Sarina Wiegman’s England three more points to their Women’s EURO 2025 Qualification League campaign on Friday night, as they departed Carrow Road with a 2-1 victory over a scrappy Republic of Ireland side. Tonight, the Lionesses secured their qualification for next year’s highly-anticipated tournament through a crucial draw with Sweden.

Wiegman made three changes to her lineup, perhaps most notably with Jess Park and Alex Greenwood finding themselves on the bench. England were zealous in Gothenburg, whilst Sweden took longer to become dangerous. Despite an uneventful first half and a nervy second, and a heavy presence in both boxes at times, the game would finish goalless- a result favourable for the Lionesses as they achieve qualification for the UEFA Women’s European Championship 2025.

ENG: Hampton; Bronze, Bright, Williamson, Carter; Walsh, Stanway, Toone; Mead, Russo, Hemp

SWE: Musovic; Andersson, Eriksson, Sembrant, Lundkvist; Olme, Asllani, Angeldahl; Rolfö, Janogy, Kaneryd

The Action

Adopting a familiar 4-3-3 formation, England started on the front foot before Sweden eventually got themselves into the game. The reverse of this fixture saw Fridolina Rolfö earn the Swedes the equaliser, and a draw was a fate the Lionesses would welcome on this occasion. Peter Gerhardsson’s side would sit deep as they hoped to disrupt England’s flow once again, but this time to no avail as The Blue and Yellow were unable to push forward.

The stop-start nature of the game as many free kicks were given by the referee proved unhelpful to Sweden. Missing key striker Stina Blackstenius, Gerhardsson’s side had further difficulty posing a threat in front of goal on the rare occasion that they took possession into the final third.

Not until the 36th minute did England demonstrate their first real attempt on goal, like Sweden having lacked the finishing touch thus far. Georgia Stanway’s effort went narrowly wide, but served as a warning to the Swedish team that the Lionesses were on the hunt for an opener.

Sweden would soon retaliate, and managed to generate two solid goalscoring opportunities in quick succession as the half-time whistle neared. Neither would require the intervention of Hannah Hampton, and the two sides would remained level at the break. Knowing a draw was the minimum required result for automatic qualification, the Lionesses would need to prepare for further bursts of pressure from the growing opposition.

Hampton would be called into action following a Sweden corner just minutes into the second half. A strike from Filippa Angeldahl saw England look vulnerable, but the goalkeeper was untroubled by the attempt and made a characteristically impressive save.

A free kick taken by Beth Mead would give Lucy Bronze the chance to head it goalward, but Musovic was quick to gather the ball in her arms. Another Stanway strike was narrowly off-target again, the second half appearing far more eventful at both ends. Hampton was challenged in the 83rd minute by a powerful shot by Angeldahl. She managed a pull out a deflection, and Bronze would clear it to save England from conceding.

It was a game of two halves as each side would continue to showcase their attacking prowess in the latter stages of the fixture, but neither would find the back of the net. Hampton’s saves began to look less convincing as the minutes ticked by, but Leah Williamson was in top form and led the back line with vigour to keep a much needed and hard fought clean sheet.

As the final whistle approached on their home turf, Sweden applied pressure as much as England pushed back against it. With almost every action having its defensive opposite reaction on both sides, Wiegman’s reigning champions were set to hold the tie and confirm their spot at next year’s UEFA Women’s European Championship.

With their ticket to Switzerland booked, the final whistle brought a sigh of relief for the Lionesses, and frustration for the Swedish as they look ahead to the play-offs.

The Halfway Line Player of the Match: Leah Williamson