Sarina Wiegman believes 'urgency' of group stages will help England in Euro 2025 knockouts

Yahoo

14-07-2025

By Laura Howard
Sarina Wiegman feels England's route through the Euro 2025 group stages created an urgency that will aid them in the quarter-finals.
Having lost their opening game to France, the Lionesses faced two must-win fixtures against the Netherlands and Wales as they chased qualification for the knockout stages.
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They passed both tests with flying colours, beating the Oranje Leeuwinnen 4-0 before strolling to 6-1 victory over Wales to finish second in Group D.
'We have built momentum also from the France game. That really brought us together because everyone really wanted to perform,' explained Wiegman.
'In the Netherlands game we created momentum by playing really well and playing to our strengths and you could see the togetherness.
'[Against Wales] was a very different game because we knew we would have the ball a lot and we wanted to do well on the ball. Most of the game we did that.
'We are in a good place and we are really happy going into that but at the same time we know that Sweden is going to be a totally different game than it was tonight.'
The quarter-final draw pits England against familiar foe Sweden in a showdown at Stadion Letzigrund on Thursday evening.
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Their opponents will want revenge having lost to the Lionesses 4-0 in the semi-finals of Euro 2022 at Bramall Lane.
It means if England do progress they avoid Spain on their route to the final, but Wiegman insists she could not think about possible permutations during the group stage.
'In tournaments, it's really hard to start thinking, 'Oh [we] want to go this way [in the draw]. You are just trying to win every game and see where you finish in the group,' she said.
'If you want to be successful in the tournament then you have to win every game and that is how we approach it.
'It is just what you have in front of you. We have three days now and then we go again. We have been in this rhythm this tournament so far and it's really nice that we don't have to travel that far.
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'From what I have seen, it wasn't the most intense game today so that helps of course. So we're in a good position and will look to recover well.'
Sweden will enter the clash after a resounding 4-1 victory over one of the tournament favourites Germany as they topped Group C.
England, meanwhile, faced an easier task against Wales but took the three points with ease as they won 6-1 with six different scorers.
But Wiegman expects a much tougher task from their upcoming opponents who will play a different style again to anything England faced in their group.
'They are always a team, they are always very powerful, they have speed up front and on the counter-attack, they are really good,' she added to ITV Sport.
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'It is a hard team to beat, they have done really well in the group, they have won three games.
'We'll see, we'll get ready first, recover from this one and then we go again against Sweden in Zurich.'