England and Wales Soccer Teams Receive Different Fates At Euro 2025
At the UEFA European Championship England‘s women soccer team rebounds in the next game after a shocking opening loss. By defeating Netherlands by a mighty 4-0, England’s reviving their championship hopes. Meanwhile, the Wales‘ team faced a similar defeat in the opening games. But they unfortunately did not fend too well in the following game, beaten by France with a score of 1-4.
For Wales, this was the team’s first major international tournament. People considered them as “underdogs”, mainly due to the fact that it was their first time in a major international tournament and they were the lowest ranked. The Wales’ team were placed in Group D, going against England, Netherlands, and France. Unfortunately, they were indeed put in a bad position, by losing the first two games. There is now a very slim, but possible chance that they will be able to continue on the tournaments that would involve a major breakthrough.
England’s team, on the other hand, had a strong reputation before Euro 2025, ranked as the fourth in the world. This was actually the first time in history a reigning champion lost an opening match at Euro. England lost 2-1 to France. The second match, fortunately, went much better, this time against Netherlands.
“It’s tournament football and you go through lots of highs and lows to where you want to be,” one of England’s team players, Alesia Russo said a few days before the match against Netherlands. “We came up against a great France team but we know we can be better and we have high standards as a team.”
The game on Sunday will decide both women’s teams’ fortunes, where England’s team will be playing against Wales’ team. At the same time at 12:00 pm, France will be playing Netherlands. This will mark the last day of group stages. The anticipated quarter finals afterwards are staring on Wednesday, the 16th.
When Jess Fishlock, the Wales team’s leading scorer scored the team’s first goal at the Euro, the Welsh fans applauded and sang her name. It didn’t matter to them that Wales had lost the game, but more so that the Wales’ soccer team scored their first goal at a major international match.
”She’s on the field, and she scores that goal, and everyone knows that is one of those moments that we should celebrate. We should celebrate it properly, because they just don’t come around these firsts very often,” Rhian Wilkinson, the Wales’ team’s coach said.
Both England and Wales’ soccer teams have worked hard and tried their best. Even though Wales lost the two games that have been played so far, it was only their first time at such a large worldwide tournament. There will always be a lot more chances in the future.
