𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

England face Sweden in the quarter-finals of Euro 2025 as the holders face a rematch of their semi-final three years ago.

The Lionesses thumped Sweden 4-0 at Bramall Lane on a memorable night, on their way to reaching the Euro 2022 final and winning the tournament.

Sweden will no doubt have revenge on their minds and impressively topped Group C by beating 10-player Germany 4-1 to reach the quarter-finals.

Sweden have several players who represent English clubs, including Arsenal striker Stina Blackstenius, and are familiar opponents for Sarina Wiegman’s side.

England bounced back from their opening defeat to France with comprehensive wins over Netherlands and Wales and have momentum behind them.

Here’s everything you need to know

Lucy Bronze said it was important for England to remember their roots after losing the opening game of Euro 2025 to France and believes the Lionesses will take an “underdog mentality” into tonight’s quarter-final with Sweden.

“We know England used to have to dig deep all the time,” said Bronze, who is playing at her seventh major international tournament. “2015 was the first time we beat Germany, that’s insane to think of right now.

“England of the past, it was that you had to dig out performances and it was that you were maybe the underdog, not the favourites. Whereas this England team has developed, football has changed.

“We’re a very talented team, a lot of technical ability, tactics, all that comes with it but we don’t want to ever forget that we are England, we are proper England and if push comes to shove, we can win a game by any means possible.”

Sweden captain Kosovare Asllani said her team does not fear anyone at Euro 2025.

England’s Ella Toone said “Sweden should be scared” after the Lionesses defeated Wales 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals.

“We respect England and the team they have and everything they have achieved so far. Fear? No. We don’t have the word fear in our dictionary,” Asllani said.

“We look up the word courage. Of course you have to respect one of the best sides in the world and we have the perfect gameplan for this match. We want to achieve the football we want to represent.

“I feel more a sense of longing to start the game. We want to go out and play our football intensely and physically. In our minds there is only one outcome and that is to win the game.”

England’s Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones celebrated their goals against Wales by snapping their fingers in a show of appreciation towards those players who were left on the substitutes bench.

Mead and Beever-Jones came off the bench in the second half to score England’s fifth and sixth of the night against Wales and both celebrated by running towards the sidelines and clicking their fingers.

Afterwards Mead revealed that those left out of Sarina Wiegman’s starting line-up were “snapping” in an attempt to motivate each other before promising to celebrate that way if they came off the bench to score.

Lucy Bronze urged defending champions England to draw on the underdog mentality buried deep in their DNA when they kick off their Euro 2025 quarter-final with Sweden in Zurich.

The 33-year-old right-back is the most experienced member of Sarina Wiegman’s side, having now featured in seven major tournaments since she travelled to Euro 2013 as an uncapped member of Hope Powell’s squad.

In Switzerland, Bronze’s England team-mates have drawn on the Chelsea defender’s wisdom as they navigated a rollercoaster group stage, particularly in the wake of their opening defeat to France.

Sweden’s captain Kosovare Asllani spoke ahead of tonight’s quarter-final and said they are full of belief before playing England even if they are again flying under the radar as a side who can win the Euros.

“I feel like Sweden are always flying under the radar I would say. It kind of suits us.,” Asllani said. Obviously we think we’re one of the best teams in the world from what we have been doing.

“But people rarely speak about us as someone who can win gold. We’re flying under the radar and that suits us. We know we can beat any team in the world when we have our best day. We don’t think about it too much. People should definitely talk about us more.”

England forward Beth Mead heaped praise on “unbelievable” team-mate Ella Toone after she helped propel the defending champions into the Euro 2025 quarter-finals with a goal and two assists in their 6-1 victory over Wales in St Gallen.

“I think Tooney is really coming into her own and sometimes in, you know, situations where you feel a little bit low, it brings you to the top of your game and I have completely felt that and done that before, been in a tough place and come back and I think you can see that she’s given that kind of aura, that type of energy and she deserves everything she’s getting right now because she has worked really hard for it.”

Captain Leah Williamson refuses to let England downplay the danger posed by Sweden after booking a Euro 2025 quarter-final with the Scandinavians in Switzerland.

Defending champions England beat Wales 6-1 on Sunday night in St Gallen to claim their place in the last eight, qualifying as Group D runners-up behind France, which means they will face the Swedes in Zurich on Thursday night.

Some have suggested the Lionesses have come out on the more favourable side of the draw – now guaranteed to avoid World Cup holders Spain until a potential final – but Williamson vehemently disagrees with that mentality.

With the start of the quarter-finals, penalties could be an option for England at Euro 2025 and they have won both of their shoot-outs under Sarina Wiegman.

Chloe Kelly, who scored the winning penalties against Nigeria and Brazil, said the Lionesses have made sure they are prepared in all areas ahead of facing Sweden in the quarter-finals tonight.

“Definitely in our lead up to the tournament we’ve all been preparing really well, as will every team, so I think it’s important that in every area of the game we’re prepared.

“I think for me it’s just staying relaxed and I think that’s the case for any penalty shootout, but our focus is to win the game in 90 minutes and hopefully not go all the way.”

Sarina Wiegman now has the most wins by any manager at the Women’s Euros. Victory over Wales was her 14th at the tournament as coach of Netherlands and England, overtaking ex-Germany boss Christina Theune-Meyer.

“First we recover from this and then we go again against Sweden in Zurich,” Wiegman said after the 6-1 win. “I’m very happy, as far as I know everyone came fit out of the game, now we have three days to recover.

“When you lose the first game there’s massive urgency to win the other two. [There’s been] a lot of learning with this team, and it brought us together.”