Euro 2025: Sarina Wiegman wants 'proper England' to show up against Sweden with semi-place on the line

In partnership with

Evening Standard

·16 juillet 2025

Euro 2025: Sarina Wiegman wants 'proper England' to show up against Sweden with semi-place on the line

Defending champions finished second in group but that could work in their favour

Sarina Wiegman called for a ‘proper England’ performance as the Lionesses prepare to face Sweden in the quarter-finals of 2025.

Vidéos OneFootball

The defending champions got their tournament off to a poor start in Switzerland when they were beaten by France, but responded amid significant pressure to thrash the Netherlands 4-0.

After that match, several players referred to the phrase ‘proper English’, a reference to winning the key duals and showing the necessary fight to come out on top in the physical battle.

Asked about that mantra in the pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday night’s showdown with Sweden, Wiegman said: "Proper England is who we are and what we want to show.

“Of course it has something to do with our tactics and how we want to play but also our behaviours. How we want to support each other and work really hard and play to our strengths.

"When we do all of that I think our chances of winning are at their highest."

Lucy Bronze, appearing in her seventh major tournament for England, urged the Lionesses not to forget their roots, despite now being able to go toe-to-toe with the world’s best sides in other departments.

“What we meant by that is that we are a lot of younger players, new players, who have very different experiences playing for England compared to myself where we knew that England had to dig deep all the time,” Bronze said.

“Whereas this England team has developed, a very talented team and a lot of technical ability. But we are proper England and if push comes to shove, we can win a game any means possible."

The Lionesses finished second in their group behind France, but that could work in their favour. They now cannot face world champions Spain until the final, while the French side take on Germany in the quarter-finals.

The winner of England’s clash with Sweden will face Norway or Italy in the last-four, but Bronze insisted the Lionesses cannot look beyond Thursday night.

"Any player in the world wants to play in the big games, I think it's the most exciting quarter-final, both teams are talented,” Bronze said.

“We knew that coming into the quarter-final that it was going to be against a tough team. These are exciting times being in the tournament playing against tough teams.

“All the girls are really excited about what tomorrow is going to bring."