sport news England's potential route to the Women's Euro 2022 final: Key dates and ... trends now

England will be looking to make home advantage count as they bid for a first Women's European Championships triumph this summer.  

The Lionesses come into the tournament, which runs from July 6 to July 31, in phenomenal form, still unbeaten since the arrival of manager Sarina Wiegman last year and looking imperious in their 2023 World Cup qualifying group. 

The tournament is being held in England, with the final - as was the case at the men's European Championships last year - to take place at Wembley Stadium.  

Just six games stand in England's way of lifting the prestigious trophy next month, with 16 teams competing in the tournament. 

The group stage draw last October was favourable for England, and they will be supremely confident of reaching the knockouts once more. 

There, it will quickly get considerably harder, with a mouth-watering clash against Germany potentially to come in the quarter-finals. Sportsmail takes you through the full route to the final below. 

The Group Stage

England, who as hosts were automatically placed into Group A, will get the tournament underway against Austria, who reached the semi-finals of the tournament in 2017. 

Austria are in England's ongoing World Cup qualifying group, and England claimed a 1-0 win when the pair met at the Stadium of Light last year. 

They will also face fellow Brits Northern Ireland - also in their World Cup qualifying group - who they have recently beaten 4-0 and 5-0. 

Also in the group are Norway, who they played at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, winning on both occasions. 

Fixtures: 

England vs Austria - Wednesday, July 6 at 8pm  England vs Norway - Monday, July 11 at 8pm  Northern Ireland vs England - Friday, July 15 at 8pm The quarter-finals

This is where things get slightly more complicated, as who England will play will depend on whether they finish first or second in Group A, with the top-two from each group progressing to the knockouts. 

If England are to prevail as group winners, they will play the runners-up from Group B on Wednesday, July 20, with the match kicking off at 8pm at the Brighton and Hove Community Stadium. 

Even if England do seal top spot, they will still likely find themselves up against stern opposition, however, with Group B undoubtedly the tournament's 'Group of Death'. 

Spain are the tournament favourites and are expected to top Group B, but Denmark - who lost out to the Netherlands in the final last time out in 2017 - and Germany could push them all the way. 

It's Germany who are the more likely to compete with Spain, however, having largely dominated women's football in recent history. They won six consecutive titles between 1995 and 2013, before bowing out in the quarter-finals in 2017. 

England would be confident going into the clash, however, having beaten Germany to win the the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup earlier this year. 

If England are to finish as Group A runners-up, however, they will take on the winners of Group B which, as stated, will likely be Spain. The match would take place on Thursday, July 21 at the London Community Stadium. 

There's no doubt that Spain have underachieved in women's football, with their best outing at the European Championships coming some 25 years ago when they reached the semi-finals. 

However, with key player Alexia Putellas, who won the 2021 Ballon d'Or trophy, pulling the strings, they are now perhaps the technically best side in the tournament. 

The semi-finals

Who England would play in the final-four again depends which route they have gone down, being either as Group A winners or runners-up. 

If England finish as Group A winners and beat the runners-up from Group B in quarter-final 1, they will go on to play the winners of quarter-final 3, with the match taking place at

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