Mary Earps suffered a hip injury in England's home match with France. Photo: Getty Images/George Wood
The qualifying period for Women's Euro 2025, which will determine the 15 teams that will join hosts Switzerland at next year's tournament, has already begun.
England are in the deep end difficult qualifying group, and the results are still mixed. The defending champions opened their campaign in April with a 1-1 draw with Sweden followed by an away win against Ireland.
A slip in Friday's defeat to France at St James' Park leaves Sarina Wiegman with questions to answer ahead of tomorrow's second leg. However, she says she has no intention of changing the team's playing style. And England were dealt another blow with the news that goalkeeper Mary Earps would be out with a thigh injury.
England qualifying matches for Euro 2025
England face France, Sweden and Ireland home and away in three international windows. Teams that finish outside the top two and therefore do not qualify automatically will compete in the knockout stages in two rounds of two-legged matches in two windows in autumn 2024.
Friday 5 April< /strong>
England 1 Sweden 1, Wembley
Tuesday 9 April
Republic of Ireland 0 England 2, Aviva Stadium
< p>Friday 31 May
England 1 France 2, St James's Park
Tuesday 4 June
France – England, Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium, 20:00
Friday, July 12
England – Ireland, Carrow Road, 20:00.
Tuesday, July 16.
Sweden – England, Gamla Ullevi, 18:00.
How watch
All matches of the England national team are broadcast on television. from ITV Sport.
Other important dates
21-29 October
Either Euro 2025 play-off qualifiers (if required) or friendlies.
November 25 – December 3
Either Euro 2025 qualifying play-off final round (if necessary) or friendlies.
16 December
Euro 2025 draw.
England latest news
England will play France without Mary Earps on Tuesday after the Lionesses' number one was left out of the squad due to… for a minor thigh injury.
The Manchester United goalkeeper was injured in Friday's 2-1 defeat to France. He came on in the eighth minute and was replaced by Hannah Hampton.
The absence of Earps, who was named by the BBC as a sporting personality Last December was a further blow for Sarina Wiegman's side, which was already without key players through injury, including young star Lauren James, her Chelsea teammate Niamh Charles and defender ” Arsenal's Lotte Wubben-Moy.
Birmingham City uncapped goalkeeper Lucy Thomas has been promoted to the senior squad of 23 players from the reserves for Tuesday's game in Saint-Etienne, a crucial and difficult match. England have not beaten France away from home since 1973.
Earps' injury on Friday in Newcastle was a sad moment for the 31-year-old on what should have been a night to remember – her 50th international cap. She appears to have been closely monitored by the team doctor during warm-ups and then given two periods of on-field treatment, first collapsing in the second minute and then continuing to play. Soon after, she appeared to be in severe pain during a goal kick and was soon replaced.
Wigman: I won't change
An optimistic Sarina Wigman says her England team do not need to change their style of play as they aim to bounce back quickly. Friday's disappointing home defeat to France
The Lionesses return to face the world's third-ranked team in Saint-Etienne on Tuesday and while no England women's team has won away games in France in more half-century, Wiegman is full of faith that her team can win the match. .
The Dutchwoman believes England need to improve on the small details and, discussing whether her side are predictable, said: “We have an identity, we're not going to throw everything overboard because we want to be unpredictable for the opposition because then we will be unpredictable for themselves. We want to build on what we already have, do a couple of things better, make a couple of small changes and build on our strengths.”
Wiegman believes England need to be “more on the ball” to improve their performance at St James' Park, where a 2-1 defeat saw them drop below Sweden into third in the group. France will guarantee qualification if they win on Tuesday at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, where former England captain David Beckham was ignominiously sent off against Argentina at the 1998 Men's World Cup.
When asked if the game will take place on Tuesday. “a necessary victory,” Wigman replied: “No, the desire to win. Of course, it would really help us to be in a better position. We feel comfortable that we can achieve a good result.”
