Pernille Harder

FC Bayern Women will have to manage the start of 25/26 season without their vice-captain Pernille Harder The Danish forward sustained a left hamstring injury during Denmark’s 3-2 loss to Poland at Euro 2025. The 32-year-old was forced to leave the pitch at half time  and is expected to be sidelined for several weeks.

On the third day of the European Championship, Sweden will face Denmark. They will have the chance to avenge their 6-1 and 5-1 defeats in the Nations League, where Sweden beat their Nordic neighbors twice. Newcomers to the competition, Poland, will face Germany. They will have a very difficult task, as Germany is historically the most successful team in the Euro. Which players to focus on?

Denmark - Pernille Harder

Once the most expensive player in the world, a Ballon d'Or nominee, and captain of the Danish team, she is known for her incredible goal-scoring instinct. She has been very successful at club level, with every team she has played for over the last ten seasons winning the title. What's more, she will be playing against her fiancée Magdalena Eriksson, who plays for Sweden.

Sweden - Stina Blackstenius

Who else but the heroine of this year's Champions League final? In the last match between Sweden and Denmark, which took place a month ago in Stockholm, she scored a hat trick against Denmark. Blackstenius also made her mark a few days ago against Norway. Blackstenius is proving that those who doubted her were wrong.

Poland - Ewa Pajor

With 25 goals, Ewa Pajor is the top scorer of the last season in League F. Not Bonmatí, not Putellas, but Pajor from Poland. She is the first player ever to score a hat trick in the women's El Clásico. She also played a major role in Poland's participation in the European Championship, helping the team advance in the playoffs.

Germany - Ena Mahmutovic

Perhaps a slightly unusual choice for Player to Watch. Mahmutovic is not Germany's number one goalkeeper, but she is definitely a player who will be talked about in the future. The Bayern Munich player stepped in for their traditional number one, Mala Grohs, who was undergoing treatment for a tumor during the season. And she succeeded—thanks in part to the young goalkeeper, Bayern won the title. Now she has received her first nomination for the Euro. Definitely a promise of a successful future.

• Sweden's Magdalena Eriksson and Denmark's captain Pernille Harder will face each other in the Euros—a scenario they had hoped to avoid but now embrace as an exciting challenge.
• However, this will not be the first time for them. Sweden and Denmark have already played each other this season in the Nations League. Both teams bet that the loser would have to wash the dishes at home.
• Magda and Pernille have been a couple since 2014, when they played together for Linköping. They played together for Chelsea and now for Bayern Munich, with whom they won the title.

Explore their story here.