Summary
England will defend their European crown in Switzerland next summer, after an uncomfortable goalless draw in Gothenburg secured their EURO2025 qualification.
England and Sweden begun their qualification journeys together in April at Wembley with a 1-1 draw, and a repeat of that result would have sufficed for England. Sweden, on the other hand, needed all three points to move forward without a playoff battle.
Despite a strong start by the Lionesses, Sweden defended well and saw out the half without conceding, growing into the game as they did so. A nervous and end-to-end second half followed, with Hannah Hampton well tested by the Swedish attack – ultimately though, England held out for a crucial point.
As it happened
England started brightly in Gothenburg, with the reintroduced Ella Toone looking lively and having more luck progressing the ball than in the reverse fixture in April. The Lionesses earned a couple of freekicks from their early pressure but could not find a finishing touch in the final third, dominating possession but with no shots to show for it. Sweden reminded England of their capabilities around the 16-minute mark, with Leah Williamson stepping up to protect the goal after nice footwork from Johanna Rytting Kaneryd opened up the English defence for the first time. Alessia Russo looked to settle the Lionesses’ nerves a moment later from Georgia Stanway’s cross from the left wing, but couldn’t quite get hold of the ball. Another chance would follow from a Beth Mead freekick a few minutes later – the delivery was good, but it ended up bouncing behind the goal. Sweden continued to hold out and grow into the game.
Embed from Getty ImagesMadelen Janogy had her first real threat of the game just before the half hour mark, demonstrating her pace and strength down the left wing to beat Lucy Bronze and swing a ball into the box. Again, Williamson did well to clear. The game became more even as the clock ticket towards halftime, with entertaining physical battles across the field; England edged the majority of those encounters but Sweden defended well both in the air and on the ground, remaining well organised and frustrating the Lionesses. The first effort on goal from England didn’t come until the 36th minute, when Stanway elected to let loose from just outside the box. There aren’t many European defenders who don’t know of her long-range rocket ability, but fortunately for Sweden the shot lacked her full power and bounced just wide. A few minutes later, Hanna Lundkvist pounced on a clearance to the edge of the box but her shot was too high. Rytting Kaneryd evaded Jess Carter to sneak in at the back post only moments later, but couldn’t direct her effort on target either. Sweden enjoyed more pressure in the final five minutes of the half than the previous forty, and the interval arrived at an opportune time for England.
The game resumed with Evelyn Ijeh replacing Janogy for Sweden. Though England started on the front foot, the first major chance fell to Peter Gerhardsson’s side – Filippa Angeldal opened fire through a thciket of England players and neither Millie Bright nor Keira Walsh were able to block. Hannah Hampton reacted rapidly to dive left and paw the shot away. Chelsea’s other keeper was called into action just a couple of minutes after – Zećira Mušović collected Lucy Bronze’s free header at the back post after Mead delivered another strong freekick all the way across the box. The second half was becoming truly end-to-end – Rytting Kaneryd attempted a drive down the right wing, but a similar move came moments later from Alessia Russo. That run sparked some lovely attacking passing by Stanway and Mead, and the former had her second attempt on goal – this one rattled the side netting.
Embed from Getty ImagesUrged on by the home support, the game became increasingly stretched and frenetic heading into the final half hour. Hanna Bennison and Rosa Kafaji entered the fray, replacing Kosovare Asllani and Julia Zigiotti Olme. England had another strong chance coming in from the wings when Lauren Hemp looped the ball across to Beth Mead; play was stopped for a head injury, though, when she collided with Jonna Andersson. The Swede recovered and England had another chance – a short corner routine and a couple of strong crosses from Toone couldn’t be turned home by her colleagues in the box, and Mušović leapt to collect Williamson’s eventual header.
Everything almost changed a moment later at the other end. An excellent run by Rytting Kaneryd, this time on the left, saw her slot a fantastic pass to Kafaji. Williamson slid in and totally failed to get the ball – the England captain was extremely fortunate that the substitute stayed on her feet. Millie Bright cleared quickly and the resulting corner was no more comfortable. Again it was Bright who got the ball away after a momentary tangle with Hampton. Sweden smelled blood and continued to press, winning yet another corner with a little under twenty minutes remaining after a failed clearance by Russo and an urgent one by Bright. Andersson’s delivery was well dealt with by Williamson, but England needed to shift the momentum.
They had a brief rest as England physios were called on to tend to Hampton, who caught Angeldal’s foot in the ribs after diving onto the ball. Fortunately for England she was fit to continue, and at arround the same time Chloe kelly was introduced for Beth Mead. Kelly would need the ball far from where it was, though – Sweden continued piling pressure on, and Hampton was unnerved enough to have to leap for a shot/cross that turned out to skim past her far post. Fridolina Rolfö lurked in the box to latch onto Bennison’s corner kicks, while Andersson also heaped balls into the box and Rytting Kaneryd and Kafaji wriggled around causing chaos. With ten minutes remaining, England were in real danger of conceding a goal that would condemn them to the playoffs. Angeldal saw an opportunity from thirty yards out and forced Hampton into a somewhat frantic save – the ball bounced free afterwards and would’ve been bundled home by Ijeh were it not for Lucy Bronze’s clearance (the Swede was booked after colliding with the defender).
Embed from Getty ImagesOnly five minutes remained. England started to regain a little more composure with Stanway chancing a powerful ball right across the face of Mušović’s goal. It might have snuck in at the far post and the Chelsea keeper wasn’t taking any chances, rising high to collect it instead. Gerhardsson urged Sofia Jakobsson on at 88 minutes to give Sweden a final burst of attacking energy, knowing his side had hardly any time to avoid the playoffs. Sarina Wiegman, meanwhile, having said before the game that her side would never play for a draw, was clearly happy to take one now – Lauren Hemp made way for Niamh Charles in a distinctly defensive switch.
The four minutes of injury time were desperate for Sweden and felt long for England. Lucy Bronze held strong to hold off Kafaji right in front of goal, eventually clearing wide for a throw-in. Fran Kirby’s introduction for Toone was one method employed to wind down the clock by England, who used their throws deep in their attacking half to hold the ball in the corner where possible. There was very nearly a late shock for them, though, as Swedish players swarmed onto a long ball up to the top in the dying seconds of added time. It eventually all came to naught, though, and they were out of time.
Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses will defend their title in Switzerland next year, while Sweden – despite giving them a serious scare in the second half – must face the playoff route.
You’ll be able to follow every step of England’s journey to EURO2025 here on FromTheSpot, and on our X account.