England rout neighbours Wales to cruise into Euro 2025 quarter-finals
Georgia Stanway struck from the penalty spot in the 13th minute after a foul in the box, calmly sweeping her shot into the far-left corner past the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Olivia Clark to open the floodgates.
Ella Toone found the back of the net with a scrappy goal eight minutes later, while Lauren Hemp nodded home a third inside 30 minutes. Alessia Russo bagged her first goal of the tournament just before halftime and Beth Mead cut inside a defender before slotting home in the 72nd minute.
Hannah Cain pulled one back to the delight of the Wales fans in the 76th minute, but England's Aggie Beever-Jones replied in the 89th. England will face Sweden in the quarter-finals on Thursday. France finished top of the group after their 5-2 victory over the Netherlands.
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Glasgow Times
25 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
They have to be playing – Rhian Wilkinson seeking regular action for Wales squad
Wales – the lowest-ranked side in Switzerland – finished last and without a point in Group D, widely viewed as the competition's 'group of death', following their 6-1 loss to defending champions England, who qualified for the quarter-finals alongside France. In order to address what Wilkinson feels is a 'real fitness gap' between her major tournament debutants and top sides like England, the Canadian coach is adamant they need to be more involved at club level. ⏰ FT | 🏴 6-1 🏴 Defeat for Cymru. — Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) July 13, 2025 'An international programme can't really do that,' said Wilkinson. 'We get them on a FIFA window for 10 days. So, my players have to be playing. 'I had five players out of contract here. It's mind-blowing to me. Esther Morgan starts all our games, and she doesn't have a club. 'It drives me wild. As a Canadian who was developed in the US, of course it's not the US' priority to develop the Canadians. I look at some of my players, and it does frustrate me, you can tell. 'I've got to try to find them opportunities abroad, maybe in Scandinavia, maybe I can send them to North America, which is a tough challenge, but they have to be playing. That's the basic.' Goalkeeper Poppy Soper, centre-back Rhiannon Roberts, midfielder Alice Griffiths, forward Kayleigh Barton and former Wales captain Sophie Ingle were all unattached when Wilkinson's squad was unveiled on June 19th, with several others – including Morgan – now looking for new employers after the ends of their club contracts. Roberts has since signed a two-year deal with Women's Super League 2 side Sunderland, while Barton has been named the new head coach for Saltdean United. Ingle has left Chelsea after making 214 appearances across two spells (Nigel French/PA) Ingle is a free agent after leaving Chelsea, where she made 214 appearances and lifted 11 trophies across two spells, but missed out on almost a year of action – and their sixth-straight WSL title – after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury last pre-season. She marked her comeback in Wales' Euro 2025 opening loss to the Netherlands. 'The next stage is how do I get (players) into an environment where they're getting that game time?' Wilkinson continued. 'And then the next step is they're not club players, they're international players. 'So what is it that we're doing with Wales to support their sport scientists, because they have to be ready, but they are owned by their club? 'How do we work with them to continue to push their physical standards, because, I'll be honest, we don't have enough of my players right now who are hitting the top-level benchmark.' To every member of The Red Wall who travelled to Switzerland or supported from back home, your passion and unwavering support carried us every step of the way. The legacy of this summer will last far beyond the final whistle. Diolch o galon. ♥️🏴 — Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) July 13, 2025 Wilkinson and her players have spoken about the legacy they want to leave, pointing to the example of England's 2022 European champions, who used their triumph to spark policy change and investment into grassroots and school sport. 'I need to get back to Wales and keep making sure that across our country we continue to push opportunities for our young girls, for all sport,' added Wilkinson. 'This is a time in the world with a lot happening. I'm a football manager, I can't speak too much, but I will say that giving equal opportunity to our young girls has got to be something we push for.'
The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Sinner brought unblinking focus to every point – Alcaraz is playing catch-up
With his hopes of a third consecutive Wimbledon title desperately fading with every point, Carlos Alcaraz sat down in his chair on Centre Court after conceding the third set of his final with Jannik Sinner and bluntly unloaded his thoughts on his team: 'From the back of the court, he is much better than me. Much better than me! Much [better]! It's like this,' Alcaraz said, gesturing with his hands to demonstrate the vast gap between his greatest rival and himself. His assessment was not wrong. From a set down, Sinner put together a supreme performance to overturn five consecutive losses against Alcaraz and win his first Wimbledon title, avenging the most difficult loss in his career – his French Open final defeat by Alcaraz in June – at the earliest opportunity. No one in the world strikes the ball with anything close to the destructive power, cleanliness, consistency that the Italian employs to dominate on the court and he used his incessant aggression to constantly rob time from his opponent, making it so difficult for him to impose his own varied game. Perhaps most notably, he pulled off the victory without making any fundamental changes to his approach. He continued to play the relentless brand of attacking tennis that has brought him success, smothering Alcaraz from the baseline. This time, he simply served far better in the decisive moments and he remained bold with his shotmaking deep in the fourth set. The intensity, quality and unblinking focus Sinner brings on every single point was too much for Alcaraz, who this time could not find a miraculous pathway back into the match. Sinner has spent the past 18 months dominating all other foes. Before the final he had compiled an 81 win-two defeat record against players other than Alcaraz since November 2023, and four losses out of four against the Spanish player during that period. This result shifts the dynamics of their rivalry – now Alcaraz must keep up. Spectacularly peaking in the big moments is not enough. Beating Sinner in best-of-five-sets matches now requires consistent, steady excellence across the course of a match with few letdowns. Things will only become more challenging. After achieving such a monumental result on one of Alcaraz's favourite surfaces, Sinner will return to his preferred hard courts more confident than ever before. In the early hours of Monday morning, after Sinner had left Centre Court, drunk champagne with his loved ones and then endured the two-hour plus media blitz reserved for all major champions, he was escorted to the grand five-star hotel Raffles London at the OWO for the annual Wimbledon champions dinner. By the time Sinner, who turns 24 in August, made his appearance, well after midnight, he was in a slightly different mental state compared to the unrelenting focus he exuded on the court. 