Women's Euros 2022: Giulia Gwinn at the heart of the German resurgence as they head into the quarter-finals

Germany's impressive progress through the group stage at football's UEFA Women's Euro 2022 has confirmed their status as one of the favourites for the title.

They've been perfect. Three wins from three matches, and no goals conceded.

One of the key performers so far has been full-back Giulia Gwinn, who again impressed at times in the 3-0 win over Finland on Saturday (17 July).

Could the 23-year-old could influence them to their first women's European Championship title since 2013?

Giulia Gwinn: Leader of the next-gen

When she was 19, Giulia Gwinn travelled to France to represent Germany at the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

Despite making just eight appearances before then, she delivered standout performances to earn the Young Player of the Tournament award.

Gwinn described it as: "something out of a movie’’.

Since then, she has gone from strength to strength and has proven her importance across the 2022 Euros group stages.

But her journey to prominence hasn’t been all plain-sailing.

In 2020, the 23-year-old suffered an ACL knee injury that left her sidelined for over a year.

And in late 2021, after almost 400 days out, she finally made her return to the national team.

Gwinn has established herself as one of the first names on the team sheet for her country and her club Bayern Munich.

Although she is not always deployed at her favoured wing position by Germany, but rather at right-back, she has been influential across the Euros so far.

As a playmaker, Gwinn is dangerous on the ball, her speed in particular helping her team get up the pitch.

She possesses a certain efficiency in her game that makes her so key for Germany – her tenacity off the ball in particular helps her side recover possession with speed.

In the 2-0 win over Spain on matchday two, Gwinn put in a Player of the Match performance.

Despite playing further up the flank on occasions, she has transformed herself into a modern full-back that is able to dictate the outcome of a game.

She followed it up with 45 solid minutes in the final group game against Finland, her cross providing the assist for the opening goal.

One of 11 players in the German squad that are aged 25 or under, she is part of the new crop of stars aiming to restore the legacy that was built before them.

Germany came into the tournament as quiet favourites given their history, but Gwinn is proving ready to lead the trophy charge.

Can Germany’s dominance be restored?

Before the days of Gwinn, there was an era of German dominance that spanned decades.

They are the most successful national team in the history of the women’s European Championships with eight titles.

Since 1989, the Germans have won all but two editions of the tournament - winning six back-to-back between 1995 and 2013.

But after crashing out to eventual finalists Denmark in the last eight in 2017, things started to spiral for them.

Germany would go on to fall at the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2019, subsequently failing to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics despite having won gold five years prior.

Their break from dominating trophies has been short thus far, and their current squad is suggesting that they won’t be away from success forever.

Next up at the women’s Euro 2022: Germany's last eight opponents

After finishing top of their group, Germany will play the runners-up of group A: Austria.

The Austrians handed a heavy defeat to Norway to knock them out of the competition on 15 July.

Semi-finalists in 2017, this time Austria were not tipped to make it out of a group that contained both England and Norway.

But they have been resilient and stubborn opponents, and will not hesitate to take the game to Germany.

The Germans, however, have been one of the most impressive teams at the Euros so far.

No goals conceded, nine goals scored and 100% win record - they have well and truly proven why they are among the favourites to go all the way.

Their quarter-final tie will take place on Thursday 21 July, with kick-off at 20:00 BST (19:00 GMT/UTC) at the Brentford Community Stadium in London, England.

How to watch Germany v Austria in the quarter-finals at the Women's Euro 2022

The match will be broadcast live across the globe, via UEFA's broadcast and online streaming partners for the tournament (territorial restrictions apply).

ARD have rights to show the match in Germany.

Fans in the host nation England and across Great Britain and Northern Ireland can watch games via BBC sport, on BBC TV channels and the iPlayer.

Outside Europe, ESPN are showing every game in the USA.

Matches are also available via UEFA's online streaming service UEFA.TV in some countries.