England’s Lionesses will defend their Euros title after drawing 0-0 with Sweden on Tuesday evening to qualify for next year’s competition.
Sarina Wiegman’s team traveled to Gothenburg knowing they needed to avoid loss in order to qualify automatically; else, they would have to settle for a spot in the play-offs.
England was the superior team in the first half, but both defenders were on top form, with the first shot on goal coming after the break in the 50th minute.
Sweden, needing a win to guarantee qualification, pushed up their game, but Hannah Hampton made a key stop.
Leah Williamson, Lucy Bronze, and Georgia Stanway all had scoring opportunities but fell short of finishing clinically, and Hampton, who started ahead of Mary Earps once more, was forced to withstand a barrage of Swedish chances.
It was a nervy performance from the young goalkeeper, but she held firm to secure the point, with Wiegman now preparing her side to retain their Euros title following their historic win at Wembley three years ago.
In what has been a sad few days for English football, with the Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain followed by Gareth Southgate’s resignation on Tuesday, the Lionesses were able to restore a little bit of joy.
How big will this save from Hannah Hampton prove to be for the #Lionesses? 😬#WEURO2025 pic.twitter.com/IXGQLww87z
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 16, 2024
“When we don’t score, we don’t make it easy for ourselves,” captain Williamson said to ITV following the game.
We’ve seen a game, and France has too. These are difficult locations to visit.
‘They [Sweden] had a change of tactics, they have different threats. We stood firm and we stayed true. We couldn’t play the football we wanted to play the second half which put us under a lot of pressure.
‘We took care of business, we qualified and we can get the most out of ourselves before the tournament. We did that the last time and we all know how that went.’
At their home Euros in 2022, they became the first England team to win a major trophy since 1966 and as reigning champions and World Cup runners-up, the Lionesses will no doubt be one of the favourites to triumph at Euro 2025.
Euro 2025 is being held in Switzerland next July and will be contested between 16 teams, with England set to discover their opponents when the draw is made in December.