England skipper Williamson attributes team’s lacklustre performance in EURO 2025 defeat to emotional turmoil

Leah Williamson, the captain of England, has attributed her team’s unexpected display in their 2-1 defeat to France in the opening match of Women’s Euro 2025 to emotional factors, revealing they failed to compartmentalise their feelings before the match commenced.

France surged ahead in the first half, with goals from Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore leaving England’s travelling supporters in stunned silence. Although Keira Walsh scored a goal in the 87th minute and the Lionesses came close to equalising in the dying moments, it proved to be too little too late for the defending champions.

“I’m disappointed that we had some poor emotional defending in the first half. When you’re under sustained pressure like that, it makes you vulnerable to those kinds of situations,” Williamson reflected on their lacklustre one-on-one defending.

“I’m frustrated because the football we played towards the end, along with our game plan, showed potential. We just didn’t execute it as well as we could have.”

“At halftime, we had a player discussion where we took responsibility as individuals and as a team. There’s a calm atmosphere right now, but we also needed to remove the emotion, leave it behind in the changing room, and try to inject some energy into our play.”

This defeat marks the first for manager Sarina Wiegman in a European Championship, having previously guided both the Netherlands (2017) and England (2022) to victory.

“Of course, we’re frustrated. We had three excellent weeks of preparation and trained really well, but that doesn’t guarantee a win,” Wiegman commented. “We also know that France is a formidable team, so things need to be executed flawlessly. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it right at critical moments.”

England nearly scored first, but Alessia Russo’s attempt was disallowed following a VAR check that determined Beth Mead had been offside in the build-up.

Wiegman also believed Russo was fouled leading to France’s second goal, yet VAR concluded otherwise.

“I’m not the referee, but I am disappointed,” she expressed.

Historically, England has started slowly in major tournaments, managing a 1-0 win over Austria in their Euro 2022 opener and a similar scoreline against Haiti in the 2023 World Cup, which ultimately led them to their first final.

“It’s hard to compare all the opening matches in tournaments,” Wiegman noted. “Playing against France is entirely different from other tournament openers, as they are a world-class side, and I believe we’re a strong team as well.”

Next up, England face a daunting challenge against the Netherlands on Wednesday, who triumphed 3-0 over Wales in the other Group D match on Saturday.