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The Lionesses’ first knockout game has arrived as nerves build among fans for their impending clash with Sweden.
The winner of the quarter-final tie will face Italy in a semi-final in Geneva, with both sides entering the clash at 8pm this evening in strong form from their group.
Here is everything you need to know from the England camp on day 16 of Euro 2025…
Today in camp
England are back in Zurich for their quarter-final tie, a place familiar to them from their group games against France and the Netherlands.
It means they do not have far to travel from their tournament base to the west of the city, and have therefore not had to fit a travel day into their plans.
It also brings the added bonus of a matchday walk the familiarly bucolic surroundings of the wooded paths around their hotel.
With final training sessions already complete, the players will be doing what they can to stay relaxed ahead of the impending knockout clash.
Esme Morgan shared that while her former role of bracelet-maker has been taken by Alessia Russo and Ella Toone at this tournament, she had found a new crafty pastime to keep her occupied in camp.
“My craft time commitments have now gone to doing my cross stitch, which I’ve been doing for ages on and off around other things,” she told the Lionesses’ Diary Room.
“Classic Esme tournament tradition, I left my essay until the last minute for my uni work so I had to get that boxed off. But now I can commit to doing my cross stitch.”
Team news
England enjoy a clean bill of health heading into their quarter-final tie against Sweden with Lauren James continuing to build up her fitness - a dangerous prospect for the opposition.
One player for each team faces the threat of semi-final suspension if they pick up another yellow card in the quarter-final.
Ella Toone could miss out on the clash if she receives another booking, while Sweden’s Kosovare Asllani also faces the same scenario.
Trending topics
At the top of the Lionesses’ agenda, or at least Lotte Wubben-Moy’s, is the well-being of her sourdough starter.
The Arsenal defender has brought her baking essential to Switzerland with her and put her in the hands of the England chef Stuart to look after.
“I bake a lot of sourdough at home. I didn’t want my mother to miss out on the opportunity of coming to the Euros because otherwise she would have died,” Wubben-Moy told the That Lionesses Podcast.
“I kept it on the downlow because I think people would probably think it’s weird.
“Every day she needs to be fed. It’s like having a child.”
What are the pundits saying?
Since scoring the Champions League-winning goal at the end of May, Sweden’s Stina Blackstenius has been in unrecognisable form.
The striker has two goals at the tournament so far, scoring the equaliser in their 4-1 demolition of Germany to get them back on track for three points to top Group C.
This follows a goal in the pre-tournament friendly against Denmark and a hat-trick against the same opposition in their most recent Nations League game.
It leaves her in flying form heading into a game against familiar foe in England and Anita Asante believes the ability to contain her could make or break the Lionesses’ chances of progression.
“England captain Leah Williamson will be acutely aware of Sweden striker Stina Blackstenius' speed and the fact she likes to stretch the backline because they play together at Arsenal,” she told BBC Sport.
“Blackstenius is so good at running in behind. The way she took the first goal in Sweden's 4-1 win over Germany showed a real intelligence to keep onside. It was top-level forward play.
“She has been accused of missing clear-cut chances, but she executed that perfectly. That will have given her a real boost.
“Blackstenius is a focal point for the team and the one that probably allows Sweden to play more direct when they need to.
“England centre-backs Williamson and Jess Carter need to have good awareness of where Blackstenius is. They need to get it right positionally.”
Quote of the day
“I had a picture of myself up from playing Sweden in 2019, of being absolutely exhausted at the end of that game because I will give anything, and I will give everything when I play in an England shirt.
“I wanted all the girls to know that that’s my ‘why’ – it is to give everything for this team because I just love playing for England so much.” - Lucy Bronze
Best of the rest
Italy made history to reach their first appearance in the final four of a Women’s Euros in 28 years.
A 90th-minute winner from captain Cristiana Girelli provided the winning goal to send Le Azzurre through to the semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over Norway.
The striker, who has the third-best goal tally in the history of Italy’s women’s team, scored the opener before Ada Hegerberg made up for missing a penalty by equalising from open play.
But her intervention in the last minute of the game saw Italy progress to the semi-finals for the first time since 1997 where they will face a tie against Sweden or England.
As Italy confirm themselves as the tournament dark horses, it raises the question, could football be heading to Rome?
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