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New York Times
an hour ago
- Sport
- New York Times
‘A huge surprise' at Euro 2025: Why was Alessia Russo's goal disallowed for England against France?
France beat England 2-1 in the opening game of their 2025 European Championship campaign on Saturday. Sarina Wiegman's side trailed 2-0 at half-time by goals from Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore, before Keira Walsh gave England hope of salvaging a point late as she halved the deficit in the 87th minute. Advertisement The Lionesses, however, thought they had taken the lead inside 16 minutes at the Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, only for Alessia Russo's goal to be disallowed for a marginal offside ruling on Beth Mead. It was a decision England's head coach described as a 'huge surprise' — so what exactly happened, and why didn't the goal stand? In the 15th minute, with the score 0-0, England forward Lauren James drove at the France backline, cut inside and switched the play to winger Mead on the edge of the France box. Mead fed Lauren Hemp, whose shot was parried into the path of Russo by French goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, and the England striker prodded the ball home. England celebrated, and there appeared to be no protests from the France defence. Both teams lined up to restart the game from kickoff. However, after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) check that lasted roughly 90 seconds, referee Tess Olofsson indicated that the goal had been disallowed for offside. It was not initially obvious which England player had been offside, but replays of the semi-automated technology showed it was Mead who had been penalised in the build-up, in a close call. Mead expressed her bafflement with the decision at full time. 'Yes, I have seen the picture,' Mead told Sky Sports. 'I'm unsure how it was given offside, let's say that.' Semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) is in use for the first time at a women's European Championship this summer. UEFA says the technology uses ten different cameras to track 29 different body points on each player, and the system connects with the match ball to determine the exact point of contact. It was introduced in a bid to speed up offside decision making, following criticism over lengthy delays with VAR. Advertisement Stills of the decision to rule out Russo's goal are inconclusive over which part of Mead's body was beyond the second last France defender, left-back Selma Bacha. Making things even more difficult to distinguish which part of Mead's body is offside is the fact that the SAOT wall, drawn to demonstrate the offside line, is white, clashing with Mead's white England shirt. The bottom of her right foot and top of her right shoulder are the body parts closest to toeing the offside line. UEFA confirmed to The Athletic that it was Mead's foot and shoulder that put her in an offside position. As with goal-line technology, on-field officials have no input in a SAOT decision — the decision is simply automated. A statement published on UEFA's VAR technical explanations read: 'England's player No9 (Mead) was in an offside position and played the ball in the build-up to the goal.' The International Football Association Board's (IFAB) laws of the game state that a player is offside if, when in their attacking half of the field of play, 'any part of the head, body or feet is nearer to the opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent'. While Bacha's right arm is beyond Mead, this does not play her onside. The laws of the game state: 'The hands and arms of all players, including the goalkeepers, are not considered (in determining offside). For the purposes of determining offside, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit.' Therefore the offside line is drawn from the top of Bacha's thigh — the part of her body nearest the France goalline, and SAOT judged Mead to be fractionally beyond that. Wiegman, visibly frustrated on the touch line, admitted her surprise at the decision at full time. 'We just didn't get it right in those moments,' Wiegman said. 'Some moments we did, there were parts in the game that we did well. Also scoring that goal. No one expected that to be disallowed. We had to get out of that, too. It was a huge surprise it was disallowed.' England enjoyed the better of the opening 15 minutes against France, with Lauren James providing two promising openings before Russo's disallowed goal. However, France grew into the game and were on top for the final 30 minutes of the opening period, and were well worth their 2-0 half-time lead. Wiegman said England's disallowed goal was not the reason for the momentum shift, and pointed instead to her team's decision making. Advertisement Asked why the game changed after the disallowed goal, she replied: 'I'm not sure it's the disallowed goal. I think when we build, we chose to do short passes. And they were aiming for that and they were really pretty good in midfield, so we had to go around them. At moments on the right side we had an overload, where we have to find that — you have to play that and not the short passes. I think we caused our own problems a bit.' Yes. In the build-up to France's second goal, scored by Baltimore, Maelle Lakrar dispossessed Russo. Replays showed that Lakrar made contact with Russo before she won the ball. Wiegman remonstrated at the fourth official. VAR checked the incident but allowed the goal. 'I'm not the referee but it was a foul in my opinion,' Wiegman said at full time. Asked how happy she was by the refereeing performance, Russo told OptaSport: 'That's not (for) me to comment on. I'm sure they reflect on it like we do, but that's not for me to comment on.' France captain Sakina Karchaoui also went sliding into England captain Leah Williamson during the match. Williamson lifted her shirt up to show the stud marks she had suffered from the challenge on her lower back. VAR checked for a possible red card offence but ruled Karchaoui had not committed a foul of that nature.
