England Women 6-1 Wales Women: Lionesses to face Sweden in Euro 2025 quarter-finals after Dragons thrashing

England Women will face Sweden in the Euro 2025 quarter-finals after a 6-1 hammering of Wales Women to finish second in Group D.

The Lionesses needed a win to be assured of their place in the quarter-finals, regardless of what happened in the other game between the Netherlands and France. The French were 5-2 winners, and go through as group winners.

And it was another slick performance in St Gallen, following on from a dominant 4-0 win against the Dutch last week. This time, four of their goals came in the first half.

The game began with controversy though. Georgia Stanway was tripped by Carrie Jones on the cusp of the area, with the referee initially awarding a free-kick.

And as Alex Greenwood loomed over it, a VAR check looked for a possible penalty, eventually awarding England a spot kick with Jones' foul deemed to have happened inside the area - much to the anger of the Welsh bench.

The felled Stanway then lined up the penalty and finished expertly past Olivia Clarke, who did leap the right way.

Soon after, Ella Toone doubled England's lead. It was a defensive mix-up from the Welsh that allowed Alessia Russo to round the goalkeeper, before cutting the ball back for her teammate. Toone's first effort was cleared off the line, but she hammered home the second from close range.

Toone then turned provider for the Lionesses' third. She worked with Lauren James down the right, before standing up a cross to the back post. Lauren Hemp was waiting to nod home the pass, with the ball taking a deflection off Clarke on the way.

Image: Georgia Stanway scores England's opening goal from the penalty spot

It was the Man Utd midfielder who then set up Russo for England's fourth on the stroke of half time, again linking up with James in the build-up. She found the Arsenal striker centrally, who took one touch before hammering home.

The second half was a quieter affair by all accounts, but still saw three goals. It took until the 72nd minute for England to open up Wales again as half-time substitute Beth Mead added the fifth. She sped past Rhiannon Roberts before planting her effort into the bottom corner.

Image: Hannah Cain celebrates her goal for Wales against England

Wales' lone goal was a superb effort. Jess Fishlock reminded everyone of her evergreen quality with a glorious pass to find Hannah Cain, with the Leicester forward rocketing her effort past Hannah Hampton.

England had a final goal up their sleeves in the final minute of normal time. It was a lofted pass from Mead that found Aggie Beever-Jones, whose bullet header added the sixth.

It was an emphatic win for the Lionesses, who will now face Sweden in the quarter-finals in Zurich on Friday. Wales exit their first major tournament without registering a point, but acquitted themselves well in Switzerland.

Team news headlines England named an unchanged XI from their previous win against the Netherlands.

Wales made three changes from their defeat to France. Goalkeeper Olivia Clark returned for Safia Middleton-Patel, while Rhiannon Roberts was reinstated to the backline. Carrie Jones came in for her first start of the tournament.

Toone: Sweden should be scared

England midfielder Ella Toone speaking on ITV Sport: "We were really good. It's always difficult to play against a team that sits in a low block; there isn't a lot of space for us, but I think we tired them out. It was nice that we got early goals in the first half.

"We watched Sweden the other night, they looked really good, a really good counter-attacking team. But we're feeling confident, they should be scared."

England boss Sarina Wiegman speaking on ITV Sport: "We scored six goals and a big part of the game we dominated, a very good game. Playing well is the most important, who scores is not that important, but I'm pleased Alessia [Russo] got one.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player England midfielder Georgia Stanway speaks to Sky Sports News' Anton Toloui following the Lionesses' 6-1 win over Wales to send them through to the Euro 2025 quarter-finals.

"I'm very happy. We knew ahead of this tournament how hard this group was going to be, then when you lose the first game there is massive urgency to win the other two. It gave a lot of learnings with the team and it brought us together - I think that's pretty good."

England midfielder Georgia Stanway to Sky Sports News: "Very happy to be out of the group. There have been many moments in this tournament where we thought we could have a chance of going home but it's nice to be here for another few weeks.

"The last game was relief and pride. This game was about us executing exactly what we wanted to do.

"We knew we were going to be the better team but it was making sure we could get the ball over the line. Us getting the early goal allowed us to relax and settle in and allowed people to make their European debuts."

Image: England's Lauren Hemp celebrates after scoring her sides third goal

Fishlock: This is just the beginning

Wales midfielder Jess Fishlock speaking on ITV Sport: "This is the beginning of a journey for us. We've played three of the best teams in the world at this tournament and we've found out how big that jump is.

"We have to work together as a group, as an association, to keep on investing and keep building. We need to make sure this isn't a one-off.

"We can still celebrate what it meant to be here, and what it meant for our nation. But then we've got to regroup, learn and get better.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Wales head coach Rhian Wilkinson gave a call to arms for 'equal opportunities for young girls' in football akin to the Lionesses' open letter to the government in 2022, following her side's defeat to England and exit from Euro 2025.

"For me, I don't know right now. It's tough when you work so hard and concede things. We've got to get back to the drawing board and stick together. I'm still really proud of this group."

Wales boss Rhian Wilkinson speaking on ITV Sport: "This was not our game. We were outplayed and I was out-coached. We know we'll take a lot from it, but I feel for the players. I wouldn't want to stand with any other team. There's a gap between us and the top teams and we know that. My job is to continue to push and close that gap.

"I want to thank all of our support. It was a tough game to stay loud and they did for us. Back home we've got work to do. This isn't a team that is ready for tournament play in terms of three, four, five games back to back. That is an area of improvement. This was a painful one."

How the Euros quarter-finals stand

All kick-offs at 8pm BST

July 16

QF1: Norway vs Italy (Geneva)

July 17

QF3: Sweden vs England (Zurich)

July 18

QF2: Spain vs Switzerland (Bern)

July 19

QF4: France vs Germany (Basel)

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