Sarina Wiegman faces the ultimate test of her England tenure as her side head into tomorrow night’s must-not-lose clash with the Netherlands.
A defeat, combined with a France draw against Wales in the other Group D game, would see the defending European champions crash out at the first hurdle.
The Lionesses’ chances were severely hit by Saturday’s lacklustre 2-1 defeat to France, a result that leaves them with little wiggle room.
The Dutch – a side Wiegman led to continental success in 2017 – will be difficult opposition and midfielder Georgia Stanway accepts England need to turn up or face the consequences.
The Bayern Munich midfielder said: “It’s reality. If we’re not good enough on Wednesday then we don’t deserve to continue in the tournament.”
A change in weather, but our focus is the same 👊 pic.twitter.com/l7NbS0fjTm
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 7, 2025
England were strangely passive against Les Bleues and Stanway knows it will require a much-improved performance in Zurich.
She added: “We’ve spoken about wanting to be ‘proper England’ and going back to what we’re good at and our traditional style of football – tough tackles and remembering why we’re here.
“Sometimes it’s about blocking out the noise and getting on the pitch and getting stuck in.
“I had a message from someone I know that said ‘[the France game] was just like a bad night out and you want to forget it as quickly as possible!’”
The Netherlands enjoyed a 3-0 win over Wales at the weekend, inspired by Vivianne Miedema’s 100th international goal.
Goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar could be a key figure against England and she could break the hearts of Arsenal team-mates Beth Mead, Alessia Russo, Leah Williamson and Lotte Wubben-Moy.
Van Domselaar told UEFA.com: “I play almost every match with them. I know them really well as players, but also as individuals. They are really sweet girls and also very talented players. I really look forward to playing against them. We spoke about it, of course, before the tournament, although we haven’t been in touch much recently.
“We will have the same preparations [as for Wales]. We try to think about every scenario they might play. I know I’ll probably have to do a little bit more [than in the Wales game], but I am ready for it, as we are as a team. We want to win every game in the group phase.”
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