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UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 ended with a record attendance: 87,192 fans cheered on the teams at Wembley Stadium as the host country England wins the final. Interest in women’s football is growing and growing – and WEURO 2025 in Switzerland is catapulting the ball into our half of the field. The mega-event is still eight months away, but there is also a lot going on regarding women’s football in Switzerland.
On Girls’ Football Day 2024 (auf Deutsch) in Basel on October 12, around 1,300 girls from Germany, France, and Switzerland fought for goals and points at the St. Jakob sports grounds – with a lot of passion, dedication, and enthusiasm. Even though only one team was at the top of the podium at the end of the day, everyone involved had reason to celebrate: Young female footballers were given the stage they deserve, and many girls were encouraged and inspired to rise above themselves. On and off the pitch.
“In the past three years, 5,000 active players have been added to Swiss football every year. We are currently talking about 40,000 active female footballers in clubs,” explains Vera Gmür, Co-President of the Women’s Football Commission of the Northwestern Swiss Football Association (FVNWS). “The Swiss Football Association has an ambitious goal in mind: To double the number of active women and girls by the end of 2029.” This is a pleasing trend, especially as women’s football in Switzerland will have a huge impact in 2025: The Women’s European Championship (“WEURO”) is one of the biggest and most important women’s football tournaments and will take take place in Switzerland for the first time. An event that will hopefully give women’s football in Switzerland an even greater boost and more recognition – and will inspire a lot of girls to lace up their own football boots.
But it wasn’t just on the pitch that excitement and variety prevailed on Girls’ Football Day: An important part of the event was the symposium, which was held under the motto “Female, athletic – equal opportunities!”.
Top-class guests such as Pia Sundhage, coach of the Swiss national team, Eva Herzog, President of the Council of States and Coumba Sow, captain of FC Basel, provided insights into their experiences and shared their visions for women’s football. “Girls are often inspired by other girls,” explains Gmür. “If a boy wants to play soccer, he just goes and plays soccer. Girls often need a little more – a supportive environment or pioneers who say: Why don’t you come with me, I’m here too!”
Women’s football has a promising future in Switzerland, as the girls on the pitch in Basel and the women’s football enthusiasts at the symposium clearly demonstrated. But for this future to become a reality, visibility is an extremely important factor, for example with events like this, with WEURO 2025 or with the many activities with which AXA supports women’s football in all Swiss leagues. And strong multipliers are also needed for greater visibility and the long-deserved reputation. From media, clubs and sponsors to politicians. If women’s football is to be promoted in the long term and equality achieved, everyone must pull together and commit themselves to the sport with the same enthusiasm that girls fought for their teams on Girls’ Football Day.
“With WEURO 2025 in Switzerland, we have a unique opportunity to put the spotlight on women’s football,” says Gmür. “A tournament like this is a boom – we’ve seen it in other countries. But the key is what happens afterwards. It can’t just fizzle out. We need to make sure that we use this momentum over the long term to take women’s football to the next sustainable level.”
How many girls will be infected by the euphoria of women’s football and be on the pitch at the next Girls’ Football Day? We hope for a lot of participants, bright girl eyes, and exciting discussions.
Severin Stillhard is a theme manager who writes texts for AXA on topics related to legal protection, retirement planning and more.
