Following their defeat on the Women’s Euro 2025 opening day to France, England were under pressure and responded superbly with an excellent performance on Wednesday.
A brace from Lauren James and a goal each for Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone means England are looking good to qualify for the Euros quarter-finals.
Nevertheless, it will not be easy as on Matchday 3 England will play a derby against Wales while the Netherlands will be hoping to make it to the quarter-finals against France.
Group D is the group of death as expected, and strangely enough, all four teams can still go through – even bottom of the table Wales currently with nil point.
Wales could only qualify if France beat the Netherlands and they defeat England. It would mean France finish with nine points and the other three teams finish on three points. When teams finish level on points the tie-breakers are as per Rule 30.01:
If two or more teams in the same group are equal on points on completion of the final tournament group stage, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine their rankings:
- higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
- superior goal difference resulting from the matches played among the teams in question;
- higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
- if, after having applied criteria a) to c), teams still have an equal ranking, criteria a) to c) are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the remaining teams to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria e) to h) apply, in the order given, to the two or more teams still equal;
- superior goal difference in all group matches;
- higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
- lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
- higher position in the overall European Qualifiers phase rankings (see Paragraph 26.01 and Annex C).
From criteria 2, the three teams would be ranked according to the games between those teams only, i.e. Netherlands 3 Wales 0, England 4 Netherlands 0, Wales v England. It means Netherlands have a -1 goal difference, England have a +4 difference and Wales have a -3 difference. Basically, Wales need to beat England by four goals to qualify, while France beat the Netherlands.
France will qualify and win the group if they get a point against the Netherlands. Should they lose against the Netherlands they could end up being eliminated. If they lose by more than three goals and England defeat Wales, they are out. This is due to criteria 2 as above with France, England and the Netherlands level with six points. Any other scenario will see France go through.
England would qualify with a win regardless of the other game’s result, but they could end up in first or second place. With a draw, they would qualify if France and the Netherlands draw, as England would finish level on points with the Netherlands and ahead on head to head. Should England lose to Wales, they would need to see France beat the Netherlands to go through, as well as avoiding defeat by more than four goals themselves.
The Netherlands have a hard task, as they need to beat France first and then hope the results go their way. with Wales to draw or beat England to send the Netherlands through. Should both England and the Netherlands win, then a win by three goals will be the only way for the Dutch to go through as per criteria 2 of the regulations.
As for the situation in the other groups, Group A – Norway are through, Iceland are out. Finland and Switzerland will battle for the second spot. The hosts only need a draw to qualify.
Group B – Spain are through, Belgium are out. Italy with four points, Portugal with one point. Italy v Spain and Portugal v Belgium. Italy need a draw to qualify. Should they lose, Portugal have a six goals differential to come back from and they will need a big help from Spain.
Group C – Sweden and Germany are through and will battle for first place. Sweden only need a draw to win the group. Poland and Denmark are out.
Knockout bracket
All times CET
Quarter-finals
Wednesday 16 July
Match 25: Winners Group A vs Runners-up Group B (Geneva, 21:00)
Thursday 17 July
Match 26: Winners Group C vs Runners-up Group D (Zurich, 21:00)
Friday 18 July
Match 27: Winners Group B vs Runners-up Group A (Bern, 21:00)
Saturday 19 July
Match 28: Winners Group D vs Runners-up Group C (Basel, 21:00)