And with that, it’s time to wrap up this live blog. I’ll be back online in just over an hour for coverage of England v Wales. Hopefully I’ll catch you there!
The stage is set for England v Wales…
Speaking ahead of today’s match, the Wales captain Angharad James said: “As a Welshwoman, do you want to knock England out? Of course you do. It’s in our blood, our DNA, and the rivalry has always been there and always will be there.
“But you have to come back to the occasion and this is just another game of football. Hopefully we can perform in a better way than we did against France, keep improving our performances and the result comes with that.”
England and Wales fans are out and about in St. Gallen.
Of course, England v Wales and Netherlands v France are not the only games on today. The Club World Cup final also kicks off at 8pm BST at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Chelsea face PSG in the battle to be crowned the world’s best.
We are lucky enough to have the legendary Chelsea manager, WSL icon and United States women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes on board as a columnist throughout Euro 2025. Here is what she had to say in her latest column…
You can keep up to date with the race for the Euro 2025 Golden Boot here:
If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to our Moving the Goalposts newsletter for regular updates on women’s football. You’ll receive stories, features and interviews straight to your inbox twice a week. If there’s any time to sign up, it’s now!
In today’s random football development, Andy Carroll has joined National League South team Dagenham & Redbridge on a free transfer.
On the idea that England have a ‘target on their backs’ this summer as reigning European champions, Alex Greenwood said: “It’s something that we’re used to now. That’s a pressure we’ve invited because we’ve been successful and it’s one we should be proud of. But as a team, we don’t really focus too much on that. We focus on ourselves and our game plan and the objectives and that’s to win.”
Sarina Wiegman added: “I’ve learned a little bit about the history and the rivalry but again, we’re focussed on what we have to do and how we have to play and what we have to do to win.”
On the pressure that England face going into the match tonight, manager Sarina Wiegman said: “We have our own preparation. We also know what’s on the line and we’re going to do everything to win the game because we want to get through. There is always pressure on England. We expect ourselves to play a good game and that we are tight on the ball, we let the ball move and hopefully we have the ball a lot and we can exploit spaces.”
Alex Greenwood added: “For me, personally, it’s another game. It’s now the most important game that we’re going to play. That’s how I look at it, that’s how I treat it. For the fans and everybody around it the rivalry is brilliant. The atmosphere is going to be great and something we should look forward to, but from a personal perspective it’s another really important game.”
“The women’s game in Wales is growing at a rapid rate, and the Red Wall, the thousands of drunken but good-natured cultural attaches who have followed the men’s team for years, have begun to support the women’s team with the same fervour. There were just under 4,000 in attendance at the first game against the Netherlands, outnumbering and outsinging the Dutch, a fact not lost on this Welsh squad, who remember away followings numbering in single digits.
“A team of ultra-competitive, professional footballers competing at a major tournament will not want to hear that the event had more meaning than a 3-0 defeat, but as thousands of Welsh and Dutch supporters participated in the fan walk to the Allmend Stadion in Lucerne, it felt like a day pulsing with significance…”
Aggie Beever-Jones spoke this week about wanting to make her mark at her first major tournament. She said: “For me, it’s about trusting Sarina [Wiegman] and trusting the process. We have a squad full of incredible players. I just have to take my opportunity when it comes. I was grateful to come on the other day and show a little bit of what I can do. Hopefully I get some more opportunities to do that.”
The Chelsea forward also discussed her lack of experience in tournament football due to Covid. She added: “I was unfortunate in that sense when I was growing up, I’ve never really experienced tournament football and being away from family. It was a crazy time in the world; I think everyone was a bit unsure what was going on. We were lucky enough that football was able to carry on.
“That’s why I think it makes it a bit more special this time round. It is my first proper tournament and at the highest level. It’s exactly where I want to be. I feel comfortable enough to push for my place as well as getting pushed every day to become a better person and player. So I’m really, really enjoying it. Hopefully we can make our mark and keep going.”
The Guardian Football team have been incredibly busy over the last few weeks putting together features, interviews and team guides to see you all through the tournament. Let me point you in the direction of this huge guide to all 368 players appearing at Euro 2025 this month.
Some more photos from Deepdale.
Liverpool play their first pre-season fixture this afternoon against Preston at Deepdale.
The match has just kicked off following some beautiful tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva, who both tragically passed away earlier this month.
A rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ was sung before everyone in the stadium paused for a moment of silence.
Angharad James claimed that Wales “can upset” England tonight.
In her press conference yesterday, she said: “It’s a rivalry match and one everyone wants to play in. The pressure is all on England. They have to perform. We believe we can upset a very top team. We are ready for the fight.”
