England vs Italy live score: Euro 2025 semi-final updates

Times

3 days ago

Italy appear concerned with preventing England from controlling the middle of the pitch, so allow them to have the ball in wide areas (Hamzah Khalique-Loonat writes). But it really only requires a sharp combination or good cross for England to then get into the box, as Alessia Russo has just found, shooting wide. The Italy wing backs are having a tough time, especially with England's full backs — Lucy Bronze and Alex Greenwood — advancing and rotating with the wingers.
England's biggest chance of the game so far falls to Alessia Russo, who wins the physical battle against the Italy defence and finds some space in the box. She swings a leg at it, but the ball fizzes past the post.
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The first decent chance of the game falls to Lauren James (Hamzah Khalique-Loonat writes). It's not too challenging for Laura Giuliani, the Italy goalkeeper, however, it's worth reflecting on James' movement: she starts from a wide position, in Lucia di Guglielmo's blindside, and darts across into the middle of the box from the right. England's right side is full of movement at the moment. Luzy Bronze has just inverted into midfield, while James has pulled wide, as their team-mates build up. Consequently, England are finding it fairly easy to work the ball upfield when Italy press.
England are defending in a 4-5-1 (Hamzah Khalique-Loonat writes). The midfield five are compact centrally, and an intercepted pass leads to a break, and nearly a shot on goal. The speed at which England broke out of their shape will have Italy wary of being so loose again. Lucy Bronze has started to move a bit higher in possession, now, although it's not so easy to see at home with the television camera angle. Her presence means that Lauren James can move infield, and get a bit closer to Alessia Russo, who has been isolated at times during the tournament.
Lauren Hemp gets the ball in the box and Lauren James is on the end of it, but her snapshot with her right foot trickles safely into the goalkeeper's hands.
England are building with a conventional back four, with their full backs high and wide (Hamzah Khalique-Loonat writes). Keira Walsh is sitting ahead of them as the team's No6. However, Italy are attempting to screen passes into her, when England have the ball in deep areas, using a front two of Cristiana Girelli and Sofia Cantore on either side of Walsh. To evade the pressure, Walsh has now just dropped deep alongside the centre backs.
The Lionesses have started on the front foot, getting some crosses into the box, moving the ball forward at speed and generally being positive.
Eighty eight per cent of all goals at Euro 2025 have been scored from inside the penalty area (Hamzah Khalique-Loonat writes); that space in the heart of the box has been the most productive.
Warm-ups finished. Anthems sung (Italy won that particular contest, for me, by the way). And away we go.
Lucy Bronze is making her 35th major tournament (World Cup/Euros) appearance for England tonight, moving level with Jill Scott for the joint-most all-time for the Lionesses (Hamzah Khalique-Loonat writes).
She has also been directly involved in seven goals (four goals, three assists) for the Lionesses so far in 2025, her best ever tally in a calendar year.
In a flagrant disregard of the seating plan, my assigned spot in the press box has been taken by an Italian journalist (Kit Shepard writes). No mixing it with La Gazzetta and La Repubblica for me tonight, then. I'd spent the past half an hour learning Italian and everything…
Meanwhile, the FA have a strong delegation at Stade de Genève. Mark Bullingham (chief executive), Debbie Hewitt (president), Gavin Step (women's technical director) and Dan Ashworth (chief football officer) are all here.
Sarina Wiegman's substitutions have become a point of contention over the past few years (Hamzah Khalique-Loonat writes). The England manager tends to trust her starting XI and rarely makes early changes. But calls have grown for Wiegman to be more proactive, especially as England have started a number of their matches slowly at Euro 2025.
Below is a flow chart which shows 'On-Ball Value' for England and Sweden in the quarter-finals, provided by data company Hudl. On-Ball Value is a statistic that measures the likelihood of actions leading to goals. This includes passes, dribbles, shots, defensive actions. England had their most threatening period after Wiegman made her substitutions.
