England

England reached the UEFA Women's EURO 2009 final 25 years after making that stage in the inaugural continental competition.

Hope Powell had played in the 1984 two-legged final against Sweden, lost on penalties; by 2009, she had already been coach for more than a decade. Although England lost 6-2 to Germany in the Helsinki decider, they confirmed their new status as one of Europe's leading forces. They have not failed to qualify for a major tournament since 2003, and reached the 2007 and 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup quarter-finals.

The growth of the game in England was underlined in 2011 by the launch of the FA Women's Super League, and the next year more than 70,000 fans were at Wembley to watch Powell's English-dominated Great Britain side beat Brazil 1-0 at the Olympics.

Qualifying round: Group 6 winners, P8 W6 D2 L0 F22 A2 Pts20

Key players
Alex Scott (defender, Arsenal LFC), Jill Scott (midfielder, Everton LFC), Kelly Smith (forward, Arsenal LFC)

Coach: Hope Powell

Date of birth: 8 December 1966

Playing career: Millwall Lionesses LFC, Fulham LFC, Croydon LFC

Coaching career: England

Since becoming England's first female national coach in 1998, Hope Powell has transformed women's football in her country.

Born in London, Powell started playing football aged 11 and developed into a talented midfielder at Millwall Lionesses LFC. She went on to represent Friends of Fulham LFC and Croydon LFC and won the FA Women's Cup three times, in addition to the championship in 1996. Her international career began as a 16-year-old against the Republic of Ireland, and she was part of the side that reached the last eight of the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup in Sweden.

After 35 goals in 66 games for England, Powell went on to become the first female coach of her country in 1998 and she now oversees the whole women's set-up from the Under-15s upwards. In 2003, she was the first woman to earn the coveted UEFA Pro Licence. By then, Powell had been awarded an OBE in the Queen's birthday honours list and had taken England to the 2001 UEFA European Women's Championship.

In 2003, she was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, only the second woman to be so honoured, and after hosting EURO 2005 and making the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup quarter-finals, Powell steered the team to the EURO 2009 final, losing to Germany. Powell also managed the Great Britain team that made the 2012 Olympic quarter-finals on home soil.

Qualifying top scorer
Stephanie Houghton,  Jill Scott, Ellen White, Rachel Williams, Rachel Yankey 3

Tournament record
2009: runners-up
2005: group stage
2001: group stage
1997: qualifying play-offs
1995: semi-finals
1993: quarter-finals
1991: quarter-finals
1989: did not qualify
1987: fourth place
1984: runners-up

Other honours
2009 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship