England Women lose Euro 2025 opener: Leah Williamson says Lionesses ‘weren’t good enough’ against France | Football News

The captain of women in England Leah Williamson said that the lionesses “were not good enough” because they lost their opening euros 2025 to France.

England was the first title champions to lose its opening match of a following tournament, beaten 2-1 by the impressive French of Zurich.

There were various problems in the Lionesses’ Game, including the defense of the two wings that led to goals from Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore.

Reflecting on the reasons for the lower performance than England, Williamson said ITV Sport: “We lost a game. Defense at low prices in Un-Vs-Un. Not good enough. We could not keep it in the areas we needed to keep it.

“We learned from these errors in justice and grew up in the game, but on the ball, we were not good enough. We improved by tiring, we took advantage of it, but not enough.

“Sometimes it happens, the positive is that I haven’t seen us like that in terms of reversing the ball for some time now. It’s really frustrating, I think that’s how we take it, but tomorrow we are back on it.

“I think everyone is taking responsibility for themselves today, I look at the domain that could have had an impact on the game more.

“I will do it, but I think that tomorrow we have a new match plan, different spaces available, different types of opposition.”

Wiegman: We played the game

For his part, the head coach of England Sarina Wiegman I did not think that the defense of one or the other wing was the biggest problem in England, adding that overall neglect also contributed to the result.

She said ITV Sport: “I am very disappointed with the result. I thought we really started, scored a goal and unfortunately, that did not count.

“Then, we played the game by playing short passes, which really helped them and not being tight enough. We had to get out of this first press and jump and I think it did a little trouble.

“The vast areas were not the biggest problem. We started very well, then we started playing short passes, and that is what they wanted, because they wanted to press. So we had to enter behind them and try to jump the press, but we lost. We were too sloppy and that didn’t help us – that helped them.

“Then we know how good they are in the counterattack. They are powerful and fast players. This is what they did very well.”

England must now win its next match of group D against the Netherlands on Wednesday to be in the running for a place in the direct elimination towers.

Wiegman knows that his team can no longer afford errors, but must pass quickly with another match in four days.

“I think we can do better,” she added. “France is really good, but we have caused a little of our own problems and we could have scored in the first minutes.

“We can do better, certainly, and we have to facilitate a little more. Can’t we afford to make more mistakes in the future? That’s right.

“These are the facts, we have to intensify, and tomorrow we review, we recover, then it is directly in the match against the Netherlands on Wednesday. Now, we have to stay together, do recovery and move on.”

Bonadei surprised by the approach of England

Chief coach of France Laurent BonadeiWho resumed the team last year to former coach Herve Renard, said his team had been surprised by the approach of England.

“England is a very good team,” he said. “They are fifth in the world ranking and have won the last euros, so we have to respect this team.

“They started very well and put pressure on us at the start. We were a little surprised because normally they play with the accumulation of Keira Walsh in the midfield, so it was really difficult because we were under pressure, and we conceded. Fortunately for us, it was excluded.

“Then slowly, step by step, we came back with our avant-garde players and had our fantastic goal on the right side. Physically, it was not easy for the England team because we played more directly in the midfield. We kept calm and scored a second goal.

“In the second half, we checked the match because they had only had two shots on the target. At the end of the match, you could see England to be able to score at any time and we played under pressure for the last five minutes. My players have succeeded very well and kept the result.”