Women’s Euro 2025: England and Wales reaction, Group A finale and more – live | Women’s Euro 2025
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Switzerland fan Bettina has emailed and said:
Hopp Schwiiz!!! Drinks are chilled, nerves slightly less so — we’re getting ready for tonight’s match.
And before things get serious, here’s a little joy to share: the gloriously Swiss, trilingual goal celebration from the Iceland game: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/fL7wZGGy
Of course I am neutral about tonight’s game but it is always nice when the host nation gets as far as they can. The crowds are always better and so it would be good for Switzerland to take the victory. However, Finland have bene impressive so far so the result is in the balance.
Pia Sundhage, Switzerland coach, has said before the crucial match:
We can’t do the same thing as in the last two games because Finland is a different team. What we have done is prepare the team so we have a plan A, a plan B and a plan C. We will bring out the best performance in each other and make sure that whoever is starting the starting line-up, as well as the players coming off the bench, can make the result a positive one.
So what are the permutations for Finland and Switzerland? To reach the quarter-finals have to avoid defeat by Finland. For Finland they must beat Switzerland. It is going to be one hell of a game.
If the hosts Switzerland get through tonight it will be the first time ever that the women’s side progress to the quarters of a Euros. They take on Finland from 8pm BST. Both nations have so far lost to Norway and beaten Iceland.
In our latest Moving the Goalposts, the weekly women’s football newsletter, Spain’s dominance at the Euros so far is put under a microscope. You can read it here:
Thorsteinn Halldórsson, Iceland coach, said:
It’s disappointing to be out of the competition. We have one game left, and we are going to play with our pride and play for our fans. It is different, but we always have something to keep fighting for. We go into every match to try to win. Even though we know it’s our last game, we are always playing for our fans. We want to finish this tournament in a good way.
Norway manager Gemma Grainger spoke about Iceland’s motivations for tonight’s match as they already know they have been knocked out of the tournament:
Iceland will want to put in a performance for their impressive travelling fans. For us it’s about finishing the group strongly and improving some of our performance aspects. We know we have a quarter-final waiting but the mindset hasn’t changed; it’s still one game at a time.
So what are the games Euro 2025 have in store tonight? Both will be kicking off at the same time, at 8pm BST, as it is the final round of group matches. Norway will be playing Iceland and Switzerland are taking on Finland. Norway have already been confirmed as group leaders and Iceland have already been knocked out but both will still be fighting tooth and nail to secure three points. Switzerland and Finland, meanwhile, are vying for the final knockout spot in Group A. Both games will be covered live by the Guardian so you will be able to keep up with all the updates as the games progress.
London City Lionesses sign Lete
London City Lionesses have been showing their intent in their bid to maintain their WSL position with a wave of good signings and they have just added a goalkeeper. Elene Lete has signed on a free transfer from Real Sociedad in a deal that runs until 2027.
Upon signing she said:
I believe the club has a great project and a lot of ambition, and this move could be a big step in my career.
I thought I would kick things off with a fun fact because who doesn’t like them? Lauren James became the just the second Lionesses player ever to score two goals in a single game at a World Cup and a Euros last night in her stunning performance against the Netherlands. The other England women’s player to have achieved the feat is Ellen White.
Thank you Tom and hello everyone. I am eating ice poles so quickly, it is so hot where I am right now. Let me know any tips and tricks to cool down and any thoughts on the football too.
Right, to see you through to kick-off is Sarah Rendell.
Barcelona winger Fridolina Rolfo is set for a bigger role in Sweden’s final group game on Saturday after making her comeback against Poland.
The 31-year-old suffered an ankle injury that threatened her appearance at the Women’s Euros but managed 13 minutes, plus stoppage time, against Poland but having come through that Rolfo is in line to face Germany in the battle to top Group C.
“I’ve sacrificed a lot these weeks to be here today, it comes back to you when you’ve worked so hard. I didn’t know if I would get to play in the Euros, it was a nightmare to get injured,” Rolfo told reporters at the Swedish team base.
“I’ve been doing rehab and training six hours a day just to get this foot right, I’ve been lying at home every day with my foot elevated and just doing everything I can to reduce the swelling and get the foot to heal as quickly as possible.”
Quotes via Reuters
Textor insists Palace influence ‘not decisive’ as club fear Europa League ban
Ed Aarons
John Textor has insisted that he didn’t have a decisive influence at Crystal Palace as the FA Cup winners await Uefa’s decision on whether they can compete in next season’s Europa League.
