France 2-1 England: Lionesses overwhelmed in Zurich as title defence gets off to shaky start | OneFootball

England fell to a 2-1 defeat against France in the opening match of their UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 campaign, after VAR overturned Alessia Russo’s opener for a marginal offside in the buildup.

That let-off galvanised les Bleues, who scored twice in three minutes to build a comfortable lead before the break.

Keira Walsh’s late strike from outside the box was not enough to rescue a point from their campaign opener, meaning that England’s Euro 2025 journey could come to an end as soon as Wednesday if they and Wales both fall to defeats on Matchday 2.

As it happened

An excitable opening period in Zurich saw chances fall for both sides as England were spurred on by their vocal travelling fanbase, though it quickly became apparent that France had identified both of the Lionesses’ full-backs as weak points in Sarina Wiegman’s side.

England looked to have roared into an early lead when Alessia Russo pounced from close range, firing the rebound over the line after Pauline Peyraud-Magnin had parried Lauren Hemp’s initial effort into her path. The excitement was short-lived though; a VAR check found that Beth Mead had strayed offside in the buildup by a matter of millimetres, and thus the goal was chalked off.

That would be the turning point, as France grew in confidence and quickly began to exploit England’s weaknesses. By the break, they’d established a two-goal lead, with Marie-Antoinette Katoto tapping home from a low cross before Sandy Baltimore pounced on an out-of-position Lucy Bronze to score France’s second in three minutes.

Karen Carney’s assessment on ITV at the break was a damning one: “We looked like we’ve never played together. They’ve bullied our midfield, I haven’t seen a crunching tackle.”

She was right – and if she was hoping for an improvement in the second half, she’d have been sorely disappointed. France just kept pushing, and were unlucky not to add a third goal to their tally before the hour mark when a loose ball from Beth Mead allowed Grace Geyoro to get a shot off, though Hannah Hampton was able to recover and clear the ball away from danger.

England, who had been left aggrieved by countless refereeing decisions throughout the night, were incensed by VAR’s decision not to show Sakina Karchaoui a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on Leah Williamson with 20 minutes remaining, despite the Arsenal centre-back having visible stud marks on her back.

Still, against the run of play, the Lionesses were able to claw a goal back in the 87th minute and kickstart a late hunt for an equaliser when Keira Walsh struck gold from outside the box.

It was not enough to salvage a point from a woeful showing in Zurich, though, and England now face the prospect of an early elimination if they fall to defeat against the Netherlands on Wednesday [17:00 BST] if France claim three points against Wales later that evening.

The lineups

FRA: Peyraud-Magnin; Bacha, Sombath, Lakrar, De Almeida; Karchaoui, Jean-François, Geyoro; Baltimore, Katoto, Cascarino