1:2 against Norway: The Swiss women suffer a bitter, avoidable opening defeat at the home European Championship

For 45 minutes on Wednesday evening, everything looked like the perfect start for Switzerland. The European Championships on home soil had kicked off with perfect timing, with 34,063 people flocking to Basel to watch the opening match between Switzerland and Norway. A record for a women's football match in this country. For quite a few people in the women's football world, the scene had a touching quality – only eight years ago, Switzerland had participated in the European Championship finals for the first time. A great deal has happened in this sport in the last two decades.

The national team was carried by this euphoria, playing a first half close to the universal ideal. The team focused on captain Lia Wälti, the pacesetter in midfield. The availability of the Bernese had been a matter of speculation, as she has been injured for some time. She took to the field with a bandaged left knee and immediately took over. Thanks in part to her, the Swiss dominated the first 45 minutes.

Wälti, who plays for Arsenal in London, was instrumental in the well-deserved opening goal after 28 minutes. Nadine Riesen curled the ball into the net off the inside of the post. Riesen is a symbol of the evolution of the sport. She played for FC Zurich until 2023, but also worked as a preschool teacher in Muri near Bern. Today, she is a professional player for Eintracht Frankfurt.

It now seemed as if a lot of things were falling away from this team, which had endured difficult months. The results were mostly poor, the performances strangely lackluster. From the preparations for the European Championship at home, the most memorable moment in the public's memory was a 7-1 defeat to the U15 teenagers of FC Luzern. It was a friendly match with almost no significance, but it had already made the opinion of the envious and know-it-alls.

And they received a further boost shortly before the tournament after the "Blick" newspaper reported on a poor mood within the squad, claiming the training sessions were too tough. Former national coach Inka Grings accused the Swiss women of "unprofessionalism" in a bizarre interview. Grings, 46, was fired in November 2023 after a single win in 14 matches.

There was no shortage of unrest in the Swiss environment, which dampened expectations. Pia Sundhage, the Swiss head coach, simply laughed off the external uproar. It takes more than a few gloomy months to unsettle the well-traveled Swede – her experiences as head coach of the USA and Brazil have taught her composure. At 65, perhaps even life itself.

An opening victory would have been a kind of validation for their ideas. And for a long time, it looked that way. The favored Norwegians couldn't find an answer until halftime. But the squad of the two-time European champions boasts several world-class players. One of them, Ada Hegerberg, is Lyon's regular goalscorer. It was she who headed in the equalizer in the 54th minute.

The Swiss women's team only offered escort after a corner kick – you can't defend a corner much worse. Goalkeeper Livia Peng also performed poorly. There had been repeated discussions about the goalkeeping position, and Sundhage also appeared inconsistent there.

The 1-1 draw was the hosts' last straw. Four minutes later, long-time FC Zurich defender Julia Stierli unluckily put a ball into her own net. The turnaround lacked any decisiveness; it seemed like a stroke of luck. Norway left much to be desired. And with dedicated time-wasting, they did a lot to disprove the cliché that women's football is fairer.

But the truth is, the Swiss waited in vain for a long time for a reaction. A missed penalty by Hegerberg in the 70th minute should have given them some energy. However, the only excitement came from a penalty that was correctly withdrawn for an offside call in the 72nd minute and a great chance for the active player Géraldine Reuteler ten minutes from time.

The evening told the story of two halves. And it handed the Swiss a bitter, avoidable opening defeat. They can take heart from their first-half performance. Goalscorer Riesen said: "It's a shame we couldn't deliver our full performance over 90 minutes. But the first half is encouraging."

Advancing to the quarterfinals remains a possibility, especially since Switzerland's Group A is one of the weakest at these finals. However, the team will already be under pressure on Sunday when they face Iceland in Bern. It's already a final for both teams – Iceland suffered a surprise defeat to Finland in Thun on Wednesday. They also lost their captain, Glodis Perla Viggosdotir, who had to be substituted at halftime due to injury.