England v Wales: Lineup, Statistics, Preview
Match preview of England v Wales
Lauren Hemp enjoys England renewing his “great rival” with Wales when he meets at the Group D finale at Euro 2025 on Sunday.
The European champions responded in style as they fell into an astonishing 2-1 defeat to France to start the tournament He hit the Netherlands 4-0 Wednesday in Zurich.
A stunning goal from Lauren James and Georgia Sternway gave England’s order a second before James, with the late Ella Tone Strike closing out the dominant victory.
That means England will need to match the Dutch results against France to advance to the quarterfinals, and they will become a huge favorite to do so.
England and Wales are portrayed together in the qualifying rounds for the 2015 and 2019 Women’s World Cup.
Lioness won three of the four meetings in these qualification campaigns, attracting the other and not acknowledging the Dragon’s goal.
A lot has changed since then, and although hemp is nothing for granted, history is solid against the tournament debutante in England.
“It’s a great rivalry,” Hemp said at a press conference Friday. “These are the games you want to participate in…it’s a derby, we want to win, it’s over.
“We’ll do whatever we can to do that. It’s going to be a really tough match. We have so much respect for Wales.”
Ready to go again on Sunday pic.twitter.com/5vljqyt35d
– Liones (@lionesses) July 11, 2025
In his performance against the Netherlands, Hemp added:
“It showed everyone confidence, everyone did their strengths, everyone did their job and they did it really well.
“Everyone was shy, everyone was calm and relaxed, we knew what kind of work we needed. It was no one scared, you definitely on the pitch (no one scared).
“We felt we were feeling the loss (of France) as a team, and we tried to turn it around, and we look back at the final game and hopefully bring that momentum to the next thing, how well we did… I think everyone is very positive and confident.
Wales are on the verge of exclusion following a 4-1 defeat to France.
It was still a historic match for Wales, with Jess Fishlock scoring his first major tournament goal when netting the equalizer.
And coach Rhian Wilkinson was excited by what her team showed despite the outcomes that almost certainly meant heading home after facing England. Wales will need to beat the Lioness with four goals, hoping France will beat the Netherlands.
“The results follow performance. I’ve always said, I’m rather showing courage and courage than losing 4-1, losing 1-0 and not giving the fans anything to cheer on.
“It was a huge improvement in performance from the first game. Once again, I think it’s a bit of an error, an individual mistake. At this level, obviously you’ll be punished to the fullest.
“Wales is a minnow on the world stage and they have earned the right to be here and represent our incredible country. Now we can see the difference.
“This is a very new country for the world of football and has shown everyone that we are proud to represent Wales.”
With nothing to lose and pride enough to play, Wilkinson hopes her players will show the same courage they can stoop from the huge shock and end England’s defense.