A disappointing defeat at St James’ Park on Friday left England’s chances of automatic qualification for EURO2025 hanging in the balance, as Hervé Renard’s France struck twice from set-pieces to claim a 2-1 victory in Newcastle.
Despite an injury inside the opening ten minutes that forced an early shower for goalkeeper Mary Earps, England went on to seize the lead in the first half through Beth Mead – but Elisa de Almeida and Marie-Antoinette Katoto both capitalised on shoddy defending to ensure les Bleues sit at the top of the group with half of their matches now played.
Speaking in her post-match press conference, England boss Sarina Wiegman admitted that “the result is really disappointing and I think unnecessary,” adding that she believes the Lionesses’ performance “was good for most parts of the game.”
“We had chances of scoring more but then they scored from a corner… that was disappointing,” she continued.
Embed from Getty ImagesWiegman expressed that England controlled the match moe throughout the second half, “but created only ‘almost’ chances. So it was very frustrating to concede a goal from another set piece, another corner.”
“We know France are very good at that and we really wanted to defend set pieces very well. In some moments we did but, in too many moments we didn’t. It’s really disappointing and it’s very frustrating we missed some chances because normally we are very good at that.”
“France is a very good opponent, very pacy and very powerful. And I thought we played well at times, in and out of position. I think this team is developing – which makes it more frustrating,” continued the Dutchwoman, who must now rally her side to face this France side again in Saint-Étienne next week.
“We want to finish first in the group, but that’s a little further away now,” admitted Wiegman, as the Lionesses now sit third in their four-team group – meaning that if the table stays as it is, they would miss out on automatic qualification and instead have to battle through an arduous playoff campaign to seal their spot in Switzerland.