Holders England suffered a chastening start to their Euro 2025 campaign as France won 2-1 in Zurich to take charge of Group D along with the Netherlands.
England could now find themselves out of the Euros on Wednesday if they lose to the Netherlands and France beat tournament debutants Wales, who lost 3-0 to the Dutch earlier in the day in the other match in Group D.
Captain Leah Williamson said the Lionesses need to take “responsibility” for their performance. "We lost the game with poor defending one-on-one,” Williamson said “Not good enough with the ball, we weren't good enough.”
England manager Sarina Wiegman also said that her team created their own problems in the defeat. “Of course, I’m very disappointed,” said Wiegman. “I think we started well. After that we created chances (for France) by playing short passes all the time. We were a bit sloppy too.”
Euro 2025 live: Latest news and scores from Women's Euros
- England fall to opening defeat to France to start Euro 2025 defence
- Lionesses 'sloppy' and created their own problems in defeat, says Sarina Wiegman
- Leah Williamson admits England 'not good enough' on the ball against France
- The fundamental flaw in England’s team that led to critical Euro 2025 defeat by France
- Norway beat Finland 2-1 to close in on Euro 2025 quarter-finals
- Hosts Switzerland knock out Iceland with 2-0 win to send Norway through
Switzerland banish ‘almost’ tag to claim Women’s Euro 2025 lift-off
22:20 , Jamie BraidwoodThis time the blaring sound of Seven Nation Army was for real. As Geraldine Reuteler wheeled away, Switzerland finally had lift off at Euro 2025 and the hosts could soar into celebration. Alayah Pilgrim’s stoppage time finish to seal a 2-0 victory in Bern eliminated opponents Iceland while boosting their own chances of reaching the quarter-finals, with a shoot-out against Finland in Geneva on Thursday set to decide who joins Norway in the knockout stages.
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Switzerland banish ‘almost’ tag to claim Women’s Euro 2025 lift-off
Caroline Graham Hansen rescues Norway to close in on Euro 2025 quarter-final place
19:29 , Jamie BraidwoodA late solo strike by Norway forward Caroline Graham Hansen secured a 2-1 victory against Finland at Euro 2025, as the twice champions took a big step towards qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Norway's second Group A win in a row left them top of the table with six points. Finland, who beat Iceland in their opening game, remained on three points.
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Caroline Graham Hansen rescues Norway to close in on Euro 2025 quarter-final place
Sarina Wiegman's first defeat at the Women's Euros
17:05 , Jamie BraidwoodSarina Wiegman has lost her first match at the European Championship after leading both the Netherlands and England to titles in 2017 and 2022 respectively.
"Of course we're frustrated, we had three very good weeks and we trained really well but that's never a guarantee that you'll win the game," Wiegman said.
"And you also know that France is a proper team too, so you have to do things really well. We just didn't get it right at those moments."
Lauren Hemp says England know what is at stake after opening defeat
16:48 , Jamie BraidwoodForward Lauren Hemp insists England know what is at stake when they play the Netherlands on Wednesday as they bid to keep their European title defence alive.
The Lionesses’ backs are against the wall after suffering an tournament-opening 2-1 defeat to France to set up what is already being billed as a “must-win” meeting with 2017 champions the Netherlands.
Victory could alleviate some of the danger of England becoming the first defending champions to crash out in the group stage, but they need to spark some swagger back into the side ahead of the critical clash.
“This team, a lot of the time, we thrive under pressure,” said Manchester City forward Hemp. “Obviously it’s one of those situations. Every game we go into, we want to win.
“From how we acted in the last 10 minutes (against France), we know what’s at stake, and obviously we want to get as far as we can.
“We are reigning champions. It is important to remember that and gain confidence from that.
“I love playing in football matches where we need to win. Those are the games you want to be involved in. It’s important we take confidence from parts of yesterday.”
Lauren Hemp says England know what is at stake after opening defeat
Leah Williamson blames 'cheap, emotional' defending for defeat
16:05 , Jamie BraidwoodEngland captain Leah Williamson blamed emotions for her team's uncharacteristic performance in their 2-1 loss to France in their opening game of Euro 2025, saying they failed to leave them in the dressing room before kickoff.
"I'm disappointed there was some cheap sort of emotional defending in the first half, when you take waves of attack like that you leave yourself open to those sorts of things," Williamson said of their poor one-on-one defending.
"I'm just frustrated because I think the football that we played near the end, and the game plan, could've worked. We just didn't execute it exceptionally well.
"We spoke (at half-time) as players, we take responsibility individually and as a team. We have a calm environment at the minute but there was an injection of get the emotion out, leave it in the changing room, and go out and just be pragmatic about it and try and insert a bit of 'umph' into the game."
