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FRANCE STAKED THEIR claim to be contenders for Women’s Euro 2025 by beating holders England 2-1 on Saturday and joining the Netherlands at the top of Group D.
Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore netted within three minutes of each other towards the end of the first half as Les Bleues deservedly defeated England in Zurich.
Laurent Bonadei’s team are level on three points with leaders the Dutch, who cruised past Wales 3-0 earlier on Saturday, after striking a big blow in the battle to qualify from possibly the hardest group at the tournament.
France face underdogs Wales next on Wednesday while England have a huge clash with the Netherlands, again at the Letzigrund Stadium.
The French were better all over the pitch, driven by the sparkling wing play of Baltimore and Delphine Cascarino, while Keira Walsh’s lovely strike with three minutes remaining made the scoreline flatter unconvincing England.
Not even Lauren James’ return to the starting XI could inspire England, the Chelsea star way below her best as the Lionesses struggled to put any pressure on France until it was too late.
Alessia Russo thought she had given England the lead in the 16th minute when she prodded home on the rebound after Pauline Peyraud-Magnin kept out Lauren Hemp’s shot, only for the goal to be ruled out for a razor-thin offside in the build-up.
From there, France took the initiative, pushing England back into their own half and dominating possession, and they had a deserved lead through Katoto in the 36th minute when the Lyon forward guided home Cascarino’s low cross.
And three minutes later Baltimore made the scoreline accurately represent the balance of play with a wonderful individual goal, easily skipping around Lucy Bronze and Leah Williamson before rifling her finish into the top corner.
Walsh found the top corner with England’s first strike on target and Sarina Wiegman’s team almost snatched a point in the dying moments when Selma Bacha cleared Michelle Agyemang’s shot off the line and saved the result for France.
Written by AFP and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
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You mean best possible start
@John Kenny: it’s a headline dripping in glee that would be just weird if you substituted England with France, Spain or Portugal. A 2-1 loss too, honestly.
@John Kenny: whilst you watch BBC , shop in British stores and support a British football team
France were all over them, every inch of the pitch they owned. Scoreboard didn’t do France justice. Really can’t see past France for lifting the trophy.
There were a few warning signs for England leading up to the tournament with one player told she ‘would not be chosen’ and another then ‘retiring’. “Not the best prep for a Finals…”, as Roy might say!
Not good for Trump either .
Elon musk forming a political party
The America party .
Good
Golly Gosh.
CROCODILE DON T , going to be swamped by
ELON THE ALLIGATOR’s new political party
I seem to remember we beat France in Cork
have your say