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Reigning European champions England thrashed neighbours Wales 6-1 to scope the Women's Euro 2025 quarterfinals connected Sunday, securing 2nd spot successful Group D and cruising into the knockouts connected a precocious note.
Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo, Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones were each connected people for England, who finished runners-up to France aft their 5-2 triumph implicit the Netherlands.
Next up for Sarina Wiegman's squad are Sweden -- who won each 3 of their games to apical Group C -- successful the quarterfinal connected Thursday.
"It is going to beryllium a hard game. We watched [Sweden] the different nighttime and they were truly good. We request to beryllium connected our champion game," Toone said. "I deliberation they should beryllium scared."
The second-place finish, however, could beryllium a bonus arsenic provided they get past Sweden, England would debar satellite champions Spain successful the semifinals.
Stanway struck from the punishment spot successful the 13th infinitesimal aft a foul successful the box, calmly sweeping her changeable into the far-left country past the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Olivia Clark to unfastened the floodgates.
Matthias Hangst/Getty Images
Toone past recovered the backmost of the nett with a scrappy extremity 8 minutes aboriginal arsenic England capitalised connected a sloppy clearance by Rhiannon Roberts -- with the shot falling to Russo who nudged it into the way of Toone who fired location connected the 2nd attempt.
Hemp nodded successful a 3rd wrong 30 minutes aft a clever walk from Lauren James to Toone connected the byline. Toone recovered Hemp astatine the acold station with a pinpoint transverse for an casual header.
Russo bagged her archetypal extremity of the tourney conscionable earlier halftime erstwhile Toone made different dart to the byline earlier cutting the shot backmost for the Arsenal forward, who took 1 interaction to power it earlier firing home. Mead chopped wrong a Welsh defender earlier a cute decorativeness secured England's 5th successful the 72nd minute.
Hannah Cain pulled 1 backmost successful the 76th minute, overmuch to the delight of the Wales fans, but England's Beever-Jones replied successful the 89th with her archetypal extremity successful a large tournament, finishing disconnected a Mead cross.
"This is the opening of a travel for us," Wales midfielder Jess Fishlock said. "We've played 3 of the champion teams successful the satellite astatine this tourney and we've recovered retired however large that leap is."
Much was made astir the accepted rivalry betwixt England and Wales, with Wales wanting thing amended than to spoil England's party. Thousands of Welsh fans successful the Red Wall didn't suffer their dependable passim Sunday's match, contempt the scoreline.
But Wiegman's squad -- World Cup finalists successful 2023 and European champions the twelvemonth earlier -- showed their immense acquisition against a Wales broadside making their large tourney debut.
"We scored six goals and a large portion of the crippled we dominated, a precise bully game," caput manager Wiegman said. "Playing good is the astir important, who scores is not that important."
England person won 10 of the 11 meetings betwixt the 2 teams, with Wales' champion effect being a 0-0 gully successful 2018.
"We were truly good. It is ever hard to play against a squad that sits successful a debased block," Toone said. "It was bully we got an aboriginal extremity successful the archetypal fractional and we enjoyed the game."
