Arsenal midfielder and Switzerland skipper Lia Walti says playing ‘in our home towns in front of sold out crowds’ as hosts of Euro 2025 will create ‘moments that will stay forever in our memories’ [Noemi Llamas/SPP]

THREE years ago, it was Arsenal’s England contingent who experienced the thrill of playing in a home European championship. Now it is the turn of Gunners’ midfielder and Switzerland captain Lia Walti – and she is loving every minute of it.

The EURO 2025 hosts may have fallen to a narrow 2-1 loss to Norway last week, but on Sunday they thrilled a sell-out crowd in Bern with a gripping 2-0 win over Iceland that had Stadion Wankdorf rocking to the sound of cowbells and raucous chants of “Hop Swiss”.

Walti and her teammates still had it all to do against Finland this evening (Thursday) if they were to reach an historic quarter-final.

Regardless of what happens, though, this Switzerland side, who are managed by legendary women’s footballer and coach Pia Sundhage, with multi-medal winning former Germany goalkeeper Nadine Angerer also on the staff, are already a success.

Not only have they made the front and back pages of the newspapers in their homeland, they have also set a new attendance record, with more than 34,000 fans turning out for their opener in Basel.

And if the euphoric atmosphere in Bern is anything to go by, when around 30,000 turned the streets into a sea of red and white, the hosts have captured the hearts and minds of a nation, just as England did in 2022.

“It’s something I never really dreamed about,” Walti told the Tribune. “I never thought this was going to happen for us; playing in our home towns in front of sold out crowds, it’s incredible – it’s moments that will stay forever in our memories.”

And while Walti said she had discussed playing in a home championship with club-mate Leah Williamson, the 32-year-old admitted that actually being a part of one was an eye-opener.

“It’s hard to understand what it is to have a home tournament if you don’t experience it yourself,” she said. “The build-up, the pressure was immense, I’ve never experienced something like that.”

As part of the England squad defending their title, Walti’s Arsenal teammates understand the pressure of a home tournament all too well, but they faced a new situation in Switzerland.

For the first time under Sarina Wiegman, the players had suffered defeat on this stage and the talk after their loss to France was of the jeopardy they were in.

Failure to get a result against the Netherlands on Wednesday would have signalled their early departure, but they bounced back in style, beating the Dutch 4-0 in Zurich.

Arsenal attacker Chloe Kelly was clearly delighted with the win when she spoke to the press in the bowels of Stadion Letzigrund afterwards.

And she told the Tribune that although the team were aware of the criticism that followed their poor performance against France, they had been able to block it out.

“Every interview that we had there was a little bit,” she said. “But that’s the way it goes, we’re English and we know that comes with pressure so we block out the noise from the outside world and we focus on our bubble.”

Meanwhile, Gunners Mariona Caldentey and Frida Maanum already have their sights set on the last-eight, with Spain and Norway through with one group game to go. For her part, striker Caldentey scored in a rain-soaked Arena Thun on Monday, as the world champions thrashed Belgium 6-2.

Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius and Spurs defender Amanda Nilden have also extended their stay in Switzerland. Having overcome Denmark 1-0 in the sweltering heat of Geneva on Friday, Blackstenius then opened her goalscoring account on Tuesday to help Sweden beat Poland 3-0 and top their group going into Saturday’s clash against Germany.

Catherine Etoe reporting from Zurich