England player ratings v Argentina: Fin Baxter is world class, George Ford shines as captain
After beating their hosts 35-12 in La Plata last weekend, Steve Borthwick's side were made to work harder in a tense clash.
Here is Telegraph Sport 's analysis of who will have impressed the head coach and who has more work to do. Give your opinion with our thumbs up/thumbs down voting tool.
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The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Lionesses' Hannah Hampton baffled by Sweden goalkeeper taking penalty in shootout
Lionesses goalkeeper Hannah Hampton has admitted to being baffled by Sweden's decision to give a crucial penalty to her opposite number during England's dramatic shootout win at Euro 2025. Hampton proved the hero for Sarina Wiegman 's side after making a number of saves during a low-quality exchange of penalties eventually settled by Lucy Bronze. Sweden, who had earlier squandered a 2-0 lead in Zurich, had plenty of chances to win the game before the shootout was reached, and then missed from 12 yards twice with the chance to seal progression to the last four. Nathalie Bjorn had put her side just a penalty away after Alex Greenwood had failed to score, though Chloe Kelly 's conversion ensured that Sweden would have to score their fifth penalty to advance. It was therefore a surprise to see goalkeeper Falk, who had made three saves to set up a position of strength, step up to take the crucial spot-kick. And Hampton did not even have any work to do as Falk blaze her penalty over the crossbar, with 18-year-old defender Smilla Holmberg's miss condemning Sweden to a premature exit from the tournament in Switzerland. 'I was more panicking that we didn't have any data on her or where she was going,' Hampton said afterwards of her thoughts when she saw Falk stepping up. 'So I was like oh my goodness this is down to me. I was a bit surprised.' Hampton, who had usurped the now-retired Mary Earps as England's No 1 ahead of this tournament, had been playing with a bloodied nose after taking a ball to the face and admitted that the shootout had been "Stressful. Stressful watching, stressful playing," said Hampton. "Every time I saved one I was thinking 'please just put it in so we have a bit of a cushion'. Their keeper then just went and saved the next one and I was thinking 'oh goodness, here we go.' "It's obviously been a difficult couple of years (for me) within the England environment, [but] all the girls were ecstatic. They've seen all the hard work that I've put in and how difficult it's been, and how they've helped me get to the point that I am now, where I am happy to be wearing an England shirt again."
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Anatomy of a terrible penalty shootout – how England triumphed in chaos at Euro 2025
England lived to fight another day at Euro 2025 after surviving a chaotic penalty shoot-out to beat Sweden and reach the semi-finals. After England came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw following extra time, nine of the 14 penalties were missed in an extraordinary decider. The Lionesses were a penalty away from going home on two occasions but Hannah Hampton and Lucy Bronze were the heroes as they progressed. 'I think we're all frustrated in the sense that we had our system, we've practised them every day, we've got our routines, and sometimes it doesn't go to plan,' Beth Mead said. But after emerging through one of the worst penalty shoot-outs in major tournament history, England could still celebrate as they set up a semi-final with Italy. Here's how it all unfolded ✅ England 1-0 Sweden - Alessia Russo scores A confident penalty from England's No 9. That feeling would not last long. 'Penalty shoot-outs, statistically you're more likely to win if you go first, winning the coin toss played into that,' Lucy Bronze said. 'I love maths.' ❌England 1-0 Sweden - Filippa Angeldahl misses With a bloody tissue stuffed up one nostril, Hannah Hampton goes the correct way and saves to her left. 'I don' t really know what happened to be honest, all I remember is going up for that ball and someone has elbowed me I think,' Hampton said after the game. 