England are in action again this evening as they face Sweden in the final fixture of qualifying for Euro 2025. Following a 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland last Friday, the Lionesses know that a draw or better will be enough for them to earn their place at next summer’s tournament in Switzerland.
Sarina Wiegman’s side are the reigning European champions and will want to put in a strong defence of their title. However, they have looked undercooked since losing the final of the 2023 World Cup and have fallen short of the supremely high standards they have set themselves during this qualifying campaign.
An opening 1-1 draw against the Swedes put them on the back foot and a loss to France at St. James’ Park left them with no margin for error. Since then, England defeated the French away from home and secure a win against Ireland to put them in driving seat ahead of this crucial fixture.
Sweden now sit behind them in Group A3 but if they triumph at home tonight they will draw level on points with the Lionesses and consign them to the playoffs due to a better head-to-head record.
Follow all the action as England take on Sweden in Euro 2025 qualifying:
Sweden v England LIVE
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England travel to Sweden for a crucial Euro 2025 qualifier with kick off at 6pm
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The Lionesses will secure automatic qualification if they avoid defeat tonight
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Elsewhere, Gareth Southgate has resigned as England men’s manager after Euro 2024 final defeat
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England XI: Hampton; Bronze, Bright, Williamson, Carter; Walsh, Toone, Stanway; Mead, Russo, Hemp
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Sweden XI: Musovic; Lundkvist, Sembrant, Eriksson, Andersson; Angeldal, Asllani, Olme; Rytting Kaneryd, Janogy, Rolfo
England team changes
17:04 , Mike Jones
Sarina Wiegman makes three changes to the starting line-up for England’s match against Sweden. Maya Le Tissier and Alex Greenwood drop out of the defence with Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze brought back in.
Further up field Jess Park drops to the bench after impressing against Republic of Ireland with Ella Toone back in as her replacement.
Sweden v England line-ups
16:59 , Mike Jones
England XI: Hampton; Bronze, Bright, Williamson, Carter; Walsh, Toone, Stanway; Mead, Russo, Hemp
Sweden XI: Musovic; Lundkvist, Sembrant, Eriksson, Andersson; Angeldal, Asllani, Olme; Rytting Kaneryd, Janogy, Rolfo
Williamson feels excited and ‘lucky’ playing for England
16:52 , Mike Jones
Leah Williamson also provided an insight into how it feels to captain her country and play for the Lionesses saying: “I love playing for England, anyone who gets to wear this kit is very lucky.
“It’s been an exciting time, it’s a pressurised situation and it’s competitive football. We’re trying to qualify for a tournament we won last time.
“I’m always chasing a certain level of consistency, which is a challenge in itself.”
England can score more goals
16:44 , Mike Jones
Leah Williamson wants the Lionesses to regain their cutting edge in front of goal and start putting away chances when they create them.
Speaking about the 2-1 win over Ireland last Friday the England captain said: “In every game we’ve played we’ve had the opportunity to score a lot more, which would make those moments that we get a bit nervy not so nervy. It’s not a lack of concentration or trying, it’s just the way they’ve gone.
“We could have put them to bed a lot earlier.
“Friday night against Republic of Ireland was another example of that when we could have scored more goals. Obviously winning 2-1 sounds a lot closer than we would have liked considering how we dominated.”
Wiegman empathises with Gareth Southgate after Euros defeat
16:37 , Mike Jones
The England women’s team watched the Euro 2024 final together from their hotel in Gothenburg ahead of their qualifier and were saddened when Gareth Southgate’s side lost.
Sarina Wiegman is one of the few who can understand what Southgate went through as she took charge of the Lionesses for the 2023 World Cup final defeat.
“First of all it took me three weeks to get over it,” Wiegman said, “No it’s very hard, when you give everything and then it can go both ways of course, because you have an opponent who really wants to win too and has those qualities too, so when you have given your everything you hope you win and then when you don’t win you’re really disappointed.
“You start thinking ‘did we get everything out of ourselves?’ ‘did we do everything that we could?’ what was in our control, and then you have to accept it.
“It’s easier to accept a win than to accept a loss but for me it took a while.”
Williamson on England men losing to Spain at Euro 2024
16:30 , Mike Jones
The Lionesses captain said she was ‘devastated’ for the England men’s team after their 2-1 defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final but looked for the silver lining that winning a trophy will feel ‘sweeter’ when they finally get over the line.
