Hegerberg nets 50th Norway goal in win over Euro hosts Switzerland

Norway star Ada Hegerberg scored her 50th international goal to led her team to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over host nation Switzerland despite missing a penalty in their opening game at the Women's European Championship on Wednesday.

The hosts had plenty of opportunities to grab what would have been a famous victory but the Norwegians dug deep to snatch a narrow win, their third over the Swiss by a single goal in 2025.

Having lost to the Norwegians twice in the Nations League earlier in the year, the home side dominated the opening 45 minutes and Géraldine Reuteler came close to giving them the lead in the 24th minute with a shot that cannoned back off the crossbar before Nadine Riesen struck four minutes later to send the St. Jakob-Park Stadium into raptures.

Hegerberg -- the all-time Women's Champions League top-scorer -- barely featured in the first half but levelled nine minutes into the second with an emphatic header from a corner to bring up her half century of goals for Norway. It was just her second goal at a European Championship and first since 2013.

"This was important, this means a lot for us ... the goal was euphoria for me but it was damn important for the team as well," Hegerberg told Norwegian broadcaster TV2.

"I'm not going to lie but scoring goals is never easy," she added. "So you take nothing for granted -- some people do but, as a player, you never do. I've been very focused on how we always can manage to make the team improve.

"Because you're a striker, so obviously [you] think about goals but in the end, nothing is easy with the international level and you've got to fight for it all, so every goal is important."

SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images

---

The goal briefly silenced the home crowd and, under pressure from Hegerberg, Switzerland's Julia Stierli turned a low cross from Caroline Graham Hansen into her own net four minutes later.

Reuteler was sparkling throughout for the Swiss but despite a number of golden chances, she could not get the goal both she and her team deserved, and she conceded a penalty which Hegerberg missed in the 70th minute.

Switzerland were awarded a spot-kick of their own that was overturned after a VAR review and, as the Swiss poured forward, the Norwegians hung on grimly for a victory that puts them top of Group A, with Finland second after their 1-0 win over Iceland earlier in the day.

"It is very strong of us to manage to turn it around. It may not happen in the prettiest way. We were told forcefully during the break that we did not run enough, then we saw two clips, a defensive and offensive, about how to take them, I think we managed to do that," vice-captain Graham Hansen said.

Swiss coach Pia Sundhage was unhappy that her side did not manage to get more out of the game.

"I think it's very heavy, a defeat like that. Our game plan was good and we even scored a goal ... today it's tough but tomorrow we'll see a smile and start working," she told broadcaster SVT.

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.