England qualify for Euro 2025 with Sweden draw

• Published On: 17 July 2024 at 19:58

England, the reigning champions, held Sweden to a goalless draw in their last women's Euro 2025 qualifier on Tuesday, securing their place in next year's finals, while Italy and the Netherlands also qualified.

Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses knew that if they avoided defeat, they would finish in the top two of Group A3 and automatically qualify for the tournament in Switzerland next July.

England generated few chances in Gothenburg, but held on despite late pressure from 1984 champions Sweden, who would have qualified with a win.

"I'm happy, I'm very relieved because it was a tough game," coach Wiegman told ITV. "The first half, I believe we controlled.

"When you're this dominant, we need to create more opportunities and score goals. In the second half, we were unable to maintain that level.

"We fought for it." I believe we can play better, but holding the score 0-0 and qualifying for this group gives me relief."

The Scandinavians finished third in their group and will have to settle for a spot in the play-offs, which will be held later this year.

Meanwhile, Italy and the Netherlands advanced from Group A1, where all four teams had a chance to advance ahead of Tuesday's games.

Italy won 4-0 over Finland to take first place, while the Dutch finished second after drawing 1-1 with Norway.

Days ago, its male team counterpart lost to Spain in the final of the Euro 2024 event, which was hosted by Germany.

Meanwhile,  UEFA Women's Euro 2025 would be held in Switzerland from July 2 to July 27, 2025.

This 16-team tournament will be held in eight locations, including Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zürich, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Thun, and Sion.

Basel's St. Jakob-Park will host both the opening and final matches.