“Devastated for them, especially knowing some of them personally as well,” Williamson said, “I think what Gareth and his team have done over the last three or four years, reaching finals and giving us that…bringing that dream closer to reality.
“We are very lucky as fans of England, men’s and women’s, to be in that position that we’re in. We didn’t quite get over the line, to a fantastic Spanish team and I know they’ll be devastated about it.
“It will take them a while I think, to get over it. But us as a country, we’ve been blessed with incredible tournaments and when those wins come, which I do believe they will, then they will be even sweeter.”
Gareth Southgate is right to go – England need a new chapter
16:23 , Mike Jones
Gareth Southgate has decided his future. It was described as 50-50 before the Euro 2024 final, but after losing to Spain, the mood was naturally much gloomier.
Part of that was the atmosphere, as much as the painful late defeat. Southgate decided to stay after the 2022 World Cup because he felt the team was in a good place and there was no real issue with a mere quarter-final elimination. England narrowly lost a 50-50 game against France, so the mood towards Southgate was positive.
After this Euros, it was anything but. Throughout the tournament he repeatedly made reference to the fan opprobrium and the beer cups being thrown at him. That will to castigate Southgate – his “professional capability… questioned beyond belief”, as he put it – has similarly sat alongside the wider punditry discussion around the team.
That went from one extreme to another over Euro 2024. Southgate is said to have been irritated by the extent of the criticism from pundits he knows personally.
Gareth Southgate is right to go – England need a new chapter
Lionesses are evolving under Wiegman
16:16 , Mike Jones
The Lionesses have faced some criticism for their performances since losing the World Cup final as they have been unable to replicate the ruthless nature of their play that saw them triumph at Euro 2022.
Sarina Wiegman isn’t too concerned and spoke about the evolution her team is going through saying: “We know what we’re working on, we know what direction we want to go in.
“When things go really well we try to stay neutral because we know what we are doing and why we are doing it. And then when things don’t go that well we also stay neutral and keep working on the things it’s good to work on to improve.
“We never play a match to draw, we play the match to win. And if we win the game we might even win the group too. We’re approaching the game to win and we’ll see what happens.”
England want to beat Sweden says Wiegman
16:09 , Mike Jones
Despite only needing a draw to secure a place at Euro 2025, Sarina Wiegman says her team won’t be settling and will play to win the match tonight.
Here she is giving her thoughts on the game:
Mary Earps or Hannah Hampton?
16:02 , Mike Jones
One of the key decisions for Sarina Wiegman tonight is who she picks in goal. Mary Earps has missed the last two matches through a hip injury but is fit to start while Hannah Hampton has proven herself between the sticks against both France and Ireland.
When asked about the goalkeepers, Wiegman siad: “There’s a lot of competitiveness going on in the goalkeeping group but also in the team. There’s a decision to be made for tomorrow and then we don’t see each other for three months so players will play for their clubs and we will see.”
Lionesses triumph over Republic of Ireland to move within a point of Euro 2025
15:55 , Mike Jones
England took one step closer to booking a place at Euro 2025 with a 2-1 victory over the Republic of Ireland in their Carrow Road qualifier.
Alessia Russo fired the defending European champions into the lead after just five minutes in front of a sold-out crowd in Norwich, undeterred by the soggy conditions and delighted to welcome the Lionesses back for the first time since the 2022 Arnold Clark Cup.
Georgia Stanway doubled England’s advantage with a second-half penalty but Julie-Ann Russell denied the hosts a clean sheet in the fourth and final minute of added time.
Lionesses triumph over Republic of Ireland to move within a point of Euro 2025
‘Really important’ to secure automatic qualification says Williamson
15:48 , Mike Jones
England captain Leah Williamson explained that it is ‘really important’ for the Lionesses to qualify for Euro 2025 automatically and avoid the playoffs.
The Lionesses need just one point to secure automatic qualification when they face Sweden on Tuesday evening. If Sweden were to win on Tuesday, the Lionesses would finish third in the group and enter the playoffs this year.
“Obviously we are reigning champions so we want to be at the tournament first and foremost,” said Williamson.
“Securing qualification means you have a year to prepare and know where you want to be. The later you leave it, the more it can have a detriment to your preparations.
“It’s really important to us and that’s why we’re fully focused.”
