Players' families are usually a given element at football championships, but at the World Championship in Australia and New Zealand, few could afford to fly to the other side of the globe.
It will be different in the European Championship in Switzerland. In principle, all players have close relatives who will be on site.
"The whole clan"
I will have the whole clan down there. It feels great to be able to share those moments with the closest ones, says striker Johanna Rytting Kaneryd.
Left back Jonna Andersson will have her parents and her partner on site.
It means a lot, of course. To combine a European Championship and the country of Switzerland for a vacation, I think it's a perfect combination, says Andersson.
At the same time, Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in the world to tourist in – six Swiss cities top the world list in terms of cost of living, according to the Numbeo database.
This has led to several English European Championship players stating that they will support their close relatives financially – in addition to the amount that the country's football association helps with, reports BBC.
I will do that too, says Rytting Kaneryd and continues:
We celebrated Midsummer with Nathalie Björn's family and they talk about how they will lay out a strategy for how they will eat and drink. It's great that they have a plan, but of course, you feel like you want to help and support.
The same applies to Julia Zigiotti Olme.
Yes, we have a relative trip with the national team. So it will be a good solution to the whole thing. They help a bit with travel and flights and such things, she says.
Brings her daughter
Her parents will follow the matches on site.
They are the ones who have supported me since day one, those who have believed that I would get here even when I didn't believe in it myself as a little kid, says Zigiotti Olme.
In the spring, it was written into the two A-national team players' contracts that the association can support parents of small children financially. This means that some players in the European Championship squad can bring their children and partners to the championship.
Actually, it has been a prerequisite for me to be able to follow along, that I can bring my family. So it's super good, says Amanda Ilestedt, who has had her daughter and partner Rainer Müller with her since the national team gathered in Åhus.
Daniel Kihlström/TT
Lasse Mannheimer/TT
Fact: Six cities in Switzerland are the most expensive in the world
TT
Index of cost of living in cities in the world (June 2025):
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Zurich – 113.8
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Basel – 113.0
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Geneva – 112.7
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Lausanne – 111.8
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Lugano – 109.6
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Bern – 104.6
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New York – 100.0
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Reykjavik – 97.2
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Honolulu – 94.4
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San Francisco – 90.7
Some other cities in Europe:
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Oslo – 84.3
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London – 84.0
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Copenhagen – 82.0
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Paris – 75.2
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Stockholm – 72.1
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Malmö – 64.8
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Gothenburg – 63.3
Note: New York, USA, is used as a starting point with an index of 100 – if a city has an index of, for example, 120, it means that the cost of living in the city is 20 percent higher than in New York. This index measures the cost of consumer goods and services (such as food, meals at restaurants, and transportation). Housing rents or loan amortizations are not included in the index. Index retrieved on June 27, 2025.
Source: Numbeo