Here is what Group D is looking like right now:
France - 6pts (4GD)
England - 3pts (3GD)
Netherlands - 3pts (-1GD)
Wales - 0pts (-6GD)
Thanks John! Right, five hours and 17 minutes to go until the final Euro 2025 group stage games kick off. The countdown is on!
And with that, I shall pass over Emillia.
Zach Neeley gets in touch: “One nice thing about Sweden playing so well against Germany, means that whoever England gets will be hard, so no stress about finishing first vs second.”
18 today – Lamine Yamal. He celebrated that at the weekend:
A meal with close friends and family at the La Cupula restaurant south of the Catalan capital.
Some striking jewelry in the form of a large diamond encrusted gold chain featuring his initials, valued at upwards of £300,000, was gifted to the forward by famed Dominican rapper El Alfa.
After sitting down for dinner with his family, Yamal and his entourage were whisked away to a private location where his Barça teammates were.
Freudian slip/wishful thinking from the Associated Press with this news snippet.
Former President Donald Trump will be attending the FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey. Sunday’s match at MetLife Stadium offers Trump a preview of next year’s World Cup, which North America will host.
Updated
England’s striker situ is an intriguing one against Wales. No way is Alessia Russo is getting dropped after three assists against the Dutch – in fact, Sarina Wiegman could well name an unchanged XI.
But two young forwards that plenty of England fans have wanted to see more of – Michelle Agyemang and Aggie Beever-Jones – have only had a handful of minutes each so far. Will one of them get a proper run-out at some point against Wales? On that bombshell, I’ll return you to the safe hands of John Brewin.
One of my favourite things about this Euros so far has been the continued revival of Alexia Putellas. Three goals, four assists = seven overall goal contributions, to use a phrase that may make some of you shudder. Nobody else has more than a combined four: Kosovare Asllani (Sweden), Jule Brand (Germany), Signe Gaupset (Norway), Esther González (Spain).
Putellas is coming off a superb season for Barcelona, but I did fear a few years ago that she’d never get back to her best after all that ACL trouble. Not so, it seems. The Queen is reigning in Switzerland.
Updated
“All the pressure is on England,” reckons the Wales captain, Angharad James, who would happily drink Lioness tears if her side can pull off a tremendous shock.
As a Welshwoman, do you want to knock England out? Of course you do. It’s in our blood, our DNA, and the rivalry has always been there and always will be there.
“There’s no hiding behind the history of Wales v England, whatever sport you are playing in. It’s a rivalry match and it’s one everyone wants to play in.”
Donning our European hats, the glamour tie in Group D is really Netherlands v France. The Euro 2017 winners and 2019 World Cup finalists – smarting from that 4-0 defeat by England – taking on a revitalised French side eager to cast off their mantle as the big-stage underachievers of the women’s game.
Will this be Andries Jonker’s last match in charge or can he upset the form book? Louise Taylor examines the evidence.
The beauty of being in the final group is that you know your quarter-final path – assuming you have one – as soon as the games finish. Group D’s winner faces Sweden and the runner-up will get Germany after their 4-1 tonking by Peter Gerhardsson’s side. So if – and it’s very much an *IF – results go as expected with England winning and France at least picking up a point etc, these would be the provisional last-eight games.
16 July: Norway v Italy
17 July: Sweden v England*
18 July: Spain v Switzerland
19 July: France* v Germany
Some tasty ties. Terrific that the hosts are facing the world champions, of course. Either you pull off an upset for the ages or you get to go out and against the best and no shame in that.
One of my favourite articles from Euro 2025 so far is by everybody’s favourite shredded Welsh comedian, Elis James, who attended a Wales game with his 10-year-old daughter. Magical stuff.
It had to be her. Wales’s debut at a European Championship has meant a group stage full of new experiences, but it felt fitting that a 38-year‑old Jess Fishlock, double Champions League winner and icon of the women’s game, would register the first Wales goal in a major tournament against France on Wednesday night.
Three years ago, it felt cosmically appropriate that it should be Gareth Bale who scored the only Wales goal of the 2022 World Cup, a Welsh legend ticking off another career ambition before retirement. But unlike the postmortems and recrimination prompted by such a disappointing performance from the men’s team in Qatar, this time there is no judgment from the Welsh support out in Switzerland, only pride. Wales face England on Sunday having lost their first two games of Group D, and yet there is no doubt back home that Rhian Wilkinson’s team are history makers.