Williamson on ‘sloppy’ defending versus Ireland
15:42 , Mike Jones
Friday night’s victory over Republic of Ireland was fairly regulation for England who took a controlled 2-0 lead before conceding late in the game.
It was the fifth goal they have conceded in five matches and captain Leah Williamson said the 2-1 scoreline sounded “a lot closer” than it needed to be.
“When you have not scored that many – in all the games we have played, we’ve had the opportunity to score more – it then makes those moments a bit nervy,” she said.
“That’s when sloppiness can come in or pressurised situations. I don’t think it’s a lack of concentration or trying on our part. It’s just the way the games have gone.
“We could have put the games to bed a lot earlier and Friday was another example of that. Whether that stops us conceding, who knows?”
Sarina Wiegman on previous draw with Sweden
15:35 , Mike Jones
The England boss spoke in yesterday’s pre-match press conference and touched on the game at Wembley which saw these two sides draw 1-1.
She said: “I think we definitely want to do better than we did at Wembley, we could have executed better than we did and we’ve been working on that and I hope we will improve.
“It’s a good team. Very structured team. Powerful with lots of experience. They can play direct and get behind the defence. We are aware of that and we have prepared. They have to win but that’s what we aim to do too.”
Gareth Southgate steps down as England manager after Euro 2024 final defeat
15:28 , Mike Jones
Gareth Southgate has stepped down as England manager after Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain.
Southgate’s tenure comes to an end after nearly eight years in charge, guiding England to four major tournaments.
The 53-year-old oversaw 102 matches, winning 61 and losing just 17 during his time in charge, becoming the first manager to lead England’s men to two major tournament finals.
Gareth Southgate steps down as England manager after Euro 2024 final defeat
Sweden v England prediction
15:21 , Mike Jones
Sweden will take confidence from the 1-1 draw they earned against England when the two teams met earlier in qualification but Sarina Wiegman’s side have seemingly rediscovered their form.
They were dominant against the Republic of Ireland though lacked a ruthlessness in front of goal which could hurt them against a decent Swedish team. This will be closely contested but England should have enough quality to come out on top.
Sweden 1-2 England.
England team news and predicted line-ups
15:14 , Mike Jones
England are still without Lauren James, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Kayla Rendell to injury, while Niamh Charles managed a substitute appearance against Ireland following a calf problem. Hannah Hampton started in goal for that match but Sarina Wiegman has a decision to make in goal with Mary Earps available after her hip problem has been resolved.
Predicted line-ups
Sweden XI: Musovic; Andersson, Kullberg, Sembrant, Rybrink; Rolfo, Olme, Bennison; Rytting Kaneryd, Jakobsson.
England XI: Hampton, Bronze, Williamson, Bright, Carter; Walsh, Stanway; Hemp, Park, Mead; Russo.
How to watch Sweden v England
15:07 , Mike Jones
The Euro 2025 qualifier is due to kick off at 6pm on Tuesday 16 July at Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg.
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on ITV1, with coverage on the channel from 5.30pm. A live stream will be available on ITVX.
Sweden v England
15:00 , Mike Jones
England travel to Sweden this evening with the aim of sealing automatic qualification for Euro 2025. A draw or better will be enough for the Lionesses after they defeated the Republic of Ireland 2-1 last Friday thanks to goals from Alessia Russo and Georgia Stanway.
That victory moves them above Sweden in Group A3 and gives them a three point advantage heading into this final qualification fixture. Should the Lionesses lose they will need to progress through a series of play-offs in order to reach the tournament in Switzerland and have the chance to defend their title.
For their part, Sweden – who drew with England in the first game of qualifying – need to win. They lost 2-1 to France last time out meaning their promising campaign is at risk of ending on a sour note.
Good afternoon!
14:23 , Mike Jones
Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Euro 2025 action as England take on Sweden in what is effectively a final to see which of the two teams secures automatic qualification for the tournament.
The teams played out a 1-1 draw in their earlier fixture and a similar result will be enough for the Lionesses to finish ahead of Sweden in Group A3.
Tonight’s hosts need to win to secure their place at the tournament and avoid a playoff but but Sarina Wiegman’s side will be confident following back-to-back wins against France and Ireland.
We’ll have all the latest team news, line-ups and updates throughout the afternoon so stick with us as we build-up to kick off at 6pm.
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