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Angharad James insists that Wales “can upset” England tomorrow.
She said: “It’s a rivalry match and one everyone wants to play in. The pressure is all on England. They have to perform. We believe we can upset a very top team. We are ready for the fight.”
Hello again! I’m back with you for the next hour. England and Wales have both just had their respective press conferences so let me bring you some quotes from them.
With that I am headed on my break before I take you through Poland v Denmark. I hand you back to Emillia Hawkins for the next hour.
Wales are competing in their first-ever women’s Euros and Jess Fishlock added their first major tournament goal against France. But can this be the start of Wales consistently being on football’s biggest stages? Here’s a piece on just that:
There have been over 375 moves in the transfer window for women’s football this summer already, including many players at Euro 2025. You can catch up with all the signings:
Louise Taylor
Convention plays a big part in football. There’s the convention that settled starting XIs help winning teams build momentum, the convention that experience really matters at major tournaments and, perhaps above all, the convention that head coaches are best off saying nothing remotely controversial.
There are two players during Poland v Denmark who everyone should keep and eye on. Pernille Harder and Ewa Pajor will be keen to get their first goal of the tournament, you can learn more about them below:
Emma Hayes is a columnist for the Guardian for Euro 2025 and you can read her latest offering below:
In 2022, England scored 14 goals in the group stage and later went on to win the trophy. In 2025, Spain have scored 14 goals in the group stage. Will they go onto win it? That remains to be seen but it’s not a bad stat to have.
Spain’s Esther Gonzalez is topping the lead scorer charts so far but who is closing in on the top spot? Have a look:
Here are some team guides for the other 8pm BST kick-off tonight:
Alessia Russo has opened up about dealing with online abuse, you can read the piece:
So which quarter-finals have been decided already? Well two are locked in with the action coming next week. They are as follows:
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Norway v Italy
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Spain v Switzerland
It is always better for a major tournament when the host nation goes far and Switzerland have secured a quarter-final place in a women’s Euros for the first time. They will play favourite Spain in the last eight game. Catch up with how they did it:
Spain have looked dominant so far in the tournament but there are ways to overcome them, this piece looks into just that:
Germany and Sweden will battle it out for top of Group C later today, here are our team guides so you can get to know the teams before kick-off:
Alexia Putellas is having quite the tournament so far isn’t she? She has aided Spain to top of the group with three wins from three. But personally she is flying too, according to Opta she is the first play on record since 2013 to have both 15+ shots and chances in a group stage of a women’s Euros.
Here’s a piece on Lauren Hemp’s reaction to Arsenal’s reported £1m bid for Liverpool’s Olivia Smith:
Thank you Emilia and hello everyone. Two cracking matches to look forward to this evening and a whole tournament to pour over. Let’s get going.
With that, I’m handing over to Sarah Rendell, who will be with you for the next few hours.
Aggie Beever-Jones spoke this week about wanting to make her mark at her first major tournament. She said: “For me, it’s about trusting Sarina [Wiegman] and trusting the process. We have a squad full of incredible players. I just have to take my opportunity when it comes. I was grateful to come on the other day and show a little bit of what I can do. Hopefully I get some more opportunities to do that.”
The Chelsea forward also discussed her lack of experience in tournament football due to Covid. She added: “I was unfortunate in that sense when I was growing up, I’ve never really experienced tournament football and being away from family. It was a crazy time in the world; I think everyone was a bit unsure what was going on. We were lucky enough that football was able to carry on.
“That’s why I think it makes it a bit more special this time round. It is my first proper tournament and at the highest level. It’s exactly where I want to be. I feel comfortable enough to push for my place as well as getting pushed every day to become a better person and player. So I’m really, really enjoying it. Hopefully we can make our mark and keep going.”
Here is what Group C is looking like right now:
1. Sweden – 6pts (4GD)
2. Germany – 6pts (3GD)
3. Denmark – 0pts (-2GD)
4. Poland – 0pts (-5GD)
You can keep up to date with the race for the Euro 2025 Golden Boot here:
Wolfgang Hamann has emailed in to say:
“Short tournaments are about which team gels and peaks at the right time. I’ve lost count of how many times either the German Women or Men’s teams have started slowly, gelled, peaked at the right time and won it.
“This Germany team have not looked as impressive as they did in the run up to the Euros while still winning the first two games.
