Preview for Sweden v England
England’s defence of their European Championship title faces one other stiff examination tomorrow night time once they tackle in-form Sweden in Zurich.
Sarina Wiegman’s facet overcame a sticky begin to end second in Group D and can now meet the Group C winners, who come into the sport on the again of a 4-1 thrashing of Germany.
The Lionesses regained their mojo following a sub-standard efficiency and 2-1 defeat to France of their opening sport in Switzerland with spectacular back-to-back wins over the Netherlands (4-1) and Wales (6-1) to progress, however the Swedes are prone to pose greater issues.
England midfielder Ella Toone raised the stakes additional by declaring their last-eight opponents needs to be “scared”, feedback which have raised eyebrows within the Sweden camp.
Defender Magdalena Eriksson stated: “Completely not scared, however we have now respect for the opponent.
“We all the time have and the truth that we respect and analyse all opponents in the identical means is a giant success issue for us. All opponents have high qualities but in addition weaknesses and we’ll analyse them.”
Eriksson hinted England have been vulnerable to over-confidence however believes the defeat to Les Bleues did them a favour.
She added: “They received an actual lesson from France. It may be good when such matches come early in a match, that you just perceive that you need to come all the way down to earth once more and be a bit of humble and look at your self.
“It felt like they actually did that earlier than match two towards the Netherlands. Then they exit and appear to be a brand new crew. It may be a bonus for them that they’ve obtained that slap within the face early and have been in a position to be taught from it and be a bit of extra humble about it.”
“I don’t know why we needs to be scared, hopefully we will present them” 👀
Jonna Andersson responds to Ella Toone’s feedback that Sweden needs to be ‘scared’ of England. pic.twitter.com/K7hijfEKgP
— Sky Sports activities Information (@SkySportsNews) July 16, 2025
In contrast to Toone, England captain Leah Williamson appeared to have gotten the memo and the Arsenal defender was fast to speak up the Swedes.
She stated: “Sweden’s earlier outcomes at tournaments are unbelievable. They’re relentless in the case of match soccer.
“I do assume they deserve a bit of bit extra recognition.
“When you could have a crew who work for one another like Sweden, you then don’t must essentially have a loopy standout menace as a result of everybody performs their roles.
“They’re arduous to arrange for in that sense. The self-discipline for all of them to finish their jobs on the pitch makes them a harmful facet.”
For England to progress to a gathering with both Norway or Italy within the semi-finals, Williamson should hold Sweden striker and Arsenal team-mate Stina Blackstenius quiet.
Blackstenius scored the one aim because the Gunners beat Barcelona within the Champions League last in Might and the 29-year-old will spearhead the Swedish assault.
Williamson added: “Stina is an extremely highly effective footballer. She’s very clever together with her runs. She’s a tough participant to play towards in that respect.
“We have been celebrating her success at Arsenal – however not a lot now! She’s an ideal participant and he or she has been for a few years now. Her expertise speaks for itself.
“It’s totally different [to] enjoying one another in coaching with restrictions. It’s uncommon that I get to play towards Stina on this setting. I get pleasure from it, and I like Stina.
“It’s powerful to take away all of that. You don’t wish to give attention to it an excessive amount of and there’s a lot of issues that come into play whenever you play towards a team-mate, however I believe I’ve identified Stina lengthy sufficient that I do know who she is and it’s time to give attention to us.”