Home Sports Lionesses’ group of death! England Women get a nightmare draw for their European Championship title defence as they face two top-five nations in qualifying

Lionesses’ group of death! England Women get a nightmare draw for their European Championship title defence as they face two top-five nations in qualifying

by Alexander
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England will face France, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland in qualifying for Euro 2025.
  • France is third in the world, England is fourth and Sweden is fifth.
  • The qualifiers will be played in six games spread over three international breaks.
  • The five biggest flops of all time… and Erling Haaland is not number one – Listen to the everything is beginning podcast

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England face a die-hard group to qualify for Euro 2025, with the Lionesses drawn against France, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland.

The defending champions will have to finish in one of the first two places to automatically qualify for the tournament in Switzerland and avoid four extra play-off matches.

The 51 teams hoping to qualify for the tournament were divided into three leagues: A, B and C.

The results of the 2023-2024 Nations League campaign determined which league teams entered, with England in League A, Group 3.

The Lionesses are arguably in the toughest group. England, who reached the World Cup final last summer, are the world’s fourth-highest ranked team, followed by France in third and Sweden in fifth, while the Republic of Ireland are one of the lowest-ranked teams. toughest rankings that Sarina Wiegman’s team could have faced.

England will face France, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland in qualifying for Euro 2025.

England will face France, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland in qualifying for Euro 2025.

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In each league, the teams were divided into four pots. England were in pot two due to finishing second in their Nations League group. That meant they were guaranteed to play one from France, Spain, Germany or the Netherlands, who finished first in their groups.

The two best teams from the four League A groups will automatically qualify for the tournament, while the remaining seven places will be occupied by the highest-ranked teams from the three leagues.

The teams that finish third and fourth in the League A groups automatically qualify for the play-offs, as do the top three teams in each League B group, meaning England could finish last in their group and still have a good chance of qualifying.

If hosts Switzerland finish in the top three of their group, then the fourth-highest placed team in League B will qualify for the play-offs.

From League C, the first five in the group and the three second best placed will reach the play-offs.

In the first round of play-offs, the eight teams in League A will face the eight teams in League C, while the top six teams in League B will face the six bottom teams in League B.

Once that round is completed, the remaining 14 teams will be seeded. The seven highest-ranked nations will face the other seven teams, with the winners of those matches taking the final seven qualifying spots.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all in League B, but were separated in the draw.

Scotland will face Serbia, Israel and Slovakia, while Wales will face Croatia, Ukraine and Kosovo.

Northern Ireland will face Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Malta.

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