Euro 2025: England's title defence alive as Lionesses produce performance for the ages | OneFootball

Defending champions will take on Sweden in the last eight

Reports of England’s death are greatly exaggerated.

The Lionesses are through to the quarter-finals, and in some style. Long forgotten is their defeat to France after following up Wednesday's 4-0 victory over the Netherlands with a 6-1 win over a hapless Wales side in St. Gallen.

Wales head coach Rhian Wilkinson had said pre-game the pressure was all on England, who needed to match the Netherlands’ result to qualify. There were, however, no signs that said pressure weighed heavily on the Lionesses.

England have never lost to Wales. In fact, they've never been beaten by a home nation at a major tournament. So, when Georgia Stanway put them into a 13th-minute lead from the penalty spot, it felt like business as usual.

It was all too easy for England, who had hardly broken a sweat before Ella Toone doubled their advantage in the 21st minute, with Lauren Hemp adding a third on the half-hour mark with a back-post header.

Central to England's dominance was the performance of Alessia Russo, who shut down the outside noise with a goal and an assist inside 44 minutes.

Infantile social media talk of 'PRusso' has been quickly put to bed in the last two games, and there's no doubt that she is the woman to lead the line for the Lionesses.

Her goal, finishing into an empty net after Toone's cut-back, will have done the Arsenal forward a world of good heading into Thursday's quarter-final with Sweden.

Sarina Wiegman’s side were as ruthless as they had been in picking apart the Netherlands.

They were, however, helped by some naive Welsh defending; first from Carrie Jones to concede a penalty as Stanway moved away from goal, before Rhiannon Roberts cleared the ball off Hemp, allowing Russo to nick in and pull the ball back for Toone to score.

It is the mark of defending champions, the way England have regrouped after such a rudderless performance against France in their opening group game.

Leaders have stepped up, and Lauren James has moved the needle through the sheer force of her talent.

The ‘group of death’ could have proved terminal for an England side in transition, but Wiegman has managed a menagerie of moving parts with a quiet confidence.

Beth Mead and Hannah Cain traded goals as Wales gave a better account of themselves in the second half, but the contest had been over long before Cain rifled in from Jess Fishlock's pinpoint pass to give Wales a rare moment to cheer.

Implosion is implicit when it comes to England and tournament football. Yet whether it is bringing Toone in at No10 or allowing James to roam in the right-hand channel, Wiegman has kept her cool, making small tweaks with big impacts.

What were you worried about? England, who had the last laugh when Aggie Beever-Jones added a sixth goal at the death, have made light work of their last two group games, scoring 10 and conceding just once, to secure their place in the knockout stages.

Wiegman's side have reacted emphatically to their first group stage defeat at a major tournament in 10 years with two performances for the ages.