France 2-1 England: Lionesses left with plenty of soul searching after opening night disappointment at Euro 2025 | Football News

The camera turned to Sarina Wiegman in the 82nd minute of the defeat of the opening evening of England against France. She was deep in thought.

But a heavy expression had emerged on her face long before, while she was trying to understand how and why her reigning champions were dominated so global.

France looked like a total team in the night. A squad in synchronization, fresh and sharp, ready to run stronger, to move smarter and to pass a Slicker. England, on the other hand, was stuck for a spark, without landing a single shot on the target until the 87th minute when Keira Walsh offered a shooting buoy and a brief reason to rejoice.

For the following five -minute fate, the lionesses actually played as a side with belief. They run the French for the first time in the game; Grace Clinton was tenacious in dangerous areas and Michelle Agyemang gave defenders something to think. But these threat flickering arrived too late. Really, they only made fragments.

England had long lost this competition. Maybe the battle had been lost in Sublimin at halftime. By the final whistle, the figures told a convincing story.

France has won the overall duel number at the top of 53 to 36 and the expected goals total from 2.22 to 0.91. The “Big Chances Created” column was a laundering: 4-0. Not only was England less aggressive than their French counterparts, but they were also much more negligent.

Lose And The technical battle will be particularly irreuse Wiegman. Talk to ITV After the match, she said that her side “played out of the game”, which is conceptual for “did not execute the match plan”.

Obviously, the Dutchman had not asked her team to be passive out of possession and disorderly, but England was both of these things, turning the ball much more frequently than it was kept and opting to play short when the need to go longer was so obvious.

“We were not tight enough,” continued Wiegman. “They wanted to press and are strong on the counterattack. We were sloppy in possession and have caused our own problems a little. We can do better.”

Captain Leah Williamson won similar gaps. “Defend cheap un-vs-one. We were not good enough on the ball. I haven’t seen us like that for a long time, in terms of reversal of the ball, it’s frustrating.”

The three-minute implosion in the first half was indeed unusual. Wiegman England has rarely been so easily defeated during a major tournament final. With all the talent and the expectation of equality of direct elimination, it was a game as unilateral as you are likely to see between two European heavy goods vehicles. The holders vs hopes was not the case.

England has become the first title champions to lose its opening match of a group phase in euros. An unwanted tag to match an unwanted result. For Wiegman – whose teams have appeared in the final of each of the last four major tournaments – this represents his very first defeat during a final in euros. The “preparation” of which she talked about the pre-match simply did not exist.

And a lot of Wiegman games have not paid either. Start Lauren James, who had only played 40 minutes since April, on Ella Toone was the first mistake. Not correcting this decision before the 60th minute could be considered the second. There was no balance and little structure for the game of England. The changes to the address that arrived too late.

And yet, Wiegman could well indicate the marginal offside which eliminated the opening of Alessia Russo, or the clear fault on her which has never been given, which has become the precursor of the second goal of France. But in truth, Var simply reflected the discouragement of the display of England.

There is no shame in losing 2-1 against the team of Laurent Bonadei, filled with an abundance of talents and supported by a rich form. France won nine out of nine in 2025. In the match preceding these finals, they came from behind to defeat Brazil 3-2.

Life simply quickly evolved this team of “New England”. Their ability to meet before facing the Netherlands Wednesday is now more protruding than ever. Losing, and quite simply, their defense in euros is in tatters.