'I thought I got away with it at first because there was nothing [blood] coming out, then I sat up and it was streaming. But as a few of the girls have said, I'm better with one nostril so maybe I'll have it again in the next game.' ❌England 1-0 Sweden - Lauren James misses It suits James' playing style to have a short run-up but this one didn't come off as she skipped around the ball and shot low. It lacks power and Jennifer Falk saves to her right. ✅England 1-1 Sweden - Julia Zigiotti Olme scores In perhaps the best penalty of the shoot-out, Zigiotti takes out the camera positioned in the top corner - Harry Maguire style. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Beth Mead misses Falk saves again, and to the same side. The goalkeeper has clearly done her homework and has printed off notes to attach to her water bottle. Mead's penalty was at a good height for the goalkeeper. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Magdalena Eriksson misses Eriksson strikes the bottom of the post with Hampton beaten. Neither side can claim the advantage after consecutive misses. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Alex Greenwood misses Falk guesses correctly for the third time in a row and is beginning to look unbeatable in the Sweden goal. ✅England 1-2 Sweden - Nathalie Bjorn scores It's Chelsea vs Chelsea but Bjorn keeps cool to beat her club team-mate. It's match point to Sweden now and they lead for the first time. ✅England 2-2 Sweden - Chloe Kelly scores After scoring winning penalties in shoot-outs against Nigeria and Brazil, it's Kelly's turn to keep England alive from the No 5 spot. Kelly grins as she stands over the spot, does her trademark run-up by lifting up her left leg, skipping, and burying the penalty into the corner. ' She made me laugh and then we both laughed at each other, it wasn't like a disrespect we just laughed at each other. In those moments there's a lot of pressure but I felt that and she just made me laugh.' Later asked what was going through her head , Kelly replied: 'I was bursting for a wee.' ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Jennifer Falk misses Sweden still have the chance to win it but there's an audible gasp in the stadium as goalkeeper Falk steps up to take Sweden's fifth penalty. 'I was more panicking that we didn't have any data on her or where she was going,' Hampton later explained. 'So I was like oh my goodness this is down to me. I was a bit surprised.' After making three saves, can Falk score in a battle of goalkeeper vs goalkeeper? No! Falk skies it and England stay alive. ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Grace Clinton misses It's back even again, as the pressure of sudden death falls onto the 22-year-old Grace Clinton. This was the weakest penalty of the lot and Falk saved comfortably. At this point, Sarina Wiegman starts to wonder if England had run out of lives. 'Well when you miss so many penalties I was really concerned,' Wiegman said. 'I thought it was done.' ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Sofia Jacobson misses It's the second match point for Sweden, but Hampton makes her best save of the shoot-out to tip it onto the post at full stretch! At this point, England players are starting to lose track of who needs what. 'We were trying to work out what was going on as the shootout was happening,' Kelly admitted. 'Michelle [Agyemang] was asking questions, I was like, if we score and they miss then we win.' ✅England 3-2 Sweden - Lucy Bronze scores In an iconic moment, Bronze steps forward and begins to tear the strapping from her left thigh after feeling muscle tightness towards the end of full-time. 'I thought, it's going to hinder me in a penalty [but] I didn't expect it to go to the sixth penalty,' Bronze said. 'So I didn't take it off [but] then it was my penalty and I thought, I need to take this off. I'm going to actually smack it.' With her captain's armband around her wrist, Bronze does just that. She smashes it down the middle. 'I watched the goalkeeper in every penalty and she dived quite early,' Bronze said. 'Statistically in shoot-outs it's risky for goalkeepers to stand still. Go down the middle.' ❌England 3-2 Sweden - Smilla Holmberg misses Now it's England's turn to hold match point, as the pressure falls on Sweden's 18-year-old right back. Holmberg goes for the top corner but blasts her penalty over the crossbar, the ninth miss from 14 penalties as England scrape into the quarter-finals and Hampton is mobbed by her team-mates.
