Wiegman lauds 'proper England' performance in Netherlands rout

Sarina Wiegman believes England delivered on their promise to turn in a "proper" performance against the Netherlands.

Wiegman watched on as England ran riot at Stadion Letzigrund, defeating the Netherlands 4-0 to bounce back from their opening defeat to France in Group D. 

Lauren James scored either side of Georgia Stanway's stunning finish, with Ella Toone completing the thrashing in the 67th minute with a well-taken finish into the bottom-right corner. 

England have now won 12 of their 15 major tournament matches since Euro 2022 (D1 L2), more than any other European nation (Spain and Sweden - 10). 

The triumph was made even more impressive as, before this match, the Netherlands had never conceded more than two goals in a single match at a major tournament (World Cup/Euros) in 35 such games.

"I'm really happy with the performance and the players were proper England. I thought how we bounced back from our defeat against France was really good," Wiegman said.

"You could also tell in camp we refuelled, we had conversations with each other and we moved on.

"That looked very good but still you have to get a result otherwise you're just going home. It's not a guarantee you play well on the pitch, but we did.

"We exploited space Netherlands left behind, we did really well skipping players, going in behind and dragging them out then go forwards.

"The press we had right, and we really challenged them in that. I'm really happy with how the team responded and really happy with the result because it means we're totally back in the competition."

England restricted the Netherlands to just four shots, their fewest on record (from 2011) at a major tournament, accumulating an expected goals (xG) total of 0.22. 

The Lionesses, meanwhile, registered 17 shots with an xG of 2.9. 

Wiegman also took the time to praise James, who became the second England player to score a brace at both the Women's World Cup and Women's Euros, after Ellen White. 

The Chelsea forward has also been directly involved in more goals than any other European player across the last two major tournaments (eight – five goals, three assists). 

But Wiegman thinks there is still more to come, saying: "You saw good, I think she can do even better. Of course, she has been out for a while but she is really back on it and that looked really good. 

"She's a special player and that's what you see, and the team supports her and she supports the team and it's really nice she plays to her strengths because she can change games."

England's result briefly took them to the top of the group, but they ended the day second in the standings after France cruised to a 4-1 victory over Wales. 

Clara Mateo's opening goal had been cancelled out by Jess Fishlock, but Kadidiatou Diani restored France's lead before the break from the penalty spot. 

Laurent Bonadei's team turned on the style in the second half, with Amel Majri scoring eight minutes after the restart before captain Grace Geyoro concluded the scoring. 

France have now won each of their last 10 matches in 2025, their joint-best start to a calendar year after also winning 10 games back in 2012. 

England face Wales in their final group game, and will advance if they beat the tournament debutants no matter the result in the Netherlands' match with France. 

France have already booked their spot in the quarter-finals after collecting maximum points so far. A point against the Netherlands will ensure they finish top. 

The Netherlands will progress if they better England's result. Wales, meanwhile, are on the brink of elimination. They need to beat the Lionesses by at least four goals and hope for a French win against the Dutch.