Reuters
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Reigning champions England beaten 2-1 by France in Women's Euro opener
July 5 (Reuters) - France forwards Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore scored first-half goals as they beat reigning champions England 2-1 in their Women's Euro Group D opener on Saturday, handing Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman her first defeat at the finals of the competition. After championship-winning runs with Netherlands in 2017 and England in 2022, Wiegman came into the game unbeaten in 12 games at the Euro finals, but the beginning of the end of that run came when Katoto scored from close range in the 36th minute. Her goal was the result of a brilliantly simple counter-attack, with Elisa De Almeida winning the ball and sending it down the line for Delphine Cascarino to chase and she squared it perfectly for Katoto to score with a simple finish. The second goal three minutes later was a virtuoso solo performance from Sandy Baltimore, who dribbled and jinked and almost lost the ball before firing it high over Hampton into the net from a tight angle. An uncharacteristically rudderless England did not register a shot on target until Keira Walsh reduced the deficit with a strike from distance in the 87th minute, prompting a late charge from the Lionesses. Alessia Russo and Grace Clinton both went close and 19-year-old substitute Michelle Agyemang had a goal-bound effort blocked by Selma Bacha, who threw herself at everything to protect the French goal in the closing minutes as her side hung on to win. Netherlands, who beat debutantes Wales 3-0 earlier on Saturday, top the group after the first round of games ahead of their clash with England on Wednesday in Zurich, while France can book their spot in the knockout stage with a win over Wales in St. Gallen the same evening.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
England becomes first reigning champion to lose a Women's Euro opener
France head coach Laurent Bonadei gestures during the Euro 2025, group D, soccer match between France and England at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) England's goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, right, fails to save a goal by France's Sandy Baltimore, back, next to England's Alex Greenwood, left, during the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 Group D soccer match between France and England at the Letzigrund stadium in Zurich, Switzerland, on Saturday, July 5, 2025. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP) England head coach Sarina Wiegman sits on the bench during the Euro 2025, group D, soccer match between France and England at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) France's Marie-Antoinette Katoto, left, scores the opening goal during the Euro 2025, group D, soccer match between France and England at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) France players celebrate after Sandy Baltimore scored their second goal during the Euro 2025, group D, soccer match between France and England at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) France players celebrate after Sandy Baltimore scored their second goal during the Euro 2025, group D, soccer match between France and England at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) France head coach Laurent Bonadei gestures during the Euro 2025, group D, soccer match between France and England at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) England's goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, right, fails to save a goal by France's Sandy Baltimore, back, next to England's Alex Greenwood, left, during the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 Group D soccer match between France and England at the Letzigrund stadium in Zurich, Switzerland, on Saturday, July 5, 2025. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP) England head coach Sarina Wiegman sits on the bench during the Euro 2025, group D, soccer match between France and England at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) France's Marie-Antoinette Katoto, left, scores the opening goal during the Euro 2025, group D, soccer match between France and England at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) France players celebrate after Sandy Baltimore scored their second goal during the Euro 2025, group D, soccer match between France and England at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) ZURICH (AP) — England set a number of unwanted firsts as it began the defense of its Women's European Championship title by losing to France 2-1 on Saturday. Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore scored two quickfire goals towards the end of the first half as France recorded a ninth straight win and stunned the defending champion. Advertisement Keira Walsh reduced the deficit three minutes from time but it wasn't enough to prevent England from becoming the first titleholder to lose its opening match at a women's Euros. It also ended England coach Sarina Wiegman's remarkable flawless record in the competition, after winning 12 out of 12 matches across two tournaments as she steered first the Netherlands to the title and then England. The Lionesses next face the Netherlands on Wednesday, before taking on Wales in their final group match four days later. The Netherlands beat Wales 3-0 in the early match in Group D. France was without injured captain Griedge Mbock, while England welcomed back Lauren James with the midfielder starting her first match since a hamstring injury at the start of April. Advertisement James almost gave England the lead within 40 seconds with a clever run into the box but fired narrowly over. Alessia Russo thought she gave England the lead in the 16th minute, turning in the rebound after Lauren Hemp's shot was saved but it was ruled out for a tight offside decision on Beth Mead in the buildup. France grew in ascendancy after that. Sakina Karchaoui almost scored what would have been one of the goals of the tournament as she lobbed Hannah Hampton but the ball landed in the side-netting. Hampton also had to make a couple of fine stops before France broke the deadlock in the 36th. Elise De Almeida won the ball in her own half before surging down the right and threading the ball through to Delphine Cascarino, who put in a low cross for Katoto to tap in at the back post. Advertisement France doubled its lead just three minutes later. Baltimore mazed her way into the area, close to the byline, and Lucy Bronze inadvertently kept the ball in play with her attempted tackle, allowing the Chelsea forward to curl into the far side of the net. France was almost out of sight at the start of the second half, with Hampton having to scramble behind her and grab the ball before it crossed the line, after fumbling an effort from Grace Geyoro. England hadn't even had a shot on target before it got back into the game late on. A corner was cleared only to the edge of the area for Walsh to calmly control before firing into the top right corner for only her second international goal. ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
🚨 EURO 2025: starting line-ups for France v England, with James included
🚨 EURO 2025: starting line-ups for France v England, with James included Euro 2025 wraps up Saturday's action with a top-level match. France begins its campaign in Group D against the reigning champions, England. This is how both teams line up today. France: Peyraud-Magnin, De Almeida, Lakrar, Sombath, Bacha, Jean-Francois, Geyoro, Karchaoui, Cascarino, Baltimore, Katoto. Advertisement England: Hampton; Bronze, Walsh, Greenwood, Williamson, James, Stanway, Mead, Hemp, Carter, Russo. Lauren James finally makes it into the Lionesses' starting eleven. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here. 📸 Matthias Hangst - 2025 Getty Images
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
France captain Griedge Mbock to miss Euro 2025 opener against England through injury
France captain Griedge Mbock will miss her side's 2025 European Championship opener against England on Saturday with a calf injury. Mbock, 30, was absent from France's 3-2 win over Brazil on June 27 because of the injury sustained three days before. Advertisement On Wednesday and Thursday morning, the centre-back did not participate in group sessions at France's training ground in Thal, completing indoor training sessions instead. 'Unfortunately, she is experiencing some discomfort in her calf,' France manager Laurent Bonadei told a press conference on Friday. 'We won't take any risks; she still needs specific treatment. She'll be with us, but not on the pitch. 'Last week's tests revealed no tears or hematoma, so it's a bit of tiredness, similar to what Amel (Majri) experienced. We are not robots. For Griedge, it will take a bit of time. I'm quite confident she will be able to join us shortly.' Mbock was named France captain after Bonadei chose not to include the long-serving Wendie Renard in his squad for the Euro 2025. Vice-captain and leading goalscorer Eugenie Le Sommer was also left out. Advertisement Mbock, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, has 92 senior caps and eight goals. France play England in Zurich on Saturday, before facing Wales on July 9 and the Netherlands on July 13. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. France, Women's Soccer, Women's Euros 2025 The Athletic Media Company