BBC News
21 minutes ago
- BBC News
Australia v Lions preview, teams and how to follow
Australia v British and Irish Lions - first TestVenue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Date: Saturday, 19 July Kick-off: 11:00 BST Coverage: Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app with post-match analysis on iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live and Rugby Union Weekly podcast. The British and Irish Lions face Australia in Brisbane on Saturday in the opening match of a three-Test tourists are unbeaten on Australian soil this summer following victories over Western Force, Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs, Brumbies and an Invitational AU & NZ Farrell's side will be looking to emulate the series win on the last Lions visit Down Under in team news, the Wallabies form and how to follow the game on BBC Sport - here's all you need to know. Who is in the Australia team? Australia have named an under-strength pack without powerful lock Will Skelton and flanker Rob Valetini, who both have calf Nick Champion de Crespigny will start at number six, while head coach Joe Schmidt has also handed a first Test start to Tom Lynagh, the son of Wallaby great Michael, in the absence of regular fly-half Noah Australia hooker Stephen Moore says the hosts are short on cover in that position."Since Stephen Larkham retired in 2007 we haven't had an out-and-out world class number 10," Moore told BBC Rugby Union Weekly. "Joe [Schmidt] will try to make sure Lynagh's job is kept as simple as possible but 10 is a gap for us."Harry Wilson will captain the Wallabies from number eight, while Nick Frost and Jeremy Williams will pair up in the second midfield, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Len Ikitau continue their exciting centre partnership. How is the Wallabies' form? Australia are ranked sixth in the world after captain Harry Wilson's last-gasp try denied Fiji a famous win in the Wallabies' only warm-up side showed shoots of recovery after a disappointing 2024 Rugby Championship with impressive autumn victories over England and Wales before ending their European campaign with defeats by Scotland and missing key players, former Australia scrum-half Will Genia says the hosts can still claim a famous series win."I look at that Lions team on paper and I think – what a team," Genia told BBC Rugby Union Weekly."There are world-class players all across it but I do give us a chance. We have some athletes in our team that can really challenge this Lions team and if we can create some time and space for them we can get in the game."Whoever wins the first Test will win the series because you gain confidence and rhythm for the remaining games."I think Australia win 2-1 with victories in the first and third Tests." Lions team news Tom Curry has won the hotly contested battle for selection at open-side England back row beat fierce competition from Wales' Jac Morgan and Ireland's former world player of the player Josh van der Flier to line up alongside Tadhg Beirne and Jack Conan in the back omission from the squad means there is no Welsh representation in a Lions Test side since Pollock also misses out on selection in the matchday squad, with England pair Ollie Chessum and Ben Earl providing back row cover on the has named an all-Scotland midfield with Finn Russell steering the attack from fly-half and Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones pairing up in the have eight starters, equalling the record of most Ireland players to start a Lions Test - with seven of them from Leinster. England have four in the starting XV and Scotland have three."With selection, it is just not fair and equal across every single position," former Lions wing Ugo Monye told BBC Rugby Union Weekly. "As much as we want to romanticise about it with picking the best players on form, it's just not the case."Certain players are exempt from that and are special. Tadhg Furlong is a special player, this is his third tour. Has he had the best season of his life? No. "There are others who have had unbelievable seasons where they are hard to ignore. Henry Pollock is one of them, but you have to look at it in a broader perspective."Look at their experience, personal relationships and how they adapt to pressure." Where is the match being played? The opening Test of the three-match series takes place at the 52,500-capacity Suncorp Stadium in says Brisbane "feels like home" for the Wallabies."I'd say it's the unofficial home of rugby in Australia," Genia told BBC Rugby Union Weekly. "Having played there myself it has a different feel about it. Even the boys from Sydney and the Brumbies [Canberra] have the same feeling. "It feels like a home ground for us so that will add a bit of confidence to the boys heading into the game."The Lions thumped Queensland Reds in their second tour match on Australian soil at the Suncorp earlier this summer. In the victorious 2013 series, Brisbane also staged the first Test, which the Lions won 23-21. How can I follow the match? You can follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app, with build-up starting from 10:00 will also be post-match reaction and analysis on BBC iPlayer and via Radio 5 Live and the Rugby Union Weekly podcast, which is now producing daily can also follow BBC Sport's dedicated British and Irish Lions page for updates from our reporters in game is being shown live on Sky Sports. Line-ups Australia: Wright; Jorgensen, Suaalii, Ikitau, Potter; Lynagh, Gordon; Slipper, Faessler, Alaalatoa, Frost, Williams, De Crespigny, McReight, Wilson (capt).Replacements: Pollard, Bell, Robertson, Hooper, Tizzano, McDermott, Donaldson, Keenan; Freeman, Jones, Tuipulotu, Lowe, Russell, Gibson-Park; Genge, Sheehan, Furlong, Itoje (capt), McCarthy, Beirne, Curry, Kelleher, Porter, Stuart, Chessum, Earl, Mitchell, M Smith, Aki. Who are the match officials? Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (NZ)Assistant Referee 1: Nika Amashukeli (Geo)Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Piardi (Ita)TMO: Richard Kelly (NZ)Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO): Eric Gauzins (Fra)
