England to face Sweden in Euro quarters after Wales thrashing

7 hours ago 1

England Women will face Sweden in the Euro 2025 quarter-finals after a 6-1 hammering of Wales Women to finish second in Group D.

The Lionesses needed a win to be assured of their place in the quarter-finals, regardless of what happened in the other game between the Netherlands and France. The French were 5-2 winners, and go through as group winners.

And it was another slick performance in St Gallen, following on from a dominant 4-0 win against the Dutch last week. This time, four of their goals came in the first half.

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The game began with controversy though. Georgia Stanway was tripped by Carrie Jones on the cusp of the area, with the referee initially awarding a free-kick.

And as Alex Greenwood loomed over it, a VAR check looked for a possible penalty, eventually awarding England a spot kick with Jones' foul deemed to have happened inside the area - much to the anger of the Welsh bench.

The felled Stanway then lined up the penalty and finished expertly past Olivia Clarke, who did leap the right way.

Soon after, Ella Toone doubled England's lead. It was a defensive mix-up from the Welsh that allowed Alessia Russo to round the goalkeeper, before cutting the ball back for her teammate. Toone's first effort was cleared off the line, but she hammered home the second from close range.

Toone then turned provider for the Lionesses' third. She worked with Lauren James down the right, before standing up a cross to the back post. Lauren Hemp was waiting to nod home the pass, with the ball taking a deflection off Clarke on the way.

Georgia Stanway scores England's opening goal from the penalty spot

It was the Man Utd midfielder who then set up Russo for England's fourth on the stroke of half time, again linking up with James in the build-up. She found the Arsenal striker centrally, who took one touch before hammering home.

The second half was a quieter affair by all accounts, but still saw three goals. It took until the 72nd minute for England to open up Wales again as half-time substitute Beth Mead added the fifth. She sped past Rhiannon Roberts before planting her effort into the bottom corner.

Hannah Cain celebrates her goal for Wales against England

But Wales had one last goal up their sleeves, and it was a superb effort. Jess Fishlock reminded everyone of her evergreen quality with a glorious pass to find Hannah Cain, with the Leicester forward rocketing her effort past Hannah Hampton.

England had a final goal up their sleeves in the final minute of normal time. It was a lofted pass from Mead that found Aggie Beever-Jones, whose bullet header added the sixth.

It was an emphatic win for the Lionesses, who will now face Sweden in the quarter-finals in Zurich on Friday. Wales exit their first major tournament without registering a point, but acquitted themselves well in Switzerland.

Team news headlines

England named an unchanged XI from their previous win against the Netherlands.
Wales made three changes from their defeat to France. Goalkeeper Olivia Clark returned for Safia Middleton-Patel, while Rhiannon Roberts was reinstated to the backline. Carrie Jones came in for her first start of the tournament.