The UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 is currently playing in the Netherlands, giving us the perfect excuse to move on from tennis after the excitement of Wimbledon and into some fresh football vocabulary! The Euros group stage began on 16th July and the final will take place on 16th August. Join us for a soccer-themed language and culture lesson as we dive into the latest footy action with the Women’s Euros 2017!

 

Hot on the heels of Wimbledon, we are in for another sporting treat as the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 kicks off. The tournament will see 16 teams battling it out to be crowned champions of Europe.

The first match played on Sunday 16th July to begin the group stage. The group stage is split into mini leagues with the top two finishing teams from each group going through to the knock-out stage. This consists of the quarter finals, semi finals and finally, the final!

 

The Group Stage: Women’s Euro 2017

Here are the groups in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 tournament:

Group A: Netherlands (hosts), Norway, Denmark, Belgium
Group B: Germany (current holders), Sweden, Italy, Russia
Group C: France, Iceland, Austria, Switzerland
Group D: England, Scotland, Spain, Portugal

The group stage ended on 27th July and the knockout stage began on 29th July with the quarter-finals.

Germany won the last six Women’s Euros and their shock exit from the competition after their defeat by Denmark in the quarter finals has led to England now being the favourites after their win over France. Here at My English Language we have our fingers crossed for England to lift the trophy in August!

2017 is an exciting year for Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Scotland and Portugal as these countries all qualified for the first time for the Women’s Euros.

Despite a great effort and a skillful spectacle, Scotland are also unfortunately out of the competition. This was their first time at the Euros though, so they will only improve with experience and we are sure the Scots will come back stronger for the next international tournament.

The final is on 6 August and will play in the city of Enschede.

The Women’s Euro 2017 Venues

The Women’s Euro 2017 games are being played in large cities and venues across the Netherlands. The locations for the matches during the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 tournament are:

Breda: Rat Verlegh Stadion
Deventer: Stadion De Adelaarshorst
Doetinchem: Stadion De Vijverberg
Enschede: FC Twente Stadion
Rotterdam: Sparta Stadion
Tilburg: Willem II Stadion
Utrecht: Stadion Galgenwaard

If you want to go to a match and support your nation or favourite team in thie fantastic spectacle of women’s football, you can buy tickets here: http://www.weuro2017.nl/en/ticket-service

You can also join in the discussion about the Women’s European Championship on Twitter at @UEFAWomensEURO. Use the hastag #WEURO2017 to join in the conversation.

Where to Watch?

You can watch the live Women’s Euro 2017 matches on Eurosport and on Channel 4 in the UK. The matches will also be streamed live online at UEFA.com and UEFA.tv.

Wherever you are in the world, you should be able to watch on TV or listen on the radio. Here is a list of where you can watch or listen to the Euros in your country: http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/season=2017/finals/tv/index.html

UEFA Campaigns

‘Together #WePlayStrong’ Campaign

Women’s football has grown massively over the last few years. Football is the fastest growing women’s sport and it is also a popular spectator sport with 81 million fans tuning into the Euros this summer.

 

UEFA has launched a campaign called ‘Together #WePlayStrong’, which focuses on the three important aspects of football: skill, togetherness and positive attitude.

It is hoped this campaign will help raise the profile of the women’s game further as UEFA aims to make football the most popular women’s participation sport across Europe within the next five years.

Healthy Hearts Campaign

UEFA is collaborating with the World Heart Federation and Hartstichting in the Netherlands to promote ‘healthy hearts’ throughout the tournament.

This is to increase general awareness of the importance of heart health and encourage everyone to be active through sport and exercise.

The history of the women’s game

The history of women’s football is a fantastic discussion area for the EFL classroom. You can use this topic alongside the Women’s Euros 2017 to add an extra dimension to the lesson.

The discussion of the game though history can include the FA’s ban on women’s soccer, the political reasons for this and the social injustice of it.

This topic can introduce the idea of prejudice in sport and the difference between attitudes in other countries, such as the USA.

Finally, move onto talk about the women’s game moving forward, future hopes and growth plans. It’s a perfect way to let students discuss their own sporting interests, thoughts on football, prejudice in sport and shifting cultural attitudes.

Use our blog post on the history of women’s football as a guide, complete with gap fill and conversation questions.

Women’s Euro 2017 in the classroom

The Women’s Euro 2017 tournament is an ideal time to bring some football vocabulary into your EFL class. There is a lot of soccer vocabulary you can use for a conversation class, vocabulary lesson or comprehension exercise.

We have covered many football phrases and words in our FA Cup football lesson and general football vocabulary page.

For an advanced class, you could also discuss why women’s football has not always been popular in the past, why it has become more popular in recent years and where you think women’s football is headed in the future.

 

Teachers could show the class some action from the tournament and get students to commentate on the play.

