England thrash Wales as Lionesses book themselves Euro 2025 quarter-final date

England ran riot against Wales in St Gallen to claim the win they needed to move into the quarter-finals of Euro 2025.

The Lionesses needed a win to make sure of their progress into the quarter-finals, and were out of sight before the half-time whistle. Georgia Stanway’s early penalty set them on their way, with Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo adding further goals before the break.

Any fear of an upset was quickly extinguished, allowing the holders to cruise through and give some of their stars a rest in the second half. And two of their substitutes combined for England’s fifth, with Aggie Beever-Jones feeding Beth Mead to drill low into the corner.

Wales kept attacking even as the result drifted away from them, though, and were rewarded with a goal of their own through substitute Hannah Cain.

However, Beever-Jones had the final say, striking late on to give the Lionesses a big win as they eased into the last eight.

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Sarina Wiegman named an unchanged XI for the game, and England got themselves in front inside 15 minutes after a patient start.

They initially thought they had a free-kick on the edge of the box after Carrie Jones’ foul on Stanway, but a VAR check found that the offence had occurred just inside the box. The Bayern Munich midfielder put away the spot-kick herself, and her high pressing helped set up the second goal - with Alessia Russo also involved before Toone got the finishing touch.

Two soon became three with Hemp - who has impressed in flashes with her wing-play in the first two matches - grabbing a rare headed goal after tidy link-up play down the right from Toone and Lauren James.

Toone and James were involved in the fourth, too, tearing apart the Welsh back-line in unison before England’s number 10 rolled the ball back for Russo to pick her spot.

After seeing two goals chalked off for offside in the first two group games, Russo will have been happy to score a goal which counted this time.

With England in control, Wiegman was able to give some players a rest, with Toone and Hemp making way for Beth Mead and Jess Park at the break. They looked like picking up where they left off, only for Park’s effort to come back off the post with Clark appearing to get a touch to keep it out.

Further England changes followed, with Aggie Beever-Jones and Chloe Kelly each getting more than half an hour from the bench as James and Russo were given the rest of the night off.

James didn’t get a goal this time but was sensational on the ball yet again, leaving Wales’ full-backs on either side helpless. It didn’t get a great deal easier for Rhian Wilkinson’s underdogs, though.

Mead and Beever-Jones aren’t bad options to have on the bench, and the two subs combined brilliantly to add even more gloss to the scoreline.

Wales got one back when Cain thumped home a Jess Fishlock pass, before Beever-Jones added a sixth for the Lionesses late on.

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