For a Wales team who have brought so much passion, colour and pride to Euro 2025, this was no way to go home. As one, Wales stood in front of their Red Wall in St Gallen, and there is certainly no disgrace in losing to England, France and the Netherlands in what was their major tournament debut.
But England had to be ruthless, and a 6-1 win to finish the group stage sends a message. “Sweden should be scared,” said Ella Toone, and this performance showed why as Sarina Wiegman’s side returned to their destructive best.
In the days following the opening defeat to France, the holders spoke of returning to “proper England” and remembering why they are at the Euros. That journey began four years ago and with a series of hugely one-sided victories. England didn’t hold back when beating Latvia 20-0 and, while it has been a positive step forward for the game that such mismatches no longer take place during qualifying for major tournaments, it was no coincidence that the very same England team thrashed Norway in a record 8-0 win during the Euro 2022 group stage.
Playing with that hunger and intensity, no matter the scoreline, is a hallmark of what made Wiegman’s team so successful. It has been an absence of those characteristics that has led to spells of inconsistency over the last 18 months. When Wiegman’s team spoke of a “proper England” performance and the fight returned against the Netherlands, it was important to then use that by building momentum: England have only won back-to-back games once in the last year and while the Lionesses needed to win anyway to reach the quarter-finals, this was about keeping the foot on the pedal.
Against Wales, England led 4-0 at half-time, playing with the fire and energy that was so clearly missing in the France game. Of course, Wales, the lowest-ranked team at Euro 2025, were always going to be huge underdogs, but Wiegman had spoken of the importance of moving the ball quickly and bringing intensity into a match where they were always expected to dominate. The Lionesses have learned the hard way since winning the Euros that there has been a target on their backs and opponents have no shortage of motivation to bring them down. For Wales, who spoke of how wanting to beat England is in their “blood and DNA”, the Lionesses knew they had to be sharp.
England also named their first unchanged starting line-up since the 2023 World Cup two years ago, which was another sign of how desperately Wiegman wanted to seize the chance to build some momentum ahead of the quarter-finals. From the moment England took the lead in the 13th minute, through Georgia Stanway’s controversial penalty, and from there England’s victory was never really in doubt, the holders played as if they had a golden opportunity to build up their aura, to restore and then maintain the feeling that they had gathering throughout the group stages three years ago.
There were important moments here. Lauren James was so effortlessly comfortable on the right wing. Alessia Russo and Lauren Hemp scored their first goals of the tournament. Russo should have come away with more, but getting off the mark, in order to add to her overall contribution while leading the line, can always help with confidence. Ella Toone is in red-hot form, having now scored in both of her starts at this tournament.
Keira Walsh and Stanway controlled and were connected again in midfield, determined to regain the loose balls that had evaded them in the opener. A reconfigured defence also grew more familiar, with Alex Greenwood even coming inside and Lucy Bronze pushing higher and wide on the right to allow England to change their shape when in possession. The only gap Wales were able to find came from Hannah Cain’s consolation.
England’s formation, in itself, was a confident move from Wiegman, who always planned for England to come into the tournament with more of an ability to adapt and be versatile. England have played three group games in three different ways, and with only one change between their starting line-ups. This one allowed James to take up central positions as Bronze pushed wide, while maintaining balance with Stanway, Walsh and Toone in the team. James, again, was a class above.
Then, when England were cruising towards the quarter-finals, Wiegman used her options on the bench. All of Aggie Beever-Jones, Jess Park, Chloe Kelly and Beth Mead came on hungry to prove a point and the manner of Mead’s finish after cutting back inside suggested how vicious that competition is. That Mead and Beever-Jones also celebrated their second-half goals with the rest of the substitutes bench showed that competition remains healthy, but perhaps a few of the players who came on will go away wishing they had done a little more.
After all, Wiegman’s starting line-up for the rest of the Euros looks set ahead of the quarter-final against Sweden back in Zurich on Thursday. And based on their first-half performance and the lack of mercy they showed in pointing Wales on their way home, England are back in a ruthless mood as well.