This article is ideal for a conversation class for advanced students. A gap-fill exercise can help students practise grammar and new vocabulary. The article is also ideal for learning new vocabulary and as a cultural lesson for those interested in the history of sport.

Gap Fill Exercise

The UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 takes place in …(1)… The tournament starts with the …(2)… stage and then the top …(3)… teams go through to the …(4)… stage. The …(5)… will play on 16th August in Enschede.

The ‘Together #WePlayStrong’ …(6)… promotes the 3 important values of football: skill, togetherness and …(7)… attitude. This campaign has been launched to raise the …(8).. of women’s football.

The Healthy Hearts campaign will also raise awareness of heart ….(9)…. and the …(10)… of sport and exercise for keeping a (11) heart.

Answers:

(1) The Netherlands

(2) group stage

(3) two

(4) knockout

(5) final

(6) campaign

(7) positive

(8) profile

(9) health

(10) importance

(11) healthy

UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 Fixtures

Here is the full fixture schedule for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 tournament, so you can plan your viewing. We will be updating the schedule as the tournament progresses!

Group stage (CET)

Sunday 16 July:

Group A

Netherlands 1-0 Norway (Utrecht)

Denmark 1-0 Belgium (Doetinchem)

Monday 17 July:

Group B

Italy 1-2 Russia (Rotterdam)

Germany 0-0 Sweden (Breda)

Tuesday 18 July:

Group C

Austria 1-0 Switzerland (Deventer)

France 1-0 Iceland (Tilburg)

Wednesday 19 July:

Group D

Spain 2-0 Portugal (Doetinchem)

England 6-0 Scotland (Utrecht)

Thursday 20 July:

Group A

Norway 0-2 Belgium (Breda)

Netherlands 1-0 Denmark (Rotterdam)

Friday 21 July:

Group B

Sweden 2-0 Russia (Deventer)

Germany 2-1 Italy (Tilburg)

Saturday 22 July:

Group C

Iceland 1-2 Switzerland (Doetinchem)

France 1-1 Austria (Utrecht)

Sunday 23 July:

Group D

Scotland 1-2 Portugal (Rotterdam)

England 2-0 Spain (Breda)

Monday 24 July:

Group A

Belgium 1-2 Netherlands (Tilburg)

Norway 0-1 Denmark (Deventer)

Tuesday 25 July:

Group B

Russia 0-2 Germany (Utrecht)

Sweden 2-3 Italy (Doetinchem)

Wednesday 26 July:

Group C

Switzerland 1-1 France (Breda)

Iceland 0-3 Austria (Rotterdam)

Thursday 27 July:

Group D

Portugal 1-2 England (Tilburg)

Scotland 1-0 Spain (Deventer)

Quarter-finals:

Saturday 29 July

Netherlands 2-0 Sweden (QF1, Doetinchem)

Germany 1-2 Denmark (QF2, Rotterdam)

Sunday 30 July

Austria 0-0 Spain (5-3 pens) (QF3, Tilburg)

England 1-0 France (QF4, Deventer)

Semi-finals:

Thursday 3 August

Netherlands 3-0 England (Enschede)

Denmark 0-0 Austria (3-0 pens) (Breda)

Final:

Sunday 6 August

Netherlands 4-2 Denmark (Enschede)

Congratulations to the Netherlands on their first international tournament victory!

How will you explore Women’s Euro 2017 in the classroom?

Explore more football vocabulary and use our football EFL lesson to explore more phrases. Plus, don’t forget to join in the soccer conversation on Twitter throughout the Euros with hashtag #WEURO2017 and watch online at UEFA.com and UEFA.tv.

Did you enjoy our gap-fill exercise?

Are you watching the Women’s Euro 2017 tournament? Who do you think will win? Which teams are you most looking forward to watching?

Do you have other ideas for an EFL class about Women’s Euro 2017?

How do you think the UEFA’s campaign ‘Together #WePlayStrong’ will boost interest?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Update:

Congratulations to the Netherlands, who beat Denmark 4-2 in the final to win the Women’s Euro 2017!

 

Attributions

1. Simone Boye Sorensen (Denmark) and Nina Burger (Austria) in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 Semi-final Denmark vs Austria. Image by Ailura, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT [CC BY-SA 3.0 at], from Wikimedia Commons
2. Jodie Taylor playing in UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 – England vs Scotland, image by Ailura, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT [CC BY-SA 3.0 at], from Wikimedia Commons
3. Turkey vs Germany, UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 Qualification match, image by CeeGee [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons
4. Toni Duggan (England) takes on Chloe Arthur (Scotland) in the UEFA Women’s Euros 2017, image by Ailura, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT [CC BY-SA 3.0 at], from Wikimedia Commons
5. England women’s team before the international friendly against USA, by joshjdss (England Women’s Vs USA) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons