England will be hosting the European Championships (Women’s football) later this summer, and kit partners Nike have given the Lionesses two new kits as they aim to go one better than their male counteparts– the Three Lions reached the final at Wembley before losing to Italy on penalties.

The home kit is an all-white creation from Nike. The geometrical design on the front aims at mirroring the lines of cut diamonds. The crest also contains iridescent detailing, which appears to change colour depending on the angle you’re looking from.

The change jersey is a bright crimson one, with darker detailing on the neck and the cuffs. It looks more orange (perhaps a nod to coach Sarina Wiegman!)- the team wore a red one to the World Cup back in 2019.

England will certainly fancy their chances at home in the Championships. The current odds at Unibet suggest that the Lionesses are second favourites for the tournament behind Spain. They have Austria, Norway and Northern Ireland for company in their group, and will face them in that order. Going by current form, only Norway could be said to be a realistic challenge. Manchester, Brighton and Southampton will be the venues for the home side’s group games.

England coach Wiegman also guided the Netherlands to victory at the last Championships, and is now in charge of the Lionesses. England’s victory at the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup earlier this year, which saw them edge Canada, Germany and Spain to the title, would have also boosted their confidence. At the time of writing, Wiegman is yet to lose a game managing the Lionesses.

Group B does look like an intriguing one- it features Germany, who have won the tournament eight times, Spain and 2017 runners up Denmark. If either England or Spain fail to win their groups, it could potentially set up a blockbuster quarterfinal meeting between the two sides (the winner of Group A faces the runner up of Group B, and vice-versa). Interestingly, the Germans and the Spanish are also in the same group for the Mens’ WC later this winter in Qatar.

The Spanish team, as you’d probably have guessed, is primarily drawn from Barcelona, and the Blaugrana have in particular been in great form in recent years, dominating the women’s game. They won all 30 of their games in the Spanish league last season, scoring a whopping 159 goals and conceding just 11. As reigning champions, they were also expected to defend their continental crown, but unexpectedly came up short against Lyon in the final, losing 3-1 in Turin.

In the current format, England have only reached the final once (they lost to Germany in 2009). The 1984 loss to Sweden was a two-legged affair which they lost on penalties. This is the second time since 2005 that they’re hosting the tournament. On that occasion, they finished bottom of a toughly fought group that also had Sweden, Denmark & Finland, and the loss to the Danes was in particular heartbreaking- they lead 1-0 with ten minutes to go, only to lose 2-1.