Women's Euro 2025 live: England ‘not good enough' as Lionesses react to France defeat
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.'
Leah Williamson: 'England were not good enough'
Leah 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."
Jamie Braidwood6 July 2025 09:34
England beaten by France in Euros opener
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.
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.
Jamie Braidwood6 July 2025 09:33
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