Palace are facing the threat of being demoted to the Conference League by European football’s governing body because the American businessman also owns a majority stake in Ligue 1 side Lyon, who have also qualified for the Europa League. The French club have successfully appealed against relegation to Ligue 2, with Uefa having delayed its ruling on Palace last week pending the outcome of Lyon’s appeal.
Uefa sources have indicated that its Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), which investigates alleged breaches of its multi-club ownership rules, is due to decide on Palace’s fate this week.
Clubs are barred from competing in the same Uefa competition if an individual or ownership group is considered to have a decisive influence over more than one of those teams.
Textor recently agreed to sell his Palace shares to the New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson, a deal that is expected to be ratified by the Premier League in the coming days. Textor also owns Brazilian side Botafogo, who defeated Paris Saint-Germain during the group stages of the Club World Cup last month, but he revealed that he did not even consider placing his shares in Palace into a blind trust before Uefa’s 1 March deadline because it was clear he was not in day-to-day control at Selhurst Park.
“Why should I put my interest in a trust back before March when the rule says you only have to do it if you have decisive influence? I don’t,” he told TalkSport on Thursday.
“If I had a decisive influence, then those Brazilian players that just beat PSG in the Club World Cup, half of them would be coming to Crystal Palace next year. But you don’t see one single player from our network of clubs that’s made its way onto the Palace roster, which is the source of my frustration with the lack of collaboration that we’ve been able to have with Crystal Palace. I am dumb enough and successful enough to not predict in advance what a governing body is going to say.”
Hello everyone. Bit of an update away from the Women’s Euros, John Textor, the man at the centre of one of the summer’s real sagas, has dropped into the studio at TalkSport. The Crystal Palace investor and, crucially, owner of French club Lyon has gone for a bit of a public mea culpa. I’ll admit to being a bit of a sucker for the theatre of an interview with Jim White and Simon Jordan, but this was particularly interesting given that had Textor simply paid a bit more attention Palace wouldn’t be at risk of losing their Europa League spot. You can watch the punchiest section here, but the quotes from Textor on when he realised the issue would arise are illuminating.
“I couldn’t have been happier for the fans, but I was worried about what was coming there,” he said.
Asked what he was thinking as Palace beat Manchester City at Wembley, Textor said: “Oh shit, is what I thought. I was very happy, but I felt the gravity of it. And I was concerned on the same day holding the cup next to the Prince (William).”
That’s all from me. Time for Tom Bassam to step into the chair.
“She’s probably the best player in this entire tournament for being able to create something special. There’s a lot of special players in this tournament, the likes of Putellas and Bonmati, a huge number of talented players, but LJ’s got that something special. She’s only young, she’s not at 100% yet, so hopefully we get through the tournament and she just keeps getting better and better.”
Lauren James receives high praise from Lucy Bronze, who played alongside Putellas and Bonmati at Barcelona.
Here are just a few names to keep tabs on this evening. The words come from our wonderful tournament player guide.
Norway: Thea Bjelde
Does she ever stop running? Opponents must be shattered after facing the versatile Bjelde who has an astonishing engine and stamina. At club level she’s a central midfielder but is mostly seen at right-back for Norway where she can make a huge impact. She had to recover from a knee injury over the winter but made it back to full strength in time for this tournament. Born and raised in the municipality of Sogndal, she says she regrets that her distinctive local dialect has faded after years of living in Bergen and Oslo. Is joining Wolfsburg from Vålerenga after the tournament.
Iceland: Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir
Iceland’s captain, biggest star and best player. Viggósdóttir was eight when she started playing football, which is rather late in Iceland. She started as a forward but today is one of the world’s best centre-backs. She is Bayern Munich’s captain, has played for the club since 2021 and her dream is to win the Champions League. Viggósdóttir, Iceland’s second-most-capped player, was voted the country’s sportsperson of the year in 2024 with a full house of votes, becoming one of only eight women to win the award since 1956 and the third women’s footballer to do so. Her parents did not know the rules of football when Viggósdóttir started playing the game and when they were asked where she got her talent from their answer was simple: she is a freak of nature.
