England face tough group to qualify for European Championship

England face tough group to qualify for European Championship،

Tom Hamilton, lead writerMarch 5, 2024, 1:05 p.m.
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England face a tough journey to qualify for the 2025 European Championship, having drawn France, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland.

England qualify as defending champions after their historic Euro 2022 victory at Wembley. But as they failed to reach the knockout stages of the Nations League, they were seeded second for the qualifying draw ahead of the 2025 tournament.

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Their place in pot two meant they were guaranteed to be drawn against France, Germany, the Netherlands or Spain in qualifying.

Sarina Wiegman's team, ranked fourth in the world, hosted third-placed France and fifth-placed Sweden alongside the Republic of Ireland in Group C.

It is as difficult a task as England could have accomplished. The qualification structure means that the top two teams in Group C will automatically progress to Euro 2025, while the third and fourth placed teams will enter the playoffs where they will face teams from League B and League C.

Wiegman admitted the draw would be difficult, but said his team would be up for the challenge.

“It’s a tough draw but really exciting,” Wiegman said.

“Of course, we all went into the draw knowing that Sweden – one of the best countries – would be in pot 3 due to their performance in the Nations League in 2023, so with France, Sweden and Ireland in our group, it will be very competitive.

“It’s exciting and now we just have to show up and play. For the fans and for football it’s really good because it’s going to be so competitive.

“France has a very good team and they showed their qualities by reaching the final of the Nations League.

“I'm really excited to play France because we haven't played them since I've been England head coach, so I'm really looking forward to these two games.”

But for England to automatically qualify for Euro 2025, they will need to overcome a tricky group. France reached the Nations League final only to lose to Spain 2-0, but have a world-class team led by Hervé Renard.

Sweden won the Euros in 1984 and took third place at the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, while the Republic of Ireland will also provide a tough test given their recent improvement and abundance of experienced players of the WSL in its ranks.

Elsewhere, the Netherlands were drawn in the same group as Italy, Norway and Finland. Spain, world champions and winners of the Nations League, will face Denmark, Belgium and the Czech Republic, while Germany will be drawn with Austria, Iceland and Poland.

The qualifications are played on three separate blocks. The first and second days will take place from April 3 to 9, the third and fourth will take place between May 29 and June 4 while the last two matches of the group stage will be played between July 10 and 16.

League A

Group A1: Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Finland

Group A2: Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Czech Republic

Group A3: France, England, Sweden, Ireland

Group A4: Germany, Austria, Iceland, Poland

League B

Group B1: Switzerland, Hungary, Türkiye, Azerbaijan

Group B2: Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Israel

Group B3: Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Malta

Group B4: Wales, Croatia, Ukraine, Kosovo

League C

Group C1: Belarus, Lithuania, Cyprus, Georgia