Women's Euro 2025: France beat England, the defending champions

Determined and bold, the French women's team got their Euro off to a perfect start on Saturday, July 5 in Zurich, defeating the defending champions England 2-1 thanks to two goals from Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore in three minutes. By winning the best match of the first day, Laurent Bonadei's players took second place in Group D, tied with the Netherlands, who had earlier beaten Wales 3-0.

The French women could not have had a better start to their tournament , hoping to break their glass ceiling in Switzerland, after failing to reach the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup and the Paris Olympics.

Is this the renewal of a squad worn down by setbacks, or the reinforcement of mental coach Thomas Sammut, who had supported Léon Marchand ? At no point, in front of more than 22,500 spectators delighted by the spectacle, did the Bleues appear to falter against the reigning European champions and world vice-champions. "We must remain very humble in victory, and also not panic when we experience more difficult moments," urged their coach after the match, already looking ahead to Wednesday's match against Wales.

The Lionesses' offensive armada was, however, a crucial test for a rejuvenated squad, deprived of experienced players Wendie Renard, Eugénie Le Sommer and Kenza Dali, not selected by Bonadei, and captain and central defender Griedge Mbock, who has a right calf injury.

Back after a thigh injury suffered in April, Chelsea star Lauren James looked set to torment the makeshift defence formed by Maëlle Lakrar and young Alice Sombath (21 years old, 4 caps), playing 17 minutes together. But after a shot off target (1st), a dangerous cross (4th), and above all a breakthrough resulting in a goal from Alessia Russo disallowed for an offside by Beth Mead (16th), the French took control of the ball.

Powered by a dazzling Delphine Cascarino , who was voted player of the match, the Blues almost opened the scoring with a left-footed lob from Sakina Karchaoui into the side netting (25th), a curling shot from Salma Bacha (29th) and then a shot from Elisa De Almeida (32nd) well saved by Hannah Hampton. And the light finally came from a recovery on the right by De Almeida. The full-back passed to Cascarino who crossed low for a clinical right-footed shot from Katoto (1-0, 36th). Played in by Oriane Jean-François, who started in place of Sandie Toletti despite having only 14 caps, Sandy Baltimore brought an England defender to her knees and then sent a powerful shot into the top right corner (2-0, 39th).

Far from trying to manage the score after the break, the Blues rushed forward again, with another De Almeida-Cascarino combination ending up in the side netting (51st), then a nice Katoto-Geyoro pass forcing Hampton to intervene on her line (54th). But the English, despite being stifled in the second half, ended up reducing the score: on a poorly cleared corner, Keira Walsh beat Pauline Peyraud-Magnin with a powerful right-footed shot from the edge of the box (2-1, 87th).

Despite a sluggish end to the match, the Lionesses began their quest for a second consecutive continental title with a setback, unable to dispel the doubts born from the withdrawal of three of their key players (Mary Earps, Millie Bright, and Fran Kirby) before the Euro. It was also the first defeat in a Euro for their coach Sarina Wiegman, who led the Netherlands to victory in 2017 before winning the 2022 edition with England. The contrast is striking with the "manita" achieved on Thursday by the Spanish world champions (5-0 against Portugal), until now their only rivals in the predictions.