Switzerland: Géraldine Reuteler
Her mother sent her to ballet as a child – clearly the wrong choice for Géraldine: “I couldn’t stand it, I didn’t last a week.” She was much happier playing football in the garden, and soon joined a club, but with so few girls playing in central Switzerland she ended up in boys’ teams. That was nothing new for her though – she has four brothers – and her talent quickly stood out. At 14 she joined FC Luzern, made her debut in the top Swiss league at 15, her international debut two years later, and moved to Frankfurt at 19. With her dynamism and strong technique, she is now one of the pillars of the Swiss game. And she arrived at the Euros full of confidence after 10 goals and seven assists in the Bundesliga. “This was my best year.”
Finland: Linda Sällström
A living legend of women’s football in Finland. With 62 goals, Sällström is Finland’s all-time top scorer. She is also known for her courage off the field. She has spoken out about human rights issues and taken a stand against human rights abuses. Sällström was one of over a hundred professional female players who demanded that Fifa terminate its sponsorship deal with the Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco. “The money from Aramco feels like dirty money,” she said. “I want to emphasise that the criticism is directed at Saudi Aramco and the Saudi Arabian state, not at the Saudis.”
Here’s what Rhian Wilkinson, Wales’ manager, had to say to the BBC after her side’s 4-1 defeat last night.
Results are secondary to performance, I say that all the time. I’d rather lose 4-1 and play and show courage than lose 1-0 and just sit and not actually give our fans something to cheer, and boy did we cheer.
It was a big, big improvement performance-wise from the first game. I guess once again it’s just little errors, individual mistakes, and at this level obviously you’re punished to the fullest extent.
Here’s some reaction from a Dutch perspective, courtesy of Reuters:
The Dutch, champions in 2017, suffered their heaviest defeat in a major tournament as the Lionesses dominated at Stadion Letzigrund and neutralised the Netherlands’ all-time leading goalscorer Vivianne Miedema.
Jonker, however, remained confident ahead of a decisive final group-stage clash with France on Sunday. “We thought we could play toe-to-toe against England,” Jonker told a press conference. “We wanted to play for victory. We want to play to qualify for the quarter-finals. That this is the biggest defeat at a major finals? I don’t care.”
The Netherlands adopted an aggressive formation with Jill Roord and Chasity Grant joining Miedema in attack, but the strategy faltered. When asked whether a more defensive approach would have been prudent against the defending champions, Jonker defended his tactics.
“Potentially, we can be a part of the top [teams], but what is the definition of the top?” Jonker said. “Spain, in my view, is the top. They are the very best, the number one. Eight, nine to ten countries follow and we can be a part of those, but not today.” Reuters
There could be some pretty wild, jubilant scenes in Lancy tonight. Switzerland meet Finland and just need to avoid defeat to make it through to the knockouts in front of their own supporters. They had nervy moments against Iceland, taking 76 minutes to finally open the scoring through Géraldine Reuteler before Alayah Pilgrim sealed it at the death.
Cheers, UEFA. No need to get your pens out – they’ve got all the permutations here as we enter the final round of the group stage. Wales, despite two defeats, are not out just yet: they need a four-goal victory over England and France to beat the Netherlands.
This is a lovely interview with Jess Fishlock. She made her international debut 19 years ago but still gets to celebrate a first: Wales’ opening goalscorer in a major tournament. Louise Taylor was in St. Gallen to witness that little bit of history.
And here’s what Alessia Russo and co had to say:
Tom Garry dished out the marks:
Nick Ames explains what was on the line last night.
In their evolving iterations, the Lionesses have barely missed a beat at major tournaments in the past decade. For the first time during this sport’s boom years, misgivings were growing in volume. They knew that losing again could mean an early flight home, a first group-stage exit of any kind since 2013 and an unprecedented barrage of criticism.
Preamble
Tournament football takes you to all sorts of places. France weren’t bothered by England’s aura on Saturday, that defeat forcing Sarina Wiegman’s side to prematurely enter knockout mode. Then came last night: a couple of positional changes, the inclusion of Ella Toone, and a complete vibe shift. The defending champions have their strut back.
For Wales, there was a beautiful moment of release as Jess Fishlock scored their first goal in a major tournament – but France still ran out 4-1 winners. Laurent Bonadei’s remain on course to top the Group of Death.
This evening brings the conclusion of Group A, with Finland meeting Switzerland and Norway taking on Iceland (8pm BST kick-offs). The Norwegians are already through, while the hosts require just a point against Finland to advance to the knockouts of this competition for the very first time. Keep me company as we build up to the action.