Vivianne Miedema emotional after scoring 100th Netherlands goal
15:05 , Jamie BraidwoodEngland go into Wednesday’s game against the Netherlands knowing they’re up against another strong opponent. Vivianne Miedema scored her 100th Netherlands goal in the 3-0 victory over Wales and will be their biggest source of danger.
"It's very special, this is something you don't dare dream of as a little girl," Miedema said after reaching the 100-mark. “It was very unreal when the milestone was getting closer, and it is extra special that it is achieved at the European Championship.
"There were definitely emotions released. Tears? Yes, when we walked on the pitch, at the goal, and after the game. That shows how much this affects me. I think we all know how tough the past two and a half years have been for me and how hard I've worked to get here.”
'We’ve got to sort ourselves out, dust ourselves off'
14:05 , Jamie BraidwoodEngland forward Beth Mead, speaking to ITV:
“Both teams had chances and it could have gone either way. It wasn’t our best performance and we are disappointed with that.
“I think we’ve had a good build-up, been good in training, but it doesn’t always come onto the pitch sometimes. It wasn’t our best ball-playing game today and against a team like France you have to be good on the ball.
“We seemed a bit reactive to each other. It was frustrating because we started well. We just couldn’t take the momentum into the rest of the game.
“We’ve got to sort ourselves out, dust ourselves off and focus on Wednesday.”
Ella Toone: 'We need to stick together'
13:05 , Jamie Braidwood“Every game that we go into, we know it's a big game and we have that belief in the squad that we'll go on and give our all. There's no doubt about that, that every time we step onto the pitch we give absolutely everything.
“We're proud to represent England and to play for our country, so that will never change. I think every game is big. We prepare for every game the same, and we want to make sure that we get the win from that game just as we do every time we step out.
“There's no added pressure within the group, but we just need to stick together.”
Women’s Euro 2025 TV schedule: How to watch every match today
12:12 , Jamie BraidwoodEngland are on the back foot at Euro 2025 after an opening defeat to France left the holders in “must-win” territory going into the rest of the tournament.
The Lionesses head into Wednesday’s game against the Netherlands knowing that defeat could result in an early exit from their tournament after a 2-1 defeat to France in Zurich.
The action continues on Sunday and returns to Group A as hosts Switzerland take on Iceland looking for their first win of the tournament. The hosts were beaten 2-1 by Norway in their opening match, while Iceland lost 1-0 against Finland.
Spain started their bid to become European champions for the first time in impressive fashion as they thrashed Portugal 5-0 and on Monday could seal their place in the quarter-finals against Belgium.
Women’s Euro 2025 TV schedule: How to watch every match today
Why ‘sloppy’ and ‘scared’ England need a rapid transformation
11:45 , Jamie BraidwoodAs England’s players fronted up in Zurich and vowed to take responsibility for their opening performance in the defeat to France, defender Jess Carter admitted to something that you wouldn’t expect to hear from a team who entered the tournament as champions.
“I think we played like we were a little bit scared today,” Carter said. “We maybe were worrying about their threats in behind and what they can do rather than doing what we can do.”
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Why ‘sloppy’ and ‘scared’ England need a rapid transformation at Women’s Euro 2025
Sarina Wiegman on France's controversial second goal
11:25 , Jamie BraidwoodSarina Wiegman was furious that France’s goal was allowed to stand despite a foul on Alessia Russo in the build-up to Sandy Baltimore’s finish.
Russo, who had a first-half goal disallowed for offside, said: “I don't comment on the referee’s decisions but to me as a nine I’m used to getting challenges like that and I did feel like it was a foul but it’s football.
“Sometimes you get decisions your way, sometimes you don’t. We have to go with that and we still want to be better as a team."
Lionesses make unwanted Euros history
11:05 , Jamie BraidwoodEngland are the first defending champions to lose their opening game at a Women’s Euros.
The holders have never been knocked out of the group stages in European Championship history.
But, if England lose to the Netherlands on Wednesday and France either beat Wales or draw, the Lionesses will be out already.
England were 'scared' against France, admits Jess Carter
10:45 , Jamie Braidwood“I think we played like we were a little bit scared today, maybe we weren't aggressive enough, we maybe were worrying about their threats in behind and what they can do rather than doing what we can do. We didn't do as well on the ball, or off the ball.
“We do our analysis on the opposition but usually we try to deliver our game plan the best we can, when I say ‘scared’ I think it's maybe just a bit more an awareness of France and their abilities they're a top, top team and Netherlands are a top team as well.
“All we can do is focus on improving ourselves to be better for the next game.”
Alex Greenwood on England's 'disappointing' defeat
10:05 , Jamie BraidwoodDefender Alex Greenwood, who won her 100th cap against France, said England have “two massive games” after their opening defeat to France at Euro 2025.
