Arsenal forwards score 4 but international results are mixed | OneFootball

Stina Blackstenius delivered a statement performance for Sweden with a stunning hat-trick against Denmark, capping off a productive international break for several Arsenal stars ahead of this summer’s European Championship.

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Stina Blackstenius led the way as a host of Arsenal players featured for their national teams during the latest round of international fixtures, with the striker scoring a hat-trick in Sweden’s 6-1 demolition of Denmark to seal top spot in their Nations League group.

Sweden crushed Denmark Göteborgs-Posten4 Jun 2025

The 29-year-old struck three times in a dominant performance in Solna, breaking her international goal drought in emphatic style just a fortnight after scoring the winner in the Champions League final. “Very important, of course. I hope to take this feeling with me as much as I can,” Blackstenius told SVT. “Again, great fun to play today and super happy to be able to contribute.”

Sweden needed only a point to win the group but blew Denmark away with an early blitz. Blackstenius opened the scoring after just 37 seconds, before goals from Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Filippa Angeldahl put the game beyond reach inside 11 minutes.

Denmark pulled one back through Janni Thomsen, but any thought of a comeback was short-lived, with Blackstenius netting twice more either side of half-time to complete her hat-trick before Lina Hurtig, who leaves Arsenal this summer, added a sixth in stoppage time.

The result caps a strong international window for the Arsenal forward and her Sweden teammates, who will face Denmark again when they open their European Championship campaign on 4 July.

In Spain, Alessia Russo put England ahead against the reigning world champions in a 2-1 defeat to Spain, continuing her excellent scoring form after topping the Women’s Super League goalscoring charts.

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Russo took advantage of a defensive lapse to give the Lionesses a first-half lead, but a second-half brace from Claudia Pina turned the match in favour of the hosts.

Beth Mead also started, while Leah Williamson captained the Lionesses. Chloe Kelly came on in the second half, replacing Mead.

Mariona Caldentey started for Spain on the left wing.

Elsewhere, Laura Wienroither returned to the Austria starting lineup, while Manuela Zinsberger was an unused substitute as they were dismantled 6-0 by Germany. Austria finished third in the group, having picked up six points from six matches.

In the same group, Daphne van Domselaar and Victoria Pelova both started for the Netherlands in a 1-1 draw with Scotland. Former Arsenal players Jill Roord, who scored the Dutch goal, and Danielle van de Donk also featured, while Dominique Janssen came off the bench in the second half.

The Netherlands ended the group in second place, five points behind Germany. Scotland, despite securing their first point in the group with the draw, finished bottom.

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Katie McCabe, Ireland’s captain, was in the starting XI as her side beat Slovenia 1-0. However, the result was not enough to top the group, with Ireland falling short of the four-goal winning margin required to overtake Slovenia on goal difference.

Lia Walti played the full 90 minutes for Switzerland in their 1-0 defeat to Frida Maanum’s Norway, while Noelle Maritz and Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, both formerly of Arsenal, featured for Switzerland and France respectively.

Maanum’s Norway finished second behind a dominant France, who ended their group 10 points clear at the top. Switzerland, meanwhile, picked up just two points from their six matches.

It was a mixed window for Arsenal’s international contingent, but Stina Blackstenius’s return to goalscoring form will be a timely boost ahead of the European Championship.

After a spring blighted by inconsistency, her match-winning display in Lisbon and hat-trick for Sweden suggest she is finding momentum at exactly the right time.