Lena Oberdorf was 20 years old when she arrived in England in the summer of 2022.
Oberdorf, who made her international debut aged 17, would go on to be named Young Player of Euro 2022 at Wembley.
This year in Switzerland, there will be no Oberdorf – she has still not fully recovered from her ACL tear of last year.
Both the youngest player ever to feature in Liga F and the youngest woman to play for Spain, it is no coincidence Lopez is a good friend of Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona youngsters following similar trajectories, winning the Golden Girl and Golden Boy awards respectively last year.
Lopez was the star of Spain’s U17s, winning the World Cup at that level and scoring twice in the Euros final they lost to France.
Wieke Kaptein (Netherlands)
Kaptein won the Treble with Chelsea this season (Photo: Getty)She has evolved since leaving FC Twente that summer, with Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor using her as a 10 as well as in her more conventional position as a No 8. Her opportunities will partly come down to whether Netherlands boss Andries Jonker opts for a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, and where she fits alongside Jackie Groenen.
On the face of it, it is going to be difficult for Agyemang to get minutes behind Alessia Russo and Beever-Jones. When unveiling her England squad, however, Sarina Wiegman alluded Agyemang not being a traditional back-up, offering “something different”.
She may only have one cap so far, but expect her to add to that over the next few weeks. Having come through the ranks at Arsenal, her spell on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion has finally given her a proper season of senior football and she has developed all the more for playing alongside Fran Kirby and Nikita Parris – who, ironically, she pipped to a place in the England squad.
Giulia Dragoni (Italy)
It is a pity Dragoni’s rise has coincided with an era when Italy looked ready to arrive on the world stage in 2019 but have since been unimpressive.
Szymczak has made huge progress at Barcelona (Photo: Getty)
It is going to take something extraordinary for Poland to escape a group featuring Sweden, Germany and Denmark. A versatile, consummately composed Szymczak is their best shot.
Szymczak turned 19 in June having already had a run of games for Poland in the Nations League, where she has also been used at centre-back.
Alice Sombath (France)
Of those, it is hard to pick between Melween N’Dongala and Sombath in defence, especially with PSG’s Elisa De Almeida starting at right-back, but Sombath could also move into Renard’s place.
She is something of a wildcard in the French squad given she only has two international caps, but she has done enough in the U19s to convince head coach Laurent Bonadei.
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Cecilia Runarsdottir (Iceland)
The goalkeeper was on Everton’s books a number of years ago but never made a breakthrough into the senior team, first making her name in her homeland in the Besta deild kvenna, earning a move to Bayern Munich.
It has been at Inter Milan on loan that the 21-year-old has really excelled, named in the Serie A Femminile Team of the Season as the Nerazzurri missed out on the title to Juventus.
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