⚽️ Historic High for Female Head Coaches at Euro 2025
44% of Head Coaches at the UEFA Euro's are Women in 2025, compared to 18.75% a decade ago
Women’s football often takes the spotlight when it comes to the conversation around the lack of female coaches. It’s easy to see why—football coaching roles, especially at the international level, come with huge visibility and influence, making the gender gap all the more glaring. But there’s good news on the horizon.
This year’s UEFA Women’s European Championship marks a historic high for female head coaches at the tournament. For the first time ever, 7 out of the 16 national teams are led by women. That’s a striking jump from just a decade ago, when 3 out of the 16 teams had a female head coach.
To put it in perspective, here’s how the numbers have evolved: in 2013, 18.75% of teams were coached by women. That figure nearly doubled by 2017, holding steady in 2022 at 37.5%. Now in 2025, that number has climbed to an impressive 43.75%. It’s clear progress is being made—slowly but surely.
2013 - 18.75%
2017 - 37.5%
2022 - 37.5%
2025 - 43.75%
Of course, there’s still a long road ahead. Change takes time. As every great coach knows, success comes from celebrating the small wins, trusting the process, and recognizing every step forward. That mindset is exactly what’s driving the growing presence of female coaches in the sport.
What’s especially exciting this year is the mix of experience and fresh faces. While tournament stalwarts like Pia Sundhage and Sarina Wiegman continue to impress, newcomers such as Elisabet Gunnarsdóttir, Montserrat Tomé, and Nina Patalon are staking their claim and bringing new energy.
Below, you’ll find profiles of each of this year’s female head coaches—trailblazers shaping the future of women’s football on Europe’s biggest stage.
🇳🇴 Norway - Gemma Grainger
Since taking the reins of the Norway women’s national team in January 2024, Gemma Grainger has wasted no time making her mark. With 9 wins from 12 matches, her early tenure has been defined by a bold, disciplined style and a clear vision for long-term success.
Grainger’s coaching journey spans more than a decade, beginning in the English women’s club scene. Her first head coaching role came with Leeds United Women in the Premier League, laying the foundation for what would become a career built on development, structure, and resilience. She later led Middlesbrough Women before joining the FA’s national setup, where she guided England’s U17 and U16 teams and played a key role in shaping future Lionesses.
In 2021, she stepped into the spotlight as Wales’ head coach. Over nearly three years, Grainger built a competitive side that reached the World Cup play-offs, instilling belief and identity in a squad previously overlooked on the global stage.
Her move to Norway signaled a new challenge—and an opportunity to take charge of a side with historic pedigree but recent inconsistency. Early results show promise: a 50% win rate, tactical flexibility, and renewed energy in the squad. Players have praised her clarity, intensity, and focus on collective improvement.
Grainger isn’t flashy, but she’s fiercely effective. With a reputation for player development and a growing knack for senior-level results, she’s fast becoming one of Europe’s most respected coaches. Norway may have just found the architect of their next era.
🇳🇴 Switzerland - Pia Sundhage
Pia Sundhage is by far the most experienced coach in the tournament, having been Head Coach of the USA (2007–2012), Sweden (2012–2017), Sweden U17s (2018–2019), Brazil (2019–2023), and now Switzerland (2024–present).
She’s won Olympic gold twice, taken three different nations to the World Cup, and stood on more major-tournament touchlines than anyone else in the game. Now at the helm of Euro 2025 hosts Switzerland, Sundhage is aiming to shape yet another team in her image: calm, clever, and fiercely competitive.
Her CV is stacked. She led the U.S. to Olympic titles in 2008 and 2012, and to a World Cup final in 2011. With Sweden, she claimed silver at the Rio Olympics and reached the Euro 2013 semifinals on home soil. In Brazil, she won Copa América and tried to modernize the team's style—though her tenure ended in disappointment after a group-stage exit at the 2023 World Cup.
Sundhage brings a distinctly Scandinavian approach to coaching: collective over individual, clarity over chaos. With Switzerland, her focus is on instilling belief and tactical discipline in a squad that has talent but often lacks consistency.
At 64, she remains a master motivator. Players speak of her honesty, her storytelling, and her ability to simplify the game without stripping it of nuance. Switzerland may not be favourites, but with Sundhage steering the ship, they are guaranteed to be organized, fearless, and, above all, prepared. Never count her out.
🇧🇪 Belgium - Elisabet Gunnarsdóttir
Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir isn’t the loudest coach on the touchline, but her impact speaks volumes. After 15 years leading Kristianstads in Sweden’s top flight, the Icelandic manager brings a rare blend of stability, tactical depth, and cultural clarity to a Belgium side on the brink of transformation.
Appointed in early 2024, Gunnarsdóttir stepped into the Belgium job following Ives Serneels’ long tenure, inheriting a squad with talent, belief, and unfinished business. Her task? Take the Red Flames from emerging contenders to a genuine force at Euro 2025.
She’s no stranger to building something from the ground up. In Iceland, she won four league titles with Valur before becoming a pioneer in Sweden, where she led Kristianstads to the Champions League and became one of the longest-serving managers in Scandinavian football. Her teams are known for being well-drilled, physically prepared, and emotionally grounded—attributes already showing in Belgium’s sharper, more confident performances.
Gunnarsdóttir is clear in her approach: build a strong group culture, foster high standards, and encourage brave, collective football. Under her leadership, Belgium stunned England in the Nations League and have shown a renewed edge—balancing experienced figures like Tessa Wullaert with a new generation of technical, fearless players.
She may be new to the big-tournament stage with Belgium, but Elísabet brings the calm of someone who’s spent a career turning potential into results. With her at the helm, Belgium head into Euro 2025 with identity, discipline, and quiet ambition—ready to take the next step.
