Reigning champions England surged into the quarter-finals of the Women’s Euro 2025 with a dominant 6-1 victory over neighbours Wales on Sunday, clinching second place in Group D and setting up a heavyweight clash with Sweden in the last eight.
Goals from Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo, Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones ensured Sarina Wiegman’s side finished the group stage on a high, just behind group winners France, who defeated the Netherlands 5-2.
England now face a formidable Sweden side—Group C winners with a perfect record—on Thursday in Zurich. “It is going to be a difficult game. We watched [Sweden] the other night and they were really good. We need to be on our best game,” Toone said post-match. “But we’re feeling confident—I think they should be scared.”
The second-place finish could, however, work in England’s favour. Should they overcome Sweden, they are likely to avoid a semi-final clash with world champions Spain.
England were in complete control from the outset in front of a vocal crowd, including thousands of spirited Welsh supporters. Stanway opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 13th minute after a foul in the area, calmly slotting into the bottom left corner past Olivia Clark.
Toone doubled the lead just eight minutes later, capitalising on a poor clearance from Rhiannon Roberts. Russo collected the loose ball and fed Toone, who scored at the second attempt.
The third came before the half-hour mark as Lauren James fed Toone down the right, whose deep cross was nodded home by Hemp at the far post. Russo added a fourth just before the interval, again set up by Toone, with a clinical low finish after controlling the cut-back with one touch.
England didn’t ease off after the break. Mead made it five in the 72nd minute, cutting inside her defender and finishing neatly. Wales, to their credit, responded with a goal of their own as Hannah Cain delighted the travelling fans with a 76th-minute strike.
But any hope of a late rally was quashed when Beever-Jones, making her major tournament debut, headed home Mead’s cross in the 89th minute to round off the scoring.
“We scored six goals and a big part of the game we dominated—a very good game,” said England boss Wiegman. “Playing well is the most important—who scores is not that important.”
Despite the heavy defeat, Wales marked their first appearance at a major tournament with pride and resilience. Jess Fishlock, Wales’ most capped player, reflected on the experience: “This is the beginning of a journey for us. We’ve played three of the best teams in the world at this tournament and we’ve found out how big that jump is.”
England, World Cup finalists in 2023, have now beaten Wales in 10 of their 11 meetings, with the only blemish being a goalless draw in 2018. For Wiegman’s squad, attention now turns to Thursday’s quarter-final – a true test against one of Europe’s most consistent performers.