There was nothing glamorous about the way England sealed their qualification for Euro 2025.
Two summers ago, the Lionesses were shining in a local tournament, playing electrifying football that saw them crowned European champions for the first time in their history.
They have struggled to reach the levels they have set themselves in recent times, but they will be in Switzerland to defend their title next summer.
To do so, they will have to play better than they did on Tuesday night in Gothenburg. It was not a masterful performance against a Sweden side that needed to win to progress, but it was enough to get the job done and avoid the play-off matches later this year.
With two of the world’s top six ranked nations drawn in the same group, automatic qualification was never going to be easy for the Lionesses.
Reigning champions England have automatically qualified for Euro 2025 in Switzerland
Hannah Hampton in goal helped neutralise the Swedish threat as England secured a much-needed equaliser.
Sarina Wiegman will need to see more of her team to threaten at next year’s tournament
The team finished second, despite France suffering a shock 3-1 defeat to the Republic of Ireland in their final match.
England only needed a point against Sweden, who finished two points behind them in third place.
This campaign has shown that there are issues Wiegman needs to address. They have lacked fluidity and seemed to tire in the second half of every game they have played in their group.
“Yeah, that’s something we definitely need to improve on,” Wiegman said of England’s second-half performance.
“It’s good that we’re a year older now. I think we played some very good football in the first half. The only thing we didn’t do was score a goal. We could have created more chances if we’d had more attacking players in the final third of the pitch.
Hampton was selected ahead of number one goalkeeper Mary Earps and proved her worth in goal.
The newly appointed Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper will now have to fight to get her shirt back.
“In the second half it was a battle. In those moments, when they start to press higher up with more players, when you have the ball you want to keep it better to have more control of the game. It’s true that we had that against France and here too. That has to do with the quality of the opponent, but it’s good that you have a year to prepare for the Euros and work on those things.”
One of Wiegman’s biggest selection dilemmas heading into Tuesday’s crucial game was whether to bring back goalkeeper Mary Earps into the starting lineup or stick with Hannah Hampton, who had started the past two games.
Earps missed last month’s win over France after suffering a hip injury in the defeat to Les Bleus four days earlier. She had been fit to play against the Republic of Ireland on Friday but Hampton kept her place and Wiegman opted to keep the Chelsea goalkeeper in goal.
The England manager had insisted before kick-off that it was too early to suggest whoever started in goal would be the number one choice going forward, but starting Hampton instead of Earps was certainly a bold decision and it now appears she is the one to lose the shirt.
“Mary was very professional and prepared,” Wiegman said of Earps’ reaction to not starting.
The reigning champions had a strong first half but struggled to contain a renewed Sweden in the second half.
‘We split the games in February and April. In the May/June window, unfortunately, Mary got injured. In that period we said there was more competition between the two, of course we also have Khiara (Keating) and we had Anna Moorhouse in the squad and they are doing well as well.
“The competition is on, really on. They are both incredibly talented goalkeepers who we are very happy with and of course the others too. Now that we have achieved this, there are three months to go until the next transfer window. They will return to their clubs, Mary of course to France, and we will see how it goes first and when they return in October.”
England dominated possession in the first half without creating any chances. Neither side managed to get a shot on target before the break, with Sweden’s best chance falling to right-back Hanna Lundkvist, whose shot from the edge of the area went over the bar.
England needed Hampton to make a crucial save to deny Filipa Angeldahl’s close-range effort from a set-piece before Lucy Bronze saw her header saved by Zecira Musovic at the other end.
Lucy Bronze (right) saw her header saved by Swedish goalkeeper Zecira Musovic
Sweden will now have to navigate the choppy waters of the play-off matches to qualify.
Wiegman has spoken many times about her team’s lack of coordination throughout this campaign and they were guilty of getting into trouble as the first half progressed. Leah Williamson and Jess Carter were guilty of losing possession, while Millie Bright got in Hampton’s way as the goalkeeper tried to get in and collect crosses. Hampton dropped the ball on multiple occasions, though Wiegman was furious at an alleged lack of protection from the referee.
Hampton was almost caught out when Angeldahl fired a 30-yard shot into the top right corner of her goal, but she recovered well to make a one-handed save and preserve England’s clean sheet.
England held on for four minutes of added time but, as has been the case throughout this campaign, did enough to get over the line.