🇪🇸 Spain - Montserrat Tomé
Spain’s new coach for Euro 2025 is a familiar face with a fresh mandate. Montserrat “Montse” Tomé took over in September 2023, replacing Jorge Vilda amid high expectations following Spain’s World Cup triumph. Having spent five years as Vilda’s trusted assistant, Tomé seamlessly transitioned into the head role—becoming the first woman to lead La Roja Femenina.
Her playing career gives her instant credibility. A former midfielder at Oviedo, Levante, and Barcelona, she retired in 2012 and earned her coaching stripes with the senior national team and the U‑17s. Inheriting a squad rich in talent and ambition, Tomé has focused on culture, clarity, and performance standards from day one.
Since taking charge, Tomé has led Spain to Nations League glory (2023–24), an Olympic semi-final appearance in Paris 2024, and a ruthless display of depth with her selection favouring merit over legacy. She has shown she’s unafraid to make tough calls—omitting veteran Jenni Hermoso despite the fallout, a move rooted in competitive judgment, not headlines. The squad is technical, hungry, and fiercely cohesive.
Off the pitch, Tomé runs a tight ship. Her eight-strong coaching team and a full technical staff mirror the men’s setup; her players follow strict protocols and enjoy structured support in nutrition, security, and recovery. She champions a system where every individual fits and contributes.
As Spain heads to Switzerland, Tomé’s message is loud: this is a team built to win, not just to show up. Her blend of World Cup-winning experience, thoughtful management, and tactical sharpness make her one of the most formidable coaches at Euro 2025. Expect La Roja to be organised, fearless, and very hard to beat.
🇵🇱 Poland - Nina Patalon
Nina Patalon has already made history as the first woman to coach Poland’s senior women’s national team. Now, she’s steering them into uncharted territory: their first-ever appearance at a major international tournament. Calm, composed, and deeply rooted in Polish football, Patalon’s rise has mirrored the quiet but steady growth of the women’s game in her country.
Appointed in 2021, she inherited a side that had long hovered outside the European elite. Early setbacks didn’t shake her vision. Instead, Patalon focused on building a solid structure—emphasising tactical organisation, team unity, and trust in her players. Her reward came in 2024, when Poland battled through the play-offs, defeating Romania and then Austria to secure a spot at Euro 2025.
But this isn’t just a feel-good story about qualifying. Under Patalon, Poland have developed a clear identity: compact, resilient, and increasingly dangerous on the counter. With world-class striker Ewa Pajor leading the line and a blend of youth and experience behind her, they now have both bite and belief.
Off the pitch, Patalon has been just as influential. She’s become a role model in Polish sport, promoting women’s football at grassroots level and pushing for better visibility, support, and standards. Her leadership has sparked growing national interest, drawing bigger crowds and attention to a team once overlooked.
Poland may not carry the weight of expectation into Euro 2025—but under Nina Patalon, they arrive with purpose, pride, and the momentum of a nation finally believing in what’s possible.
🏴 England - Sarina Wiegman
Sarina Wiegman enters Euro 2025 not just as a contender, but as the standard-bearer. She transformed the Netherlands into European champions in 2017, then turned England into a winning machine in 2022—making history with two different national teams and proving her methods can flex across cultures.
Wiegman thrives under pressure. She rebuilt England’s identity after missteps on the world stage, pivoting to a style rooted in structure, flexibility, and ruthless execution. Her Lionesses became a team that scores clinically, defends as a unit, and never loses their collective belief. As a result, England hoisted their first major trophy under her watch.
Her coaching philosophy is deceptively simple: create a cohesive squad culture, drill tactical awareness, and empower leaders within the group. The result? Teams that are impeccably prepared yet free to express themselves on the pitch—a rare blend of discipline and creativity.
Heading into Switzerland, Wiegman’s England is built on depth and experience. Veterans who lifted the Nations Cup and UNL collide with emerging stars, all under the same disciplined framework. Every position is hotly contested, tactical plans are detailed, and each player knows their role inside and out.
If she manages a third Euro crown, it would place her among the all-time greats of the game. Past achievements are proof enough—Wiegman remains the one coach who can deliver silverware on repeat, across borders. At Euro 2025, she won’t just be chasing history—she’ll be defining it.
🏴 Wales - Rhian Wilkinson
Rhian Wilkinson took charge of Wales’ senior women’s national team in February 2024, bringing with her deep-rooted Welsh connections—her mother is Welsh, and she spent part of her childhood in south Wales—returning not just as a coach, but as one of their own. Her pedigree is impressive: 183 caps for Canada, Olympic bronze medals, and an NWSL Championship to her name.
Her impact has been immediate. Combining elite-level experience with a clear vision, Wilkinson instilled a “no-excuses” culture that propelled Wales to its first-ever major finals. Their qualification journey was marked by tactical cohesion and mental toughness, overcoming Slovakia, Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland in a dramatic playoff run.
Wilkinson’s philosophy emphasizes collective responsibility. She has built a team that defends as a unit, presses intelligently, and transitions with purpose. Veteran leaders like Jess Fishlock and Sophie Ingle are balanced with rising talents, all buoyed by confidence and clarity in their roles. The “mountain metaphor” of qualifying is more than symbolism—it’s a reflection of the resilience she has nurtured.
Off the field, Wilkinson has helped redefine ambition in Welsh women’s football. Her leadership has driven investment, increased media attention, and strengthened connections between players and communities across Cymru. From locker-room rituals to pre-match routines, every detail carries purpose—and expectation.
As Wales heads to Euro 2025, they do so with tactical discipline, emotional cohesion, and the quiet authority of a coach deeply connected to her roots. Rhian Wilkinson is doing more than preparing a team for a tournament—she’s shaping a legacy for Welsh football.