England bounce back to beat Netherlands, Sweden reach Euro quarters
- Last updated: July 10, 2025 | 10:28
Lauren James made sure England avoided a major scare at Women’s Euro 2025 with a brace in Wednesday’s 4-0 thumping of the Netherlands which kick-started the Lionesses’ title defence.
Chelsea star James opened the scoring with a rocket of a shot in the 22nd minute and added a third on the hour mark to cap a superb individual performance at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, where England started the game at risk of elimination.
Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone scored the other goals as England swept the Dutch aside in Zurich and moved level on three points with the Oranje and France, who face bottom team Wales later, in Group D.
France will go top as long as they don’t suffer a shock defeat to Wales but qualification for the last eight will now go to the final round of fixtures on Sunday.
That will suit England as Sarina Wiegman’s team face Wales with the wind in their sails while France and the Netherlands face off in Basel with their tournament lives on the line.
James’ hugely impressive performance, this time on the right flank, against the meek Dutch came in just her second appearance in a competitive fixture since suffering a hamstring injury in April.
The 23-year-old had been a doubt for the tournament but now looks to be approaching her best form after a shaky start to the tournament against France at the weekend.
England started fast like they did against the French and should have been ahead within 10 minutes as Alessia Russo and James, who was moved to the right wing to accomodate Toone in midfield, both missed excellent headed opportunities.
However James made up for her miss with a wonderful individual goal, collecting Russo’s pass before shimmying inside and unleashing an unstoppable left-footed shot past Daphne van Domselaar.
The only criticism that could have been levelled at England is that they should have been further ahead early on after creating a clutch of opportunities against the strangely below-par opposition.
But Stanway made the scoreline reflect the balance of play in stoppage time at the end of the first half by drilling home from distance after the Dutch defence again failed to deal with a high ball.
Unlucky Russo had a neat headed goal ruled out for Leah Williamson straying offside almost immediately after the break, but James was on hand to seal the points with half an hour left to play, rolling home on the rebound after superb play down the right flank from Lauren Hemp.
Seven minutes later Toone completed the rout by drilling home low with her left foot and giving England the heavy win which boosted their hopes of reaching the next round.
Earlier, Sweden captain Kosovare Asllani scored one goal and made another as her side cruised into the knockout stages of the women’s European Championship with a 3-0 win over Poland on Tuesday that eliminated the Poles. The win also guaranteed Germany’s berth in the last eight after they beat Denmark earlier on Tuesday, with the Danes joining Poland in exiting the competition after both lost their opening two matches.
Germany and Sweden occupy the top two spots in Group C on six points and meet in Zurich on Saturday to decide who will win the group after Sweden’s aerial bombardment from the wings proved too much for the Polish defence.
Asllani and Madelen Janogy both hit the woodwork with early headers before striker Stina Blackstenius nodded home a cross from her captain in the 28th minute to break the deadlock.
The Swedes were well aware of the threat posed by Poland captain Ewa Pajor and kept her well-shackled for much of the game.
On the few occasions she did get the ball, the Polish fans rose to their feet in anticipation, but the Sweden defence was quick to snuff out any danger.
Agencies