England are in an unusually tough qualifying group, which includes three 2022 semi-finalists, but Mead says they enjoy a tougher format with more competitive games, adding: “To be the best you have to beat the best and obviously after winning the Euro is our goal, but we have enough quality to play against any team and beat them. So it's a tough group – most people would probably say it's a group of death – but again, to be the best we have to beat the best.”
Who are England's opponents in the group? France
Often called greatness but still consistently lags behind in major tournaments.
Led by Herve Renard, who famously masterminded Saudi Arabia's surprise victory over Argentina at the 2022 Men's World Cup in Qatar, they reached the quarter-finals at the Women's World Cup last year but lost on penalties to tournament co-hosts Australia. France also finished second in the inaugural Women's Nations League in February.
They have a team full of stars from Paris Saint-Germain and record eight-time Women's Champions League winners Lyon, and they have strong head-to-head with England last year.
Key player: Kadidiatou Diani (forward, Lyon)
Results so far: France 1, Republic of Ireland 0; Sweden 0 France 1, England 1 France 2
Sweden
A regular participant in the latter stages of major women's tournaments and silver medalists at the last two Olympic Games, Sweden is a giant of global women's football and finished third at the 2023 World Cup.< /p>
They were completely crushed by England at Bramall Lane in the Euro 2022 semi-finals but remain a formidable team.
The Swedes, surprisingly, only finished third in their Nations League group last fall, largely due to a costly away defeat to Switzerland – which is why they ended up in pot three after the draw.
Key Player :Stina Blackstenius (forward, Arsenal)
Results so far:England 1 Sweden 1; Sweden 0 France 1, Ireland 0 Sweden 3
Republic of Ireland
The Irish are entering a new era under head coach Eileen Gleeson. She replaces Vera Pow, whose four-year reign ended after last summer's World Cup when Ireland were eliminated in the group stages.
Gleeson made an impressive six appearances in her six Nations League appearances. wins League B to earn promotion to League A in this latest cycle. As a result, they beat Albania, Hungary and Northern Ireland twice. However, they will go into this League A campaign as major underdogs against three of the top five teams in the world.
Key Player:Katie McCabe (left back/winger, Arsenal)< br/>Results so far:France 1, Ireland 0; Ireland 0 England 2, Ireland 0 Sweden 3
How does qualifying work?
Three of the top five teams in the world are in Group A3: France (third), England (fourth) and Sweden. (fifth place) along with the Republic of Ireland (24th place), but only the top two will be guaranteed automatic qualification for next summer's tournament in Switzerland.
However, England's chances of qualifying for Euro 2025 and defending the title overall remain relatively good, as the new format means the third and fourth-placed teams in their group will take part in the play-offs as a back-up route to the final.
The qualification process was merged with the Women's Nations League, which began in 2023. England play in League A and are therefore guaranteed to face strong teams in qualifying, while teams in Leagues B and C cannot automatically qualify for the Euros and can only hope for play-off places at best.
Full qualifying draw
League A
- Group A1: Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Finland
- < strong>Group A2:Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Czech Republic
- Group A3:France, England, Sweden, Ireland
- Group A4:Germany, Austria, Iceland, Poland
League B
- Group B1: Switzerland, Hungary, Turkey, Azerbaijan
- Group B2:Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Israel
- Group B3:Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Malta
- Group B4: > Wales, Croatia, Ukraine, Kosovo
League C
- Group C1:Belarus , Lithuania, Cyprus, Georgia
- Group C2:Slovenia, Latvia, North Macedonia, Moldova
- Group C3:Greece, Montenegro, Andorra, Faroe Islands.
- Group C4:Romania, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Armenia
- Group C5:Albania, Estonia, Luxembourg
When will Euro 2025 be held?
The tournament with the participation of 16 teams will take place from 2 to 27 July 2025.
Where will the 2025 tournament be held?
Switzerland has become host country after beating competition from Poland, France and jointly Denmark/Finland/Norway/Sweden.
Who are the defending champions?
England are the defending champions after lifting the trophy on home soil in 2022.
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