'I never knew if I could make my dream into reality,' says Hannah Hampton, England's goalkeeper and hero of the quarter-final penalty shoot-out (Hamzah Khalique-Loonat writes).
Hampton was born cross-eyed and had several operations to correct her eyesight and her lack of depth perception. Here's her story, as told by Mario Ledwith and Kit Shepard.
If there's something to watch out for tonight, it's her passing with the ball at her feet. Lucy Bronze, the England full back, said she's the best in the world in terms of his distribution. Her rangey, drilled passing allows England to move upfield in an instant, but it will be interesting to see how she uses it: if Italy sit back and don't press high, Hampton will have less of an opportunity to hit passes in behind.
We're a long way away from this eventuality, but it will be fascinating to see what Sarina Wiegman does if this match goes to penalties (James Gheerbrant writes). Four of England's seven takers against Sweden missed: Lauren James, Beth Mead, Alex Greenwood and Grace Clinton. Mead said afterwards she was disappointed not to execute her skill; she'd probably back herself to have another go, but what about the others? Would there be a case for given fearless young striker Michelle Agyemang one of the spot-kicks if she's on the pitch? Might Wiegman be tempted to try and keep one of the senior players whom she took off against Sweden, like Keira Walsh or Ella Toone, up her sleeve this time if it looks like the match is heading that way?
Taking the knee was performatism of the worst kind, so I'm heartened by the news that the England women's team have dropped it from their pre-match ritual (Matthew Syed writes).
Taking the knee wasn't about tackling sectarianism but about signalling virtue in football's biggest markets, like the English Premier League — despite the fact that the UK is one of the least racist and most successfully integrated nations in the world. Sure, we have had problems, not least over recent years as a consequence of mass uncontrolled immigration, but let us not indulge the hysteria that things are so terrible that footballers must genuflect before the modern purity cult we call anti-racism. It is the worst kind of gesture politics.
• Read the full article
Sweden, whom England beat in the quarter-finals, were a very familiar foe, with several players who play or have played in the WSL, and from a country whose native football culture is strongly influenced by English football, via coaches like Bob Houghton and Roy Hodgson (James Gheerbrant writes). And of course, England had played Sweden at the Euros in 2022. Italy are the total opposite. Every single member of their squad, bar the Bayern Munich midfielder Adriana Caruso, plays in Italy. The world rankings consider Sweden a more formidable opponent, but Italy are much more of an unknown quantity.
It feels like we've seen two faces of Sarina Wiegman's team so far in this tournament (James Gheerbrant writes): the serious, ultra-professional outfit who can dispatch lesser opponents with aplomb, and the team who can harness a little bit of wildness and emotion, who can let the magnitude and the stakes of the occasion power them too. The semi-final feels like it will require them to bring those two sides together; to draw on all the big-game experience they have behind them, and the glint of the opportunity in front of them.
• Read the full article here
Ian Wright has spoken on ITV about England's decision to not take the knee, following the abuse directed at Jess Carter on social media (Hamzah Khalique-Loonat writes).
The former England and Arsenal forward said taking the knee is a personal decision, and that he would still do so if he was still playing.
'The decision not to take the knee — it should have always been a personal thing. If you want to take the knee, take the knee. I think it was always forced on people,' he said. 'Personally, if I was playing now, for everything that the knee represents in terms of justice, equality and everything that goes with it, I would still take the knee. Even if I had to do it on my own.
'But over the years I've said everything there is to say about racism and how it affects people, and nothing gets any better. What I would say to people now is: prepare your children, prepare your family, make them resilient towards it, because it's going to continue to come. People will say 'Wrighty, that's a bit negative, you're making them win'. They're winning, they're winning now and they'll continue to win. So I would urge people to get resilient against it. It's always going to happen, we can't stop it.'
My colleague, Matthew Syed, wrote yesterday on why he believes taking the knee has lost meaning, however, it's clear that Wright feels differently, and in his view it still holds weight and represents more than just a gesture.
