Wiegman: England must carry same 'urgency' into Euros quarter-finals

Sarina Wiegman has demanded her England team produce the same urgency that got them through a tricky group at Euro 2025 in the knockout stages.

England finished second to France in Group D after thumping Wales 6-1 on Sunday, setting up a date with Sweden in the quarter-finals of the competition.

The Lionesses have now progressed from the group stage in their last six major tournaments (World Cup/EURO), making them one of only three European nations to have done so since the 2015 World Cup, along with Sweden and France.

Their title defence in Switzerland started with a defeat to France in their opening game, but Wiegman's team responded brilliantly with a 4-0 win over the Netherlands. 

They knew a victory against tournament debutants Wales would be enough to advance, and they did so with relative ease, with England having now won their last nine games against fellow home nations by an aggregate score of 39-3 (Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). 

England will now turn their attentions to their clash with Sweden this Thursday, a side they have beaten just once in their last six meetings across all competitions (D3 L2). 

And Wiegman wants her players to build on the solid foundation laid by their win over Wales to edge closer to retaining their crown. 

"I think we built momentum also from the France game because that really brought us together and everyone really wanted to perform and be successful," Wiegman said.

"Then this urgency comes. In the Netherlands game, we really created urgency and momentum by playing really well and to our strengths.

"You could see the togetherness of our team. We knew today would be a different game because we knew we would have the ball a lot.

"We wanted to do well on the ball and for the most part of the game we did that. Where has our momentum come from? We are in a good place and are really happy.

"At the same time, we know Sweden will be a totally different game than it was tonight."

Events at the St. Jakob-Park were dictating who England would play in the next round, with the Netherlands leading France 2-1 heading into the half-time interval. 

At that point, the Lionesses were on course for a quarter-final clash with Germany, the side they beat in the final of the same competition three years ago. 

But Laurent Bonadei's side turned on the style in the second half, with two goals from Delphine Cascarino helping France to a 5-2 victory and sealing top spot. 

However, Wiegman insisted she was not paying any attention to the possible permutations. 

"I think in tournaments it's really tricky to think 'oh, we want to go that way because then we might have this and this,'" Wiegman added. 

"If you start thinking like that, then it's very tricky. What you're trying to do is win every game and then see where you finish in the group.

"Then you will play who is in front of you and that's what it is.

"If you want to be successful in the tournament, you should be able to win every single game. So that's how we approach it."