'We were drinking quite a lot in the last hours,' he said, smiling. 'A bit turning, the head, but it's all good.' Once an actual ball with the famed tradition of the men's and women's champion sharing the first dance of the night, Wimbledon's celebratory event is a low-key dinner these days and the two champions were interviewed by the former British No 1 Laura Robson. Over the last two years, however, the event has nodded to its history by orchestrating a dance on stage. After 1am on Monday, a smiling Iga Swiatek and Sinner could be found awkwardly dancing together to Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man. Towards the end of her interview, Swiatek was asked if she had ever considered offering up one solitary game to her opponent Amanda Anisimova: 'I didn't,' she said after a long pause. 'But I think any athlete would understand that.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Swiatek's 6-0, 6-0 win was a historic moment in the sport. However, it was also a simple reminder of the Polish player's singular dominance. She has demolished almost every prominent player on the tour at some point and she had already inflicted a double bagel on a far more distinguished opponent in a significant final, doing the same to Karolina Pliskova, the former world No 1 who was ranked No 9, in the 2021 Italian Open. A beatdown is always on the cards when Swiatek is in full flow. In comparison to the relief she felt after living up to expectations by maintaining her dominance on clay with three consecutive French Open titles, her sheer joy after winning Wimbledon, a title she never really expected to win, has been striking. This result has further allowed her to understand her potential and will almost certainly spur her on to even greater successes. Now one Australian Open title away from winning the career grand slam, it is hard to imagine that she won't end her playing days having captured every major title possible.
BBC News
37 minutes ago
- BBC News
Have England got lucky by finishing second?
Fans usually want their team to do as well as possible, but many England supporters were hoping results on Sunday night would prevent them from finishing top their the Netherlands took the lead just before half-time in their match with France to put the Lionesses top of Group D, some England fans had an anxious half hour before the French overturned the deficit with a storming second-half display.A 5-2 France victory saw them finish three points clear of England in the table, but have the Lionesses got lucky and ended up with the easier draw? Avoiding Germany & Spain 'definitely better' The Lionesses face Sweden instead of old rivals Germany in the quarter-finals on Thursday (20:00 BST) and will play either Norway or Italy in the last four should they are also, perhaps crucially, in the opposite side of the draw to 2023 World Cup winners Spain, so are unable to meet the favourites until the Sweden have performed well in past tournaments finishing in third at the World Cup in 2019 and 2023, they have not lifted a major trophy since winning the inaugural 1984 were in worse form than eight-time European champions Germany heading into these Euros, having drawn two games against Wales in the Uefa Nations League. Germany, meanwhile won their last five Nations League games and scored at least four goals in each pre-tournament predictions gave Sweden a 6% chance of winning Euro 2025, compared to the 14% for England beat the Swedes on Thursday, they will then play a side ranked outside the top 10 in the world for a spot in the are currently ranked 13th, while Norway are 16th. Had the Netherlands beaten France, then England would have had to play world number three side Germany in the last eight and Spain, ranked second, in the semis."It is most definitely better, the team finishing second," former England forward Toni Duggan said on BBC Radio 5 Live."Avoiding Spain and Germany, but Sweden also look strong, so it is going to be an interesting game."France manager Laurent Bonadei agreed, saying they had "absolutely" been handed the difficult section of the added: "All of our opponents will want to knock us out, we remain as a challenger with much ambition."To be favourites you must win a trophy. We will play against Germany who won eight times…. because Germany are favourites."Spain defeated England in the World Cup final in 2023 and look strong in their pursuit of a first Euros Lionesses beat Germany to win the Euros in 2022, but they have lost the six other games they have played against Germany at the tournament. 'I'm a bit terrified' - Sweden will be difficult test It is in the semi-finals where England's draw is more favourable as their last-eight opponent will prove thrashed Germany 4-1 in the group stage and won all three games, conceding just once, to top Group England international Fran Kirby told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Sweden have such an experienced squad now. We played them in the semi-final in Euro 2022 and they are a team that have started the tournament very brightly. That will be something England need to look into."When the groups were drawn, everyone was talking about Germany but Sweden have just blown it all away in the group stage, so I think it's going to be a really interesting game."Not only do England have a tricky test ahead of them, but finishing as runners-up also means they have less time to recover, playing on Thursday instead of Saturday. England have faced Sweden three times in the past three years, with one of those fixtures being incredibly memorable for their won 4-0 in the semi-finals of Euro 2022, the night where Alessia Russo scored her memorable backheeled record goalscorer, Ellen White, played in that fixture and said she is "a bit terrified" about the Lionesses having to face Sweden in the quarter-finals."Whoever we were going to face was going to be a tough opposition," she told BBC Radio 5 Live. "We've faced Sweden a number of times, everyone will remember that semi-final from 2022 where we beat them 4-0 and we've drawn with them recently as well."Sweden look very good, they beat Germany convincingly in their last game. I'm a bit terrified, I feel like there's going to be a lot of goals, hopefully for England."The two teams are also the only European nations to reach the semi-final stage in each of the past three major Scandinavian side have only twice, in 2009 and 2017, failed to make it to the last four in their previous 11 their meeting at the last Euros, the sides have played out 1-1 and 0-0 draws in the Nations that, England lost 2-1 to Sweden in the bronze medal match at the 2019 World Wiegman's side have won two, drawn two and lost five of the games they have played against Sweden in major competitions. Against Germany, they have won two, drawn one and lost five.