Thanks John! So it’s a battle of Britain with England taking on Wales at 8pm (BST) and the fact that the Lionesses are favourites is borne out by the head-to-head record. It reads nine England wins with one draw in 10 matches; understandable given Wales have only had an officially sanctioned women’s team since 1993 and are clearly making progress, yes, but have a way to go. The one non-England victory, a 0-0 draw, came under the stewardship of Phil “I loosened it for Sarina, honest” Neville in April 2018.
Here’s a preview of that other match taking place this evening, via Sid Lowe.
Right, with that, the cudgels are passed over to Alex Reid for the moment.
Swing down, sweet chariot, stop and let me ride, Swansea have a new, familiar friend.
Reaction to that Germany defeat via goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, via Reuters. Germany lost 4-1 to Sweden on Saturday.
“I’d rather take a blow now than in the quarter-finals, because then you can’t make a comeback anymore. Sometimes in football... it’s good to lose, to really know how it is to lose, a real pain, and that sometimes it’s just not enough to perform like that.”
“It’s an opportunity for us. We know how we can play football. Every team is a huge opponent for me. Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland or whatever. For me, the European Championship is one of the hardest tournaments and I just hang in there and that’s why, no matter who faces us, they have to fear us.”
Fifa announce player welfare measures
Fifa says it has reached an agreement with players’ representatives to prioritize player welfare. They’ve agreed on a mandatory 72-hour rest period between matches and a minimum 21-day holiday at the end of each season. The discussions took place in New York before the Club World Cup final.
Fifa emphasized that players’ health is a top priority amid growing concerns about injuries and burnout. Implementing the 72-hour rule could disrupt game schedules and TV deals, especially in leagues like the Bundesliga. Fifa also plans to consider travel demands and climate conditions in future competition planning. The Club World Cup has faced criticism for adding to an already packed calendar.
However, it is reported via The Independent that a storm is brewing as Fifa came to this decision without consulting Fifapro, the global players union, despite their representing 65,000 professional players worldwide.
Jonathan Wilson on Serie A’s new role as a veteran’s league.
That is probably the result of two factors. Physical conditioning has never been so good. Footballers live healthier lives. Their diets are more closely monitored and understanding of nutrition and recovery is better than ever before. There have never been fewer bad tackles; and even if that benefit is offset by the gruelling nature of today’s pressing game, modern sports medicine means broken legs and cruciate ruptures are no longer the career-ending injuries they once would have been.
Late news from last night. The Daggers is one London’s most remote outposts. My memory is of a funeral director being one of the main sponsors. Times seem to have changed.
As below, Wales’s chances are slim, but they can puncture the old enemy,
Who better than Emma Hayes to guide through the dos and don’ts of tournament mode? Our star columnist here.
What I’ve learnt over the years is that if you get a bit of time off while you’re away with the team for so long, you must take it. You need to know how to top your own tank up and, when your tank starts to empty, it’s your responsibility to keep it full. Nobody else is going to do that for you, you have to do that for yourself. If I get a morning off, I like to go shopping, or if I’m in a new town I like to go sightseeing. I want memorable experiences.
Sometimes I’ll go to a museum or get my nails done, but it always involves walking, I love walking. Or sometimes it’s about watching a film. Some others will simply want to go for a coffee or maybe they will want to spend their time with family if they can.
Alessia Russo is fighting back against the brickbats, reports Suzanne Wrack.
Russo does have a very good PR team. As people like to point out, her agent is her brother, Luca Russo, who is the vice-president of women’s football Europe, for the global sports, music and entertainment agency Wasserman. She is on mayonnaise bottles, the front cover of Women’s Health or Elle or GQ, she is on billboards wearing Oakley sunglasses and presenting awards at the Baftas because he is doing a good job.
About last night. A whoops moment for Germany may have opened up the tournament,
Preamble
Here we are for the Battle of Britain that will decide destinies. The Lionesses were so much improved against the Dutch, and a national sigh of relief was sounded. Wales have been full of the spirit expected in pre-tournament but lost both matches. And there’s another game being played at the same time. The permutations are complicated.
France will progress as long as they don’t lose to the Netherlands by three goals or more, or if England lose to Wales.
England progress if they match Netherlands’ result against France, as the Lionesses have the better head-to-head record. In order to win the group, they need to beat Wales and for France to lose to the Netherlands though not by more than seven goals)
The Netherlands will progress if they beat France by more than three goals, or if England do not beat Wales. They will win the group if they beat France by more than seven goals, or with any win if Wales defeat England.
Wales will only be able to reach the quarterfinals if they beat England by more than four goals, in conjunction with the Netherlands losing to France.
Got that? OK. All the buildup, all here, with football news all day, too. Join us.
