England faced a tough double-header against France in UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 qualifying over the last week or so.  The meetings between the sides second and third in the world rankings resulted in a win apiece with the visitors being victorious 2-1 on both occasions.  Here is a look back and some thoughts on the matches.

The first game took place at St James’ Park in Newcastle on Friday evening.  This was the first time the Lionesses had played there and it was also Sarina Wiegman’s 50th match in charge.

Wiegman decided to pair captain Leah Williamson and Millie Bright together in defence for the first time in over a year after both had suffered injuries during that time.  Alex Greenwood can maybe feel a bit unfortunate to miss out after having a great season with Manchester City.

Mary Earps won her 50th cap but within the first minute picked up a hip injury and had to be replaced by Hannah Hampton shortly after. 

England looked a bit shacky at the back in the early stages, maybe not surprising considering how long it was since Bright and Williamson last played together.

It was Williamson’s long pass forward that started the move that led to the Lionesses taking the lead on the half-hour mark with Beth Mead finishing Lauren Hemp’s low ball across the area.

Hampton made a good save to stop Maelle Lakrar’s header four minutes later as France looked for a quick equaliser.

The visitors did level the score before half time when Elisa De Almeida’s stunning volley from a corner looped into the corner of the net.  Not much England could do about that one.

Pauline Peyraud-Magnin made a good save of her own in first half stoppage time when she stopped Mead’s curling effort.

Marie-Antoinette Katoto put France ahead in the 68th minute with a low volley into the net.  Though maybe she shouldn’t have had the chance in the first place as the Lionesses had numerous chances to clear the ball before it reached the unmarked Katoto.

Apart from the early enforced goalkeeper substitution, Wiegman didn’t make any other changes until the 79th minute when Fran Kirby and Chloe Kelly came on.  This was perhaps a bit surprising considering it was the end of a long season and changes could have been made slightly earlier with England being behind and hardly threatening during the second half.

The two substitutes helped improve things with both looking lively, and it was Kelly who had the best chance to equalise but saw her long-range effort dip over the crossbar.

So, it was a defeat for England, and another recent match where a side has marked Keira Walsh closely and the Lionesses have produced little.  There really needs to be a plan B for occasions when performances aren’t great and key players aren’t being effective.

Moving onto Tuesday in Saint-Etienne when France knew that if they won then they would qualify for the Euro finals in Switzerland next year whilst England couldn’t really afford to lose after Friday night.

Wiegman only made one change from the first meeting with Hampton starting in goal in place of Earps whilst Toone won her 50th cap.  More changes might have been expected after the disappointing performance four days previously with the likes of Greenwood, Kelly and Kirby coming in.  

Both sides had early chances with Russo having the best of the Lionesses.  Maybe having a number 9 to finish some of the chances could be useful as not really had one since Ellen White retired in 2022.

A great Georgia Stanway first time strike from just outside the area gave England the lead in the 21st minute after Hemp had passed to her.

The Lionesses looked more threatening and attacking with Toone playing higher up the pitch.

Russo headed in England’s second goal in the 34th minute, Hemp providing the cross this time for her third assist in two matches.

Stanway had the Lionesses final chance of the first half before Katoto headed narrowly wide to send a warning to England that France weren’t out of it yet.

Indeed, the hosts were better after the break but the Lionesses were defending well. 

France were pressing more in the second half, and on one occasion when the visitors were playing out from the back, they won the ball back and Grace Geyoro was brought down in the area by Williamson with the referee pointing to the penalty spot.  Kadidiatou Diani stepped up and sent put the ball into the net to make it 2-1 in the 72nd minute.

Wiegman left it late to make substitutes again, making the first in the 75th minute then another in the final minute of the match with Kelly and Kirby coming on again.

In the 89th minute, Hampton made a fantastic one-handed match winning save when she got down and tipped Katoto’s close-range effort wide of the post.

There were no further chances in what was a slightly nervy finish to the match as England moved level on points with Sweden and two points behind France with two games remaining.

Personally, in what was a much better performance overall especially in the first half in Saint-Etienne, I thought Russo, Stanway, Hemp, Toone, Jess Carter and Hampton all had really good games.

The final group games take place in July with the Lionesses facing the Republic of Ireland in Norwich before travelling to Gothenburg play Sweden