Sarina Wiegman has been speaking ahead of kick-off (Hamzah Khalique-Loonat writes).
On dropping Jess Carter for Esme Morgan, she said: 'Yes, that decision is based on the tactical challenges we have [posed by Italy]. In this game we think it's best to put Esme in. Jess is good and trained well, and is ready.'
Wiegman added that England are aiming to dominate their opponents tonight, and find some of the fluency that has been missing this tournament: 'I hope so — that's what we've been working to. We want to take our game to the next level all the time.'
The England manager added that she expects a tactical challenge from Italy, England's opponents tonight. 'Italy have played in different shapes and have changed [depending on] tactics of the opponent. I hope we will be on the ball and dominate the game.'
Italy utilise the flanks and get the ball out wide by the most direct means possible (Kit Shepard writes). About 10 per cent of their completed passes are defined as 'long' by Opta (meaning they travel more than 32 metres or are a long, high ball) and this rate is the second-highest at Euro 2025.
Against Norway (in the quarter-finals), Italy regularly played long, diagonal passes from the centre of the pitch to get their wingers involved.
• Read everything you need to know about Italy
Andrea Soncin has made one change for Italy from the XI which started the 2-1 quarter-final win against Norway (James Gheerbrant writes): the midfielder Emma Severini has made way for Martina Lenzini, a defender. Not a huge surprise to see a defensively-minded change for the Azzurre: we'll have to wait to see exactly how they line up, but a back five isn't out of the question.
Italy: Giuliani, Lenzini, Salvai, Linari, Di Guglielmo, Caruso, Giugliano, Bonansea, Oliviero, Girelli, Cantore.
A bit of pre-match listening to get you in the mood here with the latest episode of the Game podcast. Let Tom Clarke's dulcet tones calm your jitters as he is joined by Kit Shepard and Gregor Robertson to run the rule over tonight's match. And if that wasn't enough, the team also have their say on all the transfer mumbo-jumbo going on over in the men's game.
Dropping Jess Carter, after all the 27-year-old has been through this tournament, is a huge call from Sarina Wiegman (Kit Shepard writes).
Yet it is a measure of both her compassion and authority that she feels comfortable doing so. Wiegman spoke glowingly about Carter yesterday and will support her behind the scenes. Equally, the head coach knows there is a tournament win. She must select what she deems the best XI, even if the optics appear brutal.
Sarina Wiegman is aiming to extend an extraordinary record tonight (James Gheerbrant writes). She has won her last four semi-finals as a manager, at each of the last four major tournaments. In 2017, as manager of Holland at a home Euros, she oversaw a 3-0 victory against England, and two years later her Dutch team saw off Sweden 1-0 after extra-time to reach the World Cup final. And as manager of the Lionesses, of course, she steered them past Sweden at Euro 2022, and then Australia a year later at the World Cup. Can she make it five in a row?
Esme Morgan has come in at centre back for Jess Carter in England's only change to the XI from the Sweden quarter-final (Kit Shepard writes).
Carter struggled against Sweden and Morgan — with her superior height and mobility — played well after replacing her in the 70th minute. The Washington Spirit centre back, 24, has now been rewarded with her first major tournament start. Of course, Wiegman has dropped Carter after the defender revealed she will be stepping away from social media having received racial abuse, with England not taking a knee before kick-off tonight as a result.
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Elsewhere, Leah Williamson is indeed fit to start even though an ankle injury sustained in the quarter-final left her on crutches. Chloe Kelly and Michelle Agyemang remain on the bench after their brilliant displays as impact substitutes against Sweden.
England (4-2-1-3): H Hampton — L Bronze, L Williamson, E Morgan, A Greenwood — K Walsh, G Stanway — E Toone — L James, A Russo, L Hemp
For Euros games, reporters must select a seat in the press box at a specified time a couple of days before the game (Kit Shepard writes). Naturally, that leads to a Glastonbury-esque scramble for the best seats as soon as they are made available.
