Caroline Weir on the 3️⃣ Euro 2022 favourites and Spain's problems | OneFootball

Scotland international and Real Madrid star Caroline Weir has joined OneFootball for an exclusive column on Euro 2022 this summer! You can read her first column here.

We’re now over halfway through the group stages of Euro 2022 and it’s clear from the games so far that there are three favourites.

Fitter, faster and with more quality than anyone else on show, England, France and Germany have been the standouts.

Those three nations are operating on a different level and will be the teams to beat as we head into the knockout phase.

England were massively hyped before a ball was even kicked but their crazy win over Norway has showed just what this team is all about.

Before the game I was worried that this was going to be a step too far for England with this group never having really being tested since Sarina Wiegman’s appointment.

I could not have been more wrong.

This is not an average Norway that England demolished either.

On paper they are one of the most impressive in the tournament with arguably the world’s best striker in Ada Hegerberg; but England managed to completely isolate the Lyon forward whilst Beth Mead, Lauren Hemp and Ellen White ran the show at the other end.

Beth is obviously coming off the back of a very good season for Arsenal but her game has gone to new heights recently because she’s been so clinical in her decision-making.

In my last column I spoke about Hempo and how I expected big things from her this summer and I’m so happy to see that’s been the case.

The thing with Hempo is she will always find a way, no matter how many defenders are marking her.

Now that she’s got her first goal I know she’ll be full of confidence and will only get better alongside Ellen White.

It was interesting to see some of the criticism coming Ellen’s way before the Norway game but that’s gone away very quickly.

Having played with Ellen I know that sometimes she can go quiet for periods but it’s not always what she does in front of goal that’s so special.

It’s her pressing, it’s her work rate, her winning the ball back. When Ellen’s playing well and confident she’s so good at bringing other people into the game.

And on top of all that, she is an amazing finisher.

The trick for Ellen, and for the England squad as a whole, is to now find the right balance between enjoying a historic win and focusing on what’s to come.

It can be a hard thing to do but Wiegman has such experience of taking teams to the end of tournaments that I’m sure she won’t let the girls get too carried away.

If they do however, Germany will surely be there to take advantage.

Much like the Lionesses, Germany have looked super sharp and so dangerous in front of goal up to now.

Both against Denmark and Spain, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s team have been clinical, with quality coming from all over the pitch.

People forget that they are missing excellent players like Melanie Leupolz from Chelsea, and yet still have so much depth to bring off the bench.

The way they dispatched Spain was incredibly impressive but I can’t say I was too surprised by La Roja’s downfall.

Defensively they just haven’t been strong enough and although we all know the type of quality they have further up the pitch, Spain will always allow you some chances.

I remember thinking when I played against them for Scotland a few months ago just how open they were at the back – against teams like Germany you just can’t get away with that.

With Alexia Putellas out thanks to that horrible ACL injury, the balance in their midfield is off and a slight reshuffle in the middle of the park has upset things.

They’re not just missing her quality on the ball but her leadership as captain too.

That’s definitely not something France have lacked, though.

Before England’s battering of Norway, France’s victory against the Azzurri was comfortably the performance of the tournament so far.

They just looked so fit and sharp, and came out wanting goals immediately. I loved watching it.

They’ve had their off-field issues of late, but if they can keep a check on that France have enough quality to make the semi-finals at least.

It’s been a tournament of big markers being laid down by the big nations and it’s only going to get better from here.