Alexia Putellas, Vivianne Miedema, Lauren Wade and Ellen White
Alexia Putellas (Spain), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands), Lauren Wade (Northern Ireland) and Ellen White (England) will all be hoping to perform well at Euro 2022

Less than nine months after England hosted the Euros final, we are already counting down the days until the women's event.

The Women's European Championship is set to draw the biggest crowds ever seen at the tournament when it starts in 100 days.

The competition was originally scheduled to take place last year but was moved back because of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

We take a look at some of the main talking points, including which team will replace Russia and how Northern Ireland will fare on their debut.

Tournament to break attendance records

Remaining tickets for the 31 matches will go on general sale on March 28 at 08:00 BST.

In August it was announced that 53,000 tickets had been bought for the Wembley final, which would surpass the current record attendance of 41,302 when Germany defeated hosts Sweden at Euro 2013).

The final of this year's tournament will be held at Wembley on July 31st.

Wembley
A record crowd of 77,768 watched a friendly between the Lionesses and Germany at Wembley in November 2019

The other venues that will host matches are Bournemouth, Doncaster, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester City, Northampton, Rochdale, South Shields, and Weston-super-Mare.

More than 300,000 tickets have been sold, compared to the previous record of 240,000 tickets sold for the last tournament in the Netherlands.

  • Full fixture list for Euro 2022

Who will replace Russia?

We only know of 15 of the 16 nations that will be taking part after Russia was kicked out of the competition.

Russia was supposed to be in Group C with the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, with all three of their group matches to be staged at Leigh Sports Village.

One option would be to bring in Portugal, the side that lost to Russia in the play-off, although Uefa is yet to announce who will replace them.

Russia
Russia beat Portugal 1-0 on aggregate in the play-offs but were then excluded from the competition

There is a chance that the three nations that lost in the play-offs will be involved in a draw to find a replacement.

Only the top two in each group will move on to the quarter-finals, so whoever comes in will have one of the toughest tasks. Switzerland is 17th in the world rankings, while Sweden and the Netherlands are ranked second and fifth.

England and Northern Ireland's preparations

England have never won the Women's European Championship, but they did lose on penalties to Sweden in 1984 and to Germany in 2009.

The Lionesses lost to hosts and eventual winners the Netherlands in the semi-finals of the last tournament.

This is the second time that England have hosted the tournament and they finished bottom of their group in 2005.

Full Group A fixtures for Group A at Women's Euro 2022

England won the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup last month and have won in nine of their last 10 matches.

In the final match of the tournament, England scored two late goals to beat Germany and win the trophy.

The captain of England under the previous two managers, who is currently out of action due to an injury, is a doubt for the tournament.

  • What can England & Northern Ireland expect?

Northern Ireland qualified for the competition for the first time thanks to a 4-1 aggregate success over Ukraine in the play-offs.

The next month will be a good time for Northern Ireland to find out if they are good enough to play in the World Cup.

Northern Ireland are currently second in the group, level on points with Austria, but five behind England, after they beat them in October.

Who are the main contenders?

Spain is ninth in the world, behind Sweden, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and England.

Spain have a large number of players from Barcelona, including the Ballon d'Or winner, and they are the favorites.

Netherlands
The Netherlands are the reigning European champions after beating Denmark 4-2 in the Euro 2017 final

The Netherlands lost to the United States in the World Cup final. Englishman Mark Parsons is in charge of England and they have two achievements that came under their previous manager. The Dutch team's and Women's Super League's record scorer is among the stars.

Three years ago, Sweden finished third in the World Cup and have been drawn with the Netherlands in Group C.

Germany had won the tournament six times in a row from 1995 to 2013, but their run was ended by the Netherlands at the last Euros. They went out in the quarter-finals five years ago, but boast some exciting youngsters and will be looking to progress deep into this year's competition.

France won the Tournoi de France earlier this year, defeating Brazil, Brazil and the Netherlands. France lost in the quarter-finals of the European Championships three times.

After he reversed his decision to retire from the national team last week, former Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg gave Norway a boost. Her side will play Northern Ireland and England in their first two matches.

Group A includes England, Austria, Norway, and Northern Ireland.

Group B includes Germany, Spain, and Finland.

Group C includes the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Group D includes France, Italy, Belgium, and Iceland.