“The other team could be France. French Women’s teams have always been strong technically and physically but lacked playing as a team. In both opening games France has shown they are playing like a team unlike previous years.
“Teams that start fast often fade. Italy showed Spain have weaknesses that can be exploited.”
Ahead of today’s match, Germany head coach Christian Wück said: “Both teams want to finish first in the group. That means it will be an evenly-matched game; a game where small things will decide the outcome. And I hope that we come out on top in the end.”
We are lucky enough to have the legendary Chelsea manager, WSL icon and United States women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes on board as a columnist throughout Euro 2025. Here is what she had to say in her latest column…
Ahead of today’s game, Sweden manager Peter Gerhardsson said: “We would really like to win this group and play in the quarter-final on Thursday. We’ll see. That could mean we won’t have the same starting line-up; as I’ve said before, we never do. But we will see; sometimes I even surprise myself.”
Meanwhile, Sweden and Germany are competing for the top spot in Group C with both on six points. Sweden currently lead the group with a goal difference of six, one more than Germany. A draw or a win today will confirm the top spot for Peter Gerhardsson’s side.
Poland’s clash with Denmark today is pretty much the definition of a dead rubber. Both teams are out of the tournament already having failed to win a match so far. The main goal both will be focussing on is: don’t finish bottom.
Here’s a quick reminder of the games we’ve got to look forward to this evening. Both kick-off at 8pm BST.
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Poland v Denmark
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Sweden v Germany
Thanks Tom. Let’s continue this countdown to kick-off…
Right, that’s my stint on today’s blog over. Emilia Hawkins is here for more buildup to this evening’s games.
Lauren Hemp was on media duties for England yesterday and spoke about the improved mood in the camp after the thumping 4-0 group-stage victory over the Netherlands. The opening loss to France left the Lionesses in a perilous position and had a few on the outside drawing up obituaries for their tournament ambitions.
The win against the Dutch has changed the narrative and Hemp says it shows the class of 2025 are worthy of respect: “It was important that we turned it around and we proved to the fans, we proved to everyone, that we’re here to compete and we’re here to win.
“Obviously we never want to lose, but it was important that we made sure that we got ourselves right back in it, and I think we gained the respect that we deserved as a group.”
Players to watch tonight: Ewa Pajor
Poland’s record scorer is yet to find the net in Switzerland but rarely goes long without a goal.
Check out our profiles on all 368 players at Women’s Euro 2025 here:
Players to watch tonight: Carlotta Wamser
With captain Giulia Gwinn suffering a devastating injury in Germany’s opener against Poland, Wamser started at right-back for the 2-1 win over Denmark. The Eintracht Frankfurt player will have to maintain her impressive performance levels against Sweden if Germany are to maintain their 100% record.
Check out our profiles on all 368 players at Women’s Euro 2025 here:
Players to watch tonight: Signe Bruun
Pernille Harder is the headline act in the Denmark side but Bruun is always a threat. In both of Denmark’s matches so far she has been summoned from the bench on the hour and given the team’s meagre xG so far there’s a case the Real Madrid forward should be in the starting XI against Poland.
Players to watch tonight: Fridolina Rolfö
The Barcelona forward is working her way back to fitness and indicated this week that she is ready to play a bigger role against Germany. If Rolfö can get up to speed quickly she will be a key figure for Sweden.
Check out our profiles on all 368 players at Women’s Euro 2025 here:
Suzanne Wrack
Dare mention Alessia Russo was a good pick for player of the match after her three assists against the Netherlands, without an afterword on Lauren James also being superb or highlighting the performances of Jess Carter or Hannah Hampton or any of the others in an all-around strong showing, and you will be accused of being influenced by PRusso.
The not-so-witty merging of PR and the player’s name has become an insult online, used to denigrate anyone who suggests that Russo may be quite a good player. Your opinion cannot possibly be right; it’s Russo’s good PR team that has led you to believe that she is good. You have been influenced, you are a sheep, you have been blinded by the shiny Adidas adverts and the magazine cover shoots. Open your eyes, they scream into the online abyss, Russo is an average player, someone else was better, anyone else was better.
Suzanne Wrack has written about how the online abuse of England’s lead striker has been exposed as specious by the selfless displays make Russo key to Lionesses’ success:
England have been going through their final preparations ahead of facing Wales on Sunday. All 23 players trained and as Tom Garry reported earlier, the Lionesses have a clean bill of health,
Got any thoughts on the tournament so far? Feel free to drop me an email via the link above. After last night’s performance, can you see anyone apart from Spain winning it?
