Reigning champions England thrashed neighbours Wales 6-1 to reach the Women’s Euro 2025 quarter-finals on Sunday, securing second spot in Group D and cruising into the knockouts, where they will face Sweden, on a high note.
Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo, Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones were all on target for England, who finished runners-up to France after their 5-2 victory over the Netherlands.
Sarina Wiegman’s team will next face a Sweden side, who won all three of their games to top Group C, in the quarter-finals on Thursday. The second-place finish, however, could be a bonus as provided they get past the Swedes, England would potentially avoid world champions Spain in the semi-finals.
Stanway struck from the penalty spot in the 13th minute after a foul in the box, calmly sweeping her shot into the far-left corner past the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Olivia Clark to open the floodgates.
Toone found the back of the net with a scrappy goal eight minutes later. England capitalised on a sloppy clearance by Rhiannon Roberts, with the ball falling to Russo who nudged it into the path of Toone who fired home at the second attempt.
Hemp nodded a third inside 30 minutes after a clever pass from Lauren James to Toone near the byline. Toone found Hemp at the far post with a deep cross for an easy header.
Russo bagged her first goal of the tournament just before halftime when Toone made another dart to byline before cutting the ball back for Russo, who took one touch to control it before firing home and Mead cut inside a defender before slotting England’s fifth in the 72nd minute.
Hannah Cain pulled one back to the delight of the Wales fans, who celebrated by singing their national anthem, in the 76th minute, but England’s Beever-Jones replied in the 89th with her first goal in a major tournament, heading home Mead’s cross.
Much was made about the rivalry between the two nations, with Wales wanting nothing better than to spoil England’s party. Thousands of loud Welsh fans cheered and sang throughout Sunday’s match, despite the scoreline.
But Wiegman’s team, World Cup finalists in 2023, showed their vast experience against a Wales side making their major tournament debut. England have won 10 of the 11 meetings between the two teams, with Wales’ best result being a 0-0 draw in 2018.
Cascarino powers France into last 8 with win over Netherlands
An electrifying second-half performance from Delphine Cascarino fired France to a 5-2 win over the Netherlands on Sunday that secured victory in Group D at the Women’s Euros and set up a quarter-final meeting with Germany in Basel on July 19.
France finished the group with nine points from their three games, three ahead of England, who join them in the knockout stage for a quarter-final meeting with Sweden in Zurich on July 17 following a 6-1 win over Wales.
The Dutch, champions in 2017, had their moments, but never came close to the three-goal victory they would have needed to progress as a second-half defensive collapse cost them dearly.
Following a frenetic opening, Marie-Antoinette Katoto fluffed her lines in the 21st minute, spooning a first-time shot from a good position over the bar after a brilliant surging run by Oriane Jean-Francois.
Katoto made amends a minute later by scrambling down the left and pulling the ball back on the edge of the box to Sandie Toletti, and she sent a bouncing drive into the bottom corner to open the scoring.
The lead didn’t last long, Victoria Pelova curling a brilliant equaliser after French goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin turned a shot from Chasity Grant into her path. The Dutch went ahead in the 41st minute when French defender Selma Bacha’s attempted clearance only resulted in her turning the ball into her own net to send her side in 2-1 down at the break.
With the French lying in second place in the group at that point, Cascarino took over, teeing up Katoto for the equaliser in the 61st minute before conjuring a moment of magic, slashing through the middle and scoring with an unstoppable shot in the 64th minute.
She scored again three minutes later as a Katoto shot that hit both posts fell into her path to drill into the net and Sakina Karchaoui scored a late penalty to secure the 5-2 win and send the French through as group winners. France coach Laurent Bonadei hailed the character of his players following their comeback win.