France vs England LIVE: Lionesses result and final score from vital Euro 2025 qualifier
France 1-2 England: The Lionesses revived their chances of claiming an automatic qualification spot for Euro 2025 as they held on to victory in Saint-Etienne
England claimed a stunning win in France to spark life into their Euro 2025 qualifying campaign with a vital 2-1 victory in Saint-Etienne.
The Lionesses were beaten by France in Newcastle on Friday but manager Sarina Wiegman’s decision to play an unchanged outfield line-up was rewarded with an improved display from the European champions.
Georgia Stanway’s stunning strike gave the Lionesses the lead midway through the opening half, before Alessia Russo met Lauren Hemp’s excellent cross to double England’s advantage.
Russo, in particular, deserved her goal following a brilliant all-round display leading the line, but the second half was a different story for England as France took control in search of an equaliser.
The hosts were given hope as Leah Williamson caught Grace Geyoro in the box and Kadidiatou Diani sent Hannah Hampton the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Hampton then made a stunning save to deny Marie-Antoinette Katoto in the dying moments, as England held on and France suffered their first home defeat in five years.
Follow all the reaction below as England claimed their first win away to France in 51 years
France vs England LIVE: Kick-off next!
The players are out at a packed Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in St Etienne. Time for the anthems.
I think the crowd in Newcastle on Friday was much bigger than it is here in the south of France.
France vs England: Form Guide
England have been on mixed form since losing the World Cup final in August 2023. The Lionesses won two easy friendlies against Austria and Italy 7-2 and 5-1 respectively, before toiling to a 1-1 draw against Sweden in the opening game of the European qualification campaign.
Sarina Weigman’s side then beat the Republic of Ireland 2-0 before falling to a 2-1 loss against France last week.
Conversely, France have had mostly positive results in their last few games, beating Germany 2-1 in the Nations League before losing 2-0 to world champions Spain in the competition’s first ever final.
Since then, Les Bleues have three wins on the bounce, having beaten the Republic of Ireland and Sweden 1-0 before last week’s game against England.
France vs England: Sweden complete double over Ireland
In the other game in Group A3, Sweden have beaten the Republic of Ireland at home to move three points clear of England, having played a game more.
If France win, they will be through to the Euros with two games to spare. If England lose, it means the Lionesses will need to beat Ireland and Sweden next month, while hoping Sweden drop points in their other fixture against France.
It’s really must-win for the Lionesses...
France vs England: Head-to-head
England have a mixed recent record against Les Bleues, having won just two of the last five meetings between the two sides.
In addition to last week’s loss, England lost 1-0 and 3-1 in two friendlies in 2021 and 2017 respectively.
Nevertheless, England won 1-0 in their last meeting in tournament football, during the 2017 European Championship.
The Lionesses also ran out 4-1 winners in the SheBelieves Cup in 2018.
France vs England: Sarina Wiegman speaks pre-match
It’s safe to say Sarina Wiegman’s decision to name an unchanged outfield team from the 2-1 defeat to France hasn’t gone down well with everyone...
Here’s the England manager, speaking to ITV: “Everyone is fit to play and I think this is the team to start.
“As I said on Friday, I don’t think we played badly. We can do some things better in the final third. We decided to keep with the same players.
“If I see what we did on Friday, we know what we have to do better. We have had some good sessions. Yes, I’m confident. Let’s see what we do on the pitch.”
How does Euro 2025 qualifying work? League format and play-off rounds explained
If all the talk about ‘failing to qualify’ is a little confusing, you can find the explanation below.
In short, England will fail to qualify automatically if they finish third or fourth in their group, but with a play-off system involving teams in other groups, the Lionesses would still be expected to qualify for next summer’s tournament in Switzerland.
Find out all you need to know about the qualification format below.
How does Euro 2025 qualifying work? League format and play-off rounds explained
The Lionesses face Sweden, France and the Republic of Ireland in a tough qualifying group
France vs England: Home team line-up
Here’s the France side to face England:
The visitors make a couple of changes: the experienced Amandine Henry returns to midfielder and replaces Sandie Toletti. The lively Lyon winger Cascarino also drops out and the PSG midfielder Grace Geyoro comes in.
France XI: Peyraud-Magnin; De Almeida, Lakrar, Renard, Bacha; Henry, Geyoro, Dali; Dinai, Katoto, Karchaoui
Ella Toone details key to England bouncing back from painful France loss
Along with Wingman’s comments, Ella Toone has backed England’s big tournament mentality to dig them out of a Euro 2025 qualification hole.
The defending champions head for the reverse fixture in Saint-Etienne tonight confident they can get themselves back on track in tough away fixtures against the French and the Swedes either side of a home clash with Ireland.
Midfielder Toone said: “As England, we want to win every game that we step into. We know that we’ve got a great team, a great manager and we want to go to the Euros, obviously.
“We won the last one, we want to go there and do the same thing, so right now it hurts a little bit.
“we’ve got a squad full of experience and we know what it’s like. We knew this group was really tough, so we can’t dwell on these results, this result tonight, we can’t dwell on it.
“We’ve got to go again in a few days, so as a team, we’ve got to make sure that we switch our mindset, we recover really well and we learn from the game.”
Ella Toone details key to England bouncing back from painful France loss
The reigning champions lie in third place in their group at the halfway stage.
France vs England: Ella Toone reaches 50 caps
A 50th cap for Ella Toone tonight. She’s only 24!
France vs England: Team news
Sarina Wiegman makes just the one change from the side that started the 2-1 defeat at St James’ Park, and that’s the enforced one with Hannah Hampton replacing the injured Mary Earps.
Apart from that, it’s as you were for the Lionesses. Leah Williamson skippers the side and stays in the back-four, with Millie Bright at centre-back and Lucy Bronze and Jess Carter full-back.
Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway remain the pivot in midfield, with Ella Toone higher up. Beth Mead and Lauren Hemp are the wingers, with Alessia Russo leading the line once more.
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