ZURICH: France staked their claim to be contenders for Women’s Euro 2025 by beating holders England 2-1 on Saturday and joining the Netherlands at the top of Group D.
Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore netted within three minutes of each other toward the end of the first half as England became the first defending champions to lose their opening fixture at the Euros.
Laurent Bonadei’s team are level on three points with leaders the Dutch, who cruised past Wales 3-0 earlier on Saturday, after striking a big blow in the battle to qualify from possibly the hardest group at the tournament.
France face underdogs Wales next on Wednesday while England have a huge clash with the Netherlands, again at the Letzigrund Stadium.
“I expected a good performance because we prepared well. It’s always good to get off to a good start even if it’s only the first match,” said Delphine Cascarino.
“We were really good both going forward and in defense.”
The French were better all over the pitch, driven by the fabulous wing play of Baltimore and Cascarino, while Keira Walsh’s lovely strike with three minutes remaining made the scoreline flatter unconvincing England.
Not even Lauren James’ return to the starting XI could inspire England, the Chelsea star way below her best as the Lionesses struggled to put any pressure on France until it was too late.
“Of course I’m very disappointed,” said Sarina Wiegman, who lost her perfect Euros record as coach with Saturday’s defeat.
“We had three very good weeks and we played really well, but that’s never a guarantee that you win the game. We also know that France is a proper team too, so you have to do things really well. We just didn’t get it right.”
Alessia Russo thought she had given England the lead in the 16th minute when she prodded home on the rebound after Pauline Peyraud-Magnin kept out Lauren Hemp’s shot, only for the goal to be ruled out for a razor-thin offside in the build-up.
From there, France took the initiative, pushing England back into their own half and dominating possession, and they had a deserved lead through Katoto in the 36th minute when the Lyon forward guided home Cascarino’s low cross.
And three minutes later Baltimore made the scoreline accurately represent the balance of play with a wonderful individual goal, easily skipping around Lucy Bronze and Leah Williamson before rifling her finish into the top corner.
Walsh found the top corner with England’s first shot on target and Wiegman’s team almost snatched a point in the dying moments when Selma Bacha cleared Michelle Agyemang’s shot off the line and saved the result for France.
Vivianne Miedema scored her 100th international goal as the Netherlands swept past Wales to take the initiative in the group.
Manchester City striker Miedema opened the scoring on the stroke of halftime in Lucerne with a beautiful curling strike, completing her century of goals for her country.
Victoria Pelova and Esmee Brugts netted the other goals after the break to give Wales a rude awakening in their major tournament debut.
“They defended really well and I’m glad my goal helped to start it all up,” said Miedema.
“In the second half, you saw that we can play a bit more, and eventually we also scored two really good goals.”
Andries Jonker’s team are top on goal difference while Wales already have their work cut out to qualify.
Rhian Wilkinson’s side could easily have been behind before Miedema, who was a doubt for the tournament after suffering a hamstring injury in April, struck, as Jill Roord crashed a rocket of a shot off the post in the 35th minute.
Pelova doubled the Oranje’s lead two minutes after the break when she rifled home from Danielle van de Donk’s pass, and the Arsenal midfielder set up Brugts to make absolutely sure of the points in the 57th minute with a perfect deep cross.