I've managed to secure a decent place close to the halfway line, but my frantic dash to book my spot left no time to assess who I am sitting next to.
I am therefore flanked by La Repubblica and La Gazzetta dello Sport for the evening. As long as they're fine with my Italian vocabulary consisting of little more than 'mamma mia', we should get along great.
There's a nice atmosphere building outside the Stade de Genève — mostly pretty friendly, but not totally without a bit of animosity (James Gheerbrant writes). My favourite cardboard sign so far read: 'Pizza isn't the only thing getting flattened tonight.' Wow, that is fighting talk. And yes, I have seen two fans in Italy shirts… wearing kilts.
Supporters are planning to hold an applause in the 16th minute of the match this evening in support of Jess Carter, who was subject to racist abuse on social media (Hamzah Khalique-Loonat writes).
Tonight can't be as crazy as England's quarter-final against Sweden, right? Probably not, but I've just been told that Stade de Geneve was the venue for Turkey's famous win over Czech Republic at Euro 2008 (Kit Shepard writes).
Czech Republic were 2-0 up and heading to the quarter-finals, before Turkey scored three times in the final 16 minutes to reach the last eight at their opponents' expense. Not quite the penalty drama of last Thursday, but there is precedent for it in Geneva.
Fourteen penalties taken, only five scored, Sweden spurning two opportunities to win it . . . the Euro 2025 quarter-final shoot-out between England and Sweden was one of the most chaotic in European Championship history (Geir Jordet, professor in psychology and football at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, writes).
Should England face another shoot-out in tonight's semi-final, what can they learn from this experience to improve? Taking your time, tweaking small details and getting the basics right would be a start.
• Read the article here
Hamzah Khalique-Loonat took a big dive into the deep end when looking into the numbers at the Euros so far — here's what he came up with.
With half an hour until the England team is announced, the biggest questions are in defence (Kit Shepard writes).
Does Sarina Wiegman persist with Jess Carter, who has been targeted by opposition attacks in Switzerland? Was Esme Morgan's strong showing off the bench against Sweden in the quarter-final enough for her to come into the XI? Could Niamh Charles start at left back? Is Leah Williamson 100 per cent after an ankle injury left her on crutches last Friday? How does Sarina Wiegman factor in the racial abuse Carter has endured into all of these dilemmas?
Further forward, Chloe Kelly and Michelle Agyemang could start after transforming the quarter-final, but these changes would be out of character for Wiegman and take the pair away from the impact substitute roles in which they have thrived.
We will find out what the head coach decides at 6.45pm.
It's a gloriously stereotypical evening here in Geneva (Kit Shepard writes). The sun is shining, the temperature is a very tolerable 23C, and the Alps can be seen from the press box.
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Stade de Geneve is almost empty right now, but there should be a terrific atmosphere by kick-off. Italy have been well supported in their two Euro 2025 games at the venue, and the England fans are marching to the stadium in big numbers from Lancy Pont-Rouge train station, which is about a kilometre up the road.
Three of England's four games so far have been played inside an athletics track in Zurich and Georgia Stanway, the Lionesses midfielder, said yesterday that she is looking forward to playing in a more compact stadium. The ground holds 29,800 and is home to Servette, who narrowly lost in last season's Conference League qualifying play-offs to Chelsea, the eventual winners.
England supporters have been trickling into Geneva and sampling the Swiss city's finest inns as they await what should be an electric clash this evening…
The England squad, meanwhile, went for a walk to shake out some nerves earlier today…
Hello and welcome to The Times' live coverage of England's Euro 2025 semi-final against Italy in Geneva. We've only just got our wits back after the Sweden quarter-final, which featured a chaotic (to say the least) shoot-out at the end of a 120 minutes in which England staged a comeback in the dying stages from 2-0 down. Thankfully England came out on top in that one, but what on earth will happen today? Our reporters, Kit Shepard, James Gheerbrant and Hamzah Khalique-Loonat, are on standby in Switzerland to find out.