Elis James
It had to be her. Wales’s debut at a European Championship has meant a group stage full of new experiences, but it felt fitting that a 38-year‑old Jess Fishlock, double Champions League winner and icon of the women’s game, would register the first Wales goal in a major tournament against France on Wednesday night.
Three years ago, it felt cosmically appropriate that it should be Gareth Bale who scored the only Wales goal of the 2022 World Cup, a Welsh legend ticking off another career ambition before retirement. But unlike the postmortems and recrimination prompted by such a disappointing performance from the men’s team in Qatar, this time there is no judgment from the Welsh support out in Switzerland, only pride. Wales face England on Sunday having lost their first two games of Group D, and yet there is no doubt back home that Rhian Wilkinson’s team are history makers.
The women’s game in Wales is growing at a rapid rate, and the Red Wall, the thousands of drunken but good-natured cultural attaches who have followed the men’s team for years, have begun to support the women’s team with the same fervour. There were just under 4,000 in attendance at the first game against the Netherlands, outnumbering and outsinging the Dutch, a fact not lost on this Welsh squad, who remember away followings numbering in single digits.
Elis James on why the real legacy of this Wales team will be decided after the tournament is over:
England squad fully fit ahead of Wales clash
Tom Garry
England have a fully-fit squad of 23 players training here in Zurich under blue skies, in another pre-match boost for the defending champions. The expectation seems to be that Sarina Wiegman will be very likely to name an unchanged starting XI, barring any unwanted twists today. The mood appears relatively relaxed, business-like and confident.
“It’s exactly where I want to be. I feel comfortable enough to push for my place as well as getting pushed every day to become a better person and player. So I’m really, really enjoying it. Hopefully we can make our mark and keep going.”
Aggie Beever-Jones is relishing her first experience of a major tournament with England. The Chelsea striker came off the bench against the Netherlands for Alessia Russo in the 84th minute of England’s 4-0 defeat of the Netherlands, and hopes to play a part on Sunday against Wales. Russo made her name as a ‘finisher’ at the tournament in 2022, Beever-Jones is hoping to have a similar impact this time around and has been speaking to Suzanne Wrack in Zurich:
We have plenty of live action across the Guardian’s sports pages today.
Daniel Gallan has eyes on the the Lions latest warmup game against the AUNZ Invitational XV:
While Rob Smyth is on the first shift for today’s OBO of the third Test of England’s summer series against India:
If you’re in need of a little catchup on last night’s big game in Group B, I will point you in the direction of Louise Taylor’s report from the Wankdorf Stadium, where she saw a fabulous game between Spain and Italy:
If that preamble felt a bit harsh on Poland and Denmark, who will play out the deadest of rubbers at the Swissporarena in Lucerne at the same time as the other Group C fixture tonight, I apologise. The downside of a 16-team tournament is that it can be brutal for teams who lose their opening two games to have to stick around knowing they have nothing to play for. That is all I really have to say about that, there’s a reason this game will only be on ITVX.
Preamble
To lean on a tired cliché: sometimes it is better to be lucky, than good. No would accuse England of having been good against France but that defeat and the subsequent win over the Netherlands mean that barring an utter disaster against the Welsh on Sunday the Lionesses will come out of Group D in second. Why is this lucky? Well it would certainly be advantageous to be on the opposite side of the draw to Spain, the team who have looked a class apart so far during the tournament, if your goal is to reach the final. But can that luck stretch further?
Knockout qualification is not on the line for Sweden or Germany after both teams earned the maximum six points from their opening two fixtures, but the prize of finishing top of Group C is. The winners of Group C will play the second-place team in Group D in the quarter-final, do you see where I am going with this? While perfectly illustrating the wonderful simplicity that is a 16-team international tournament, tonight’s meeting at the Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich is a real pick your poision, with a defeat meaning you will face France and a win bringing on England.
For the Lionesses, they would say that they do not care who they face next. They beat both of these potential opponents en route to winning the trophy four years ago. Germany are ranked third in the world and have looked good for it so far in Switzerland, while Sweden, who are yet to concede a goal, are one place below England in sixth. Either way, the tournament is shaping up nicely. Wouldn’t it be great if Uefa saw the error of their ways and reduced the men’s Euros back down to 16 too? Wishful thinking, I know.
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