
Rampant England and France reach Women's Euro 2025 quarterfinals
Georgia Stanway started England on their way from the penalty spot in the 13th minute and further goals from Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo, Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones made sure of passage to the last eight.
England will face Sweden in Zurich on Thursday, a repeat of the semifinal at the last Euros three years ago which the Lionesses won 4-0.
But the Swedes look a tough proposition after topping Group C with a perfect nine points and swatting aside Germany on Saturday.
'We just wanted to be confident and enjoy it and I think we obviously play better football when we do that. I think there was more flow to the game tonight, there was better connections,' said midfielder Keira Walsh.
'(Sweden are) going to be a really tough opposition but we're just going to keep trying to focus on what we're doing, keep being confident, playing good football.'
France, meanwhile, will take on Germany in Basel in the last quarterfinal on Saturday, and are on the same side of the knockout draw as world champions Spain who face hosts Switzerland on Friday.
The French finished the group stage three points ahead of England after making it three wins from three thanks to Delphine Cascarino's decisive double.
San Diego Wave forward Cascarino has been excellent in Switzerland, and she made sure that France would top the group with the key goals in a superb comeback from a goal down.
France, who opened the scoring through Sandie Toletti in the 22nd minute, trailed at the break to a Victoria Pelova strike and Selma Bacha's clumsy own goal.
But Marie-Antoinette Katoto levelled for France just after the hour and the match was done six minutes later thanks to Cascarino's fine finishes.
First Cascarino lashed France back ahead with a sumptuous, dipping long-range strike, before rolling in the fourth after Sandy Baltimore watched her shot ricochet off both posts.
Sakina Karchaoui completed the scoring from the penalty spot in stoppage time.
'I'm having a good Euros, and it's a real pleasure to play in a major tournament. I'm pleased and I hope that we can go a long way,' Cascarino told reporters.
In St. Gallen, England knew a win would be enough to seal a spot in the next round regardless of what happened in Basel, and once Stanway slotted home her penalty after being brought down by Carrie Jones there was no way back for Wales.
Eight minutes later Toone doubled England's lead after Wales failed to clear and the Manchester United forward tapped home after her initial effort was blocked on the line by Lily Woodham.
Toone then turned provider on the half-hour with a perfect searching cross for Hemp, before Russo rolled home from close range just before half-time to get off the mark for the tournament.
Mead drilled home England's fifth in the 72nd minute, but Hannah Cain gave Wales fans something to cheer about by lashing a fine consolation goal past Hannah Hampton.
And Beever-Jones completed the rout one minute from the end to send England through on a high.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Spurs' Victor Wembanyama says he's been cleared to return following blood clot
San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama expects to play this coming season and has been fully cleared after dealing with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder for the last few months, he told the French newspaper L'Equipe in remarks published Monday. There was no immediate comment from the Spurs on the report. It has been expected that the team anticipated Wembanyama would be able to start this coming season though there was no official word until now. 'I'm officially cleared to return. … I'll finally be able to play a bit of basketball again,' Wembanyama told the French sports daily. Wembanyama was the league's rookie of the year two years ago and Spurs guard Stephon Castle won that same trophy this past season. Wembanyama was the front-runner to be defensive player of the year last season when he was diagnosed with the blood clot in his right shoulder in February. He was averaging 24.3 points, 11 rebounds, 3.8 blocks, and 3.7 assists when he was shut down; the only other player in NBA history to finish a season averaging all that was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975-76. Wembanyama has traveled extensively in recent months and spent time last month at a Shaolin temple in Zhengzhou, China. The temple is a place that welcomes visitors who wish to study Chan meditation, Shaolin Kung Fu, traditional Chinese medicine, and more.


Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Jofra Archer's triumphant return helps England defeat India at Lord's
It was July 14. Of course, Jofra Archer was going to open the bowling for England against India on the final day of the Lords test on Monday. 'Yeah, part of the reason I went with Jof this morning…six years ago now to the day,' England captain Ben Stokes said. On July 14, 2019, Archer helped England win its first Cricket World Cup trophy in the most dramatic final against New Zealand, also at Lords. 'He played a major role,' Stokes said, 'and I had a feeling he'd do something special (on Monday) and crack the game open.' In the fourth over of the day, Archer sent Rishabh Pant's off stump cartwheeling. Then in the day's eighth over, he got Washington Sundar with a fantastic one-hand caught-and-bowled. Archer and Stokes combined to take 3-11 in the first 40 minutes and hastened India's demise from 58-4 overnight to 82-7. India, chasing 193, was eventually dismissed for 170, and England won by 22 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. Archer's first test in 4 1/2 years produced an impressive match haul of five wickets. 'I had a gut feeling that Jof's going to do something in his first game back,' Stokes said. 'Every time he's announced on the tannoy, the ground erupts, and when the speeds go up on the screen the feeling changes.' Archer regularly worried India by bowling at speeds of up to 90 mph (145 kph). But he was managed by Stokes, never doing more than five-over spells and spaced well apart. It frustrated Archer, but he also understood after years of being sidelined by elbow and back injuries. 'It was pretty hectic for the first game back,' he told broadcaster Sky Sports. 'I probably bowled a few more overs than I thought I would've (39.2 in the match) but every single one mattered today so I'm not too fussed about it. Only played one test at Lords (on debut in 2019) and that one was just as special as this one. It's been a long time coming, a lot of rehab, a lot of training. But moments like this make it worth it. Managing the workload is still very hard, being told you can bowl some days and not others.' Archer never thought he would not return to test cricket. His previous test was in February 2021 in Ahmedabad, and his previous home test was in August 2020. 'I'm not totally out of the woods yet, but it's a good start,' he said. 'The style of cricket that this team plays, it means I'm going to bowl a lot of overs!' Archer didn't hold back either when he verbally sprayed Pant and Sundar after dismissing them. It was all part of the passions brought on by earlier incidents between the teams. 'We came together as a group yesterday and said you know, sometimes we're too nice. We go to other places and some teams are not as nice to us as we are to them so I guess we just tried to shift it. I don't know if it gave us a bit more of a buzz in the field or not, but we will keep it in the bank for the future!' 'It wasn't a proud moment (to Pant). I just told him to cherish that moment. He came down the track and that annoyed me a little bit so when the ball nipped down the slope (and bowled him) I was so grateful.'


Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
England take 2-1 series lead over India with thrilling Lord's win
LONDON: A thrilling series produced a gripping finale as England beat India by 22 runs in a nail-biting third Test at Lord's on Monday to go 2-1 up with two Tests to were on the brink of defeat at 147-9, still needing a further 46 runs to reach a victory target of 193, when last man Mohammed Siraj joined Ravindra Jadeja in the the pair batted on until after tea on the final day to give India hope of an improbable with India eyeing a stunning success, off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, who had been off the field for much of the match with a finger injury, had the final Siraj played defensively, the ball spun back past him to dislodge the leg bail with the faintest of touches to leave India 170 all the England fielders celebrated, the fiery Siraj was crestfallen as was his partner Jadeja who was left stranded on 61 not out — his fourth consecutive fifty this series — after batting for nearly four-and-a-half captain Ben Stokes bowled two lengthy spells Monday on his way to innings figures of 3-48 in 24 overs, with fast bowler Jofra Archer — in his first Test after more than four years of injury-induced exile — taking 3-55 in medium-pacer Stokes, whose career has been blighted by knee injuries, again proved his worth to England as a fully-fledged all-rounder.'I thought I had taken myself to some pretty dark places before but today was... If bowling to win a Test for your country doesn't get you up, get you excited, then I don't know what does,' Stokes told Sky Sports.'The game was on the line and nothing was going to stop me bowling.'Victory came exactly six years to the day since Stokes and Archer both starred in England's dramatic 2019 50-over World Cup final win over New Zealand at Lord' bowlers made early breakthroughs Monday, with player-of-the match Stokes saying the anniversary was behind his decision to open the bowlig with Archer.'Jof played a big role in that and I just had one of those feelings he would do something special,' said 30-year-old Archer added: 'It was pretty hectic for the first game back. I probably bowled a few more overs than I thought I would have but every single one mattered today so I'm not too fussed about it.'India were all but beaten at 112-8 when tailender Jasprit Bumrah came out to bat immediately after Jadeja and Bumrah kept England at bay with a stubborn stand of 35 in 22 overs.'I think the position in the morning, to make a comeback like this was tremendous from Ravindra Jadeja and the lower order,' said India captain Shubman defying a run of four successive noughts in Test cricket, defended gamely while making five in 54 balls only for his innings to end when he top-edged a pull off Stokes to substitute fielder Sam Cook at were now 147-9 — a position that meant tea was delayed by 30 Jadeja, who overturned an lbw decision given against him on 26, went to fifty when a flashing cut off Stokes flew over the slips for the left-hander's fourth four in 150 balls after tea, Archer struck Siraj a painful blow on the shoulder and it was not long before he fell to match became a second-innings shoot-out after both teams made 387 in their first then posted 192 before India slumped to 58-4 when Stokes bowled nightwatchman Akash Deep with what became the last ball of Sunday's 71-4 on Monday, the match swung England's way once more as India lost three wickets for 11 runs in collapsing to Pant — who only came into bat on Monday following Deep's departure — charged down the pitch to drive Archer for a typically aggressive two balls later Archer, repeatedly topping the 90 mph mark, bowled the dangerman for nine with a superb full-length delivery that clipped the top of off were looking to KL Rahul to anchor their chase after the opener's first-innings he had added just six runs to his overnight 33 when he was lbw on review to who made his Test debut at Lord's in 2019, then reduced India to 82-7 when he held a sharp one-handed caught and bowled chance to dismiss Washington Sundar for a duck.