“It was disappointing, disappointing result. I think we finished the game strong but we don’t want to be in situations like that where we are finishing games like that,” Greenwood told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"Of course not the ideal start but no tournament is won or lost after the first game. We have two massive games now that we must win, we’ll assess the game, reflect on it individually and collectively and make sure we’re better in the next game.
"Honestly I thought we started the game really well. The first 10 to 15 minutes I thought we put them on the back foot and then after the VAR goal [England’s disallowed goal] we just lost our way a little bit which is disappointing. And when you concede two goals you've got an uphill battle.”
Sarina Wiegman: 'Don't regret' England's line-up v France
09:48 , Jamie BraidwoodSarina Wiegman said it was not a mistake to start Lauren James in midfield against France, with England looking outnumbered out of possession despite the forward looking bright on the ball in their opening defeat at Euro 2025.
“No I don’t see it as a mistake, it was a choice,” Wiegman said. “If she scored in the first minute, and if the cross where we couldn’t just get a head on it, we’d be having a different conversation.
“I make a lot of considerations before I make a starting line-up, I do it again with my technical staff. Sometimes things go well and sometimes it doesn’t go well but I don’t have regrets because we try to turn every stone before we make the line up.”
The fundamental flaw in England’s team that led to critical Euro 2025 defeat by France
09:45 , Miguel DelaneySarina Wiegman proclaimed a “new England”, and they have certainly been responsible for a few things previously unseen in the women’s Euros. This 2-1 defeat to France was the first time the defending champions have lost their opening game in the next competition, and it has now put them in real danger of becoming the first champions to go out in the group stage, too. Wednesday’s match against the Netherlands in Zurich is essentially a knockout tie.
Of most concern was something else new about this defeat, that is the real story of how it went. A manager who has previously been flawless in this tournament, winning it twice in a row with 100 per cent records, made her first big error. It is really the first time Wiegman has got it wrong as an England coach. And it was a big one.
The fundamental flaw in England’s team that led to Euro 2025 defeat by France
Sarina Wiegman on how England created their 'own problems'
09:40 , Jamie BraidwoodEngland head coach Sarina Wiegman felt the defending champions created their “own problems” after opening their Euro 2025 campaign with a 2-1 loss to France in Zurich.
“Of course, I’m very disappointed,” said Wiegman. “I think we started well. After that, of course we know France are very good, but we created chances (for France) by playing short passes all the time. We were a bit sloppy too.”
Wiegman added: “When we built, we chose to do short passes and they were aiming for that.
“They were pretty good in midfield, so I think we had to go around at moments. On the right side, we had overloads where we could find that, but then you have to skip players and not play the short passes, but when you receive them you have to be tighter on the ball and be quicker.
“We played out of that press that developed too, so I think we caused a bit of our own problems, knowing that when you don’t do these things right against France, it’s a very good team so they can harm you.”
Leah Williamson: 'England were not good enough'
09:34 , Jamie BraidwoodLeah Williamson gave an honest assessment of England’s performance as the Lionesses captain spoke to ITV after the 2-1 defeat to France.
"We lost the game poor defending one v one. We learnt from those mistakes in fairness. Not good enough with the ball, we weren't good enough. We got better and took advantage of that but not enough in the end.
"Sometimes it happens. The positive is I've not seen us like in terms of turning over the ball so much for a while now. Tomorrow, back on it and there were some really good stuff towards the end.
"When you lose it and you're that expansive, it is tough. We hold ourselves to higher standards in our individual battles.
"Everyone [needs to] take responsibly for themselves and have a look. Tomorrow we have new gameplan. Different places available and different opposition."
England beaten by France in Euros opener
09:33 , Jamie BraidwoodHolders England suffered a chastening start to their Euro 2025 campaign as France won 2-1 in Zurich to take charge of Group D along with the Netherlands.
In what was always going to be a tough opening game, The Lionesses thought they had made the perfect start to their title defence but Alessia Russo’s 16th-minute rebound was disallowed by VAR after Beth Mead was marginally offside in the build-up.
And England were then stunned by France’s quickfire double before half time, with Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore scoring two goals in four minutes to leave England with a mountain to climb.
Sarina Wiegman appeared to be furious at France’s second, after England appealed for a foul on Russo in the build-up, but the goal survived a VAR review after Baltimore beat Lucy Bronze in the box to fire into the top corner.
Despite failing to threaten France for much of the second half, Keira Walsh pulled one back in the 86th minute to give England some hope. Substitute Michelle Agyemeng came closest to finding an equaliser, but her shot was blocked as France survived a late scare.
England could now find themselves out of the Euros on Wednesday if they lose to the Netherlands and France beat tournament debutants Wales, who lost 3-0 to the Dutch earlier